Quantitative Aspects of the Estimation of Evolutionary Trees

Abstract

Various approaches to the estimation of evolutionary trees are reviewed, with emphasis on recent developments. It is argued that no approach is 'model-free', that is, without some assumptions about the processes of evolutionary change. A statistical approach provides a general framework and it is accepted that cladistic methodology represents a special case within this framework. The idea of evolutionary convergence is examined in the light of recent discussion of the existence of convergence in molecular evolution. It is concluded that attempts to estimate evolutionary trees are justifiable at least on the grounds that, despite present shortcomings, they are the most appropriate way to analyse comparative data. There are good prospects for further progress.