Artículo
Parsimony, likelihood, and simplicity
Fecha de publicación:
02/2003
Editorial:
Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Inc
Revista:
Cladistics
ISSN:
0748-3007
Idioma:
Inglés
Tipo de recurso:
Artículo publicado
Clasificación temática:
Resumen
The latest charge against parsimony in phylogenetic inference is that it involves estimating too many parameters. The charge is derived from the fact that, when each character is allowed a branch length vector of its own (instead of the homogeneous branch lengths assumed in current likelihood models), the results for likelihood and parsimony are identical. Parsimony, however, can also be derived from simpler models, involving fewer parameters. Therefore, parsimony provides (as many authors had argued before) the simplest explanation of the data, or the most realistic, depending on one's views. If (as argued by likelihoodists) phylogenetic inference is to use the simplest model that provides sufficient explanation of the data, the starting point of phylogenetic analyses should be parsimony, not maximum likelihood. If the addition of new parameters (which increase the likelihood) to a parsimony estimation is seen as desirable, this may lead to a preference for results based on current likelihood models. If the addition of parameters is continued, however, the results will eventually come back to the same place where they had started, since allowing each character a branch length of its own also produces parsimony. Parsimony can be justified by very different types of models - either very complex or very simple. This suggests that parsimony does have a unique place among methods of phylogenetic estimation.
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Articulos(CCT - NOA SUR)
Articulos de CTRO.CIENTIFICO TECNOL.CONICET - NOA SUR
Articulos de CTRO.CIENTIFICO TECNOL.CONICET - NOA SUR
Citación
Goloboff, Pablo Augusto; Parsimony, likelihood, and simplicity; Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Inc; Cladistics; 19; 2; 2-2003; 91-103
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