Parsimony, simplicity and what actually happened
Friday, A.E. (1982). Parsimony, simplicity and what actually happened. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 74: 329-335
In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Academic Press: London. ISSN 0024-4082; e-ISSN 1096-3642, more
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| Abstract |
The role of a parsimony principle is unclear in most methods which have been claimed to be valid for the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship. There appear to be two reasons for this: first, the role ofparsimony is generally uncertain in scientific method; second, the majority of methods proposed transform data and order them, but are not appropriate to the reconstruction of phylogeny. Commitment to a probabilistic model of evolutionary processes seems to be the essential component which may enable us justifiably to estimate phylogeny. An example is provided which emphasizes the importance of knowledge about the nature of the process before undertaking estimation of the patternof kinship. |
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