Abstract
In order to automate analysis of stratigraphic range data, a new software tool ADAPTS (Analysis of Diversity, Asymmetry of Phylogenetic Trees and Survivorship) has been developed. This software runs analyses of three broad types; taxonomic evolutionary rate metrics, survivorship analyses and tests for biases in rates of speciation and extinction between ancestors and descendants, such as cause asymmetrical branching in phylogenetic trees. To carry out all of these tests, ADAPTS needs only five data items about each taxon in a group: an identification number (I.D.) number, first appearance datum (FAD), last appearance datum LAD, its stratigraphic range, and the I.D. number of its ancestor. These data may be entered into any standard spreadsheet program. The ADAPTS software automatically reads in these data in activated and the results output to a spreadsheet. To test the performance of ADAPTS, a known random phylogeny was generated with the TREE GROWTH program, and the output analysed. This test confirmed that ADAPTS was capable of detecting a known random signal and of handling large data sets rapidly. A demonstration version of ADAPTS is available at:
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