Journal article
Modern phylogenetics in paleontology: comments on Vermeij 1999
Paleobiology, Vol.27(1), pp.174-176
2001
DOI: 10.1666/0094-8373(2001)027<0174:MPIPCO>2.0.CO;2
Abstract
In a recent Matters of the Record, Vermeij (1999) identifies what he regards as a fundamental problem with cladistic analysis. “The phylogenetic method,” he states (p. 431), “derives phylogeny in one part of the tree by relying on character-taxon relationships in another part of the tree, in direct violation of the principle that clades, once they have diverged from each other, are independent of one another.” Vermeij fails to appreciate the distinction between pattern-based cladograms, which are hierarchies founded on homology hypotheses, and logically contingent, process-based trees, which are depictions of temporal evolution. As a result, he treats cladograms as literal and direct estimates of evolution and thus confuses the treatment of characters and taxa in parsimony analyses with biological processes and interactions.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Modern phylogenetics in paleontology: comments on Vermeij 1999
- Creators
- Christopher A Brochu - University of IowaHarold N Bryant - Royal Saskatchewan MuseumJessica M Theodor - Brown UniversityMaureen A O'Leary - Stony Brook UniversityJonathan M Adrain - University of IowaColin D Sumrall - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Paleobiology, Vol.27(1), pp.174-176
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- DOI
- 10.1666/0094-8373(2001)027<0174:MPIPCO>2.0.CO;2
- ISSN
- 0094-8373
- eISSN
- 1938-5331
- Number of pages
- 3
- Alternative title
- C. A. Brochu et al.; Comment and Reply
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2001
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; University College Courses
- Record Identifier
- 9984229172802771
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