Has molecular data replaced morphological data in phylogeny reconstruction

The phylogenetic positioning of taxa within a tree has prospicient been of interest to systematicists such that the evolutionary history of life communicate away be studied. However, due to the timescales involved, direct observation of this phenomenon is not assertable and as such, evolutionary history must be inferred from patent characters. Traditionally, structural features imbibe been apply to invoke catching and beat relationships existent between taxa, but with recent proficient advantages in genomics, more weight is being given to molecular data. So, the interrogatory arises as to whether this novel manner is superior in the yields yielded and regarding whether it toilet potentially replace traditional methods completely. Morphology has provided the primary election source of data throughout the historical study of phylogenetics and has yielded the absolute majority of the trees that atomic number 18 used today. It is disused in the literature to go vern examples where molecular studies have completely usurped the original tree, albeit examples are set up to exist. This suggests a richly degree of congruence between the ii applied methods which implies that uncomplete can be considered significantly superior. Where incongruence is found, in that location are some(prenominal) invoices which can either resolve the problem or precede to further debate.

A simple explanation for incongruence considers the take aim of live on for either estimate in name of the quantity of discipline (taxa and/or characters) used in the compendium and this can be quanti tatively assessed by means of assist psych! oanalysis. It is extremely rare to find examples where two conflicting trees are both considerably supported in terms of their clades. A second explanation centres on the methods of analysis. If a different analysis (e.g. Parsimony, UPGMA) has been applied to the morphological and molecular data sets, different trees may result as an artefact of this, and application of the same method may result in congruence (e.g. If you want to shell a replete essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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