Re: Article: On Phylogenetic Trees

In article <dmve33$ktc$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Robert Karl Stonjek <rstonjek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>ON PHYLOGENETIC TREES
>
>The following points are made by D.A. Baum et al (Science 2005 310:979):
>
>1) The central claim of the theory of evolution as laid out in 1859 by
>Charles Darwin (1809-1882) in The Origin of Species is that living species,
>despite their diversity in form and way of life, are the products of descent
>(with modification) from common ancestors. To communicate this idea, Darwin
>developed the metaphor of the "tree of life."

Lamarck also had a tree of life, earlier. See below.

>3) At the outset, it is important to clarify that tree thinking does not
>necessarily entail knowing how phylogenies are inferred by practicing
>systematists. Anyone who has looked into phylogenetics from outside the
>field of evolutionary biology knows that it is complex and rapidly changing,
>replete with a dense statistical literature, impassioned philosophical
>debates, and an abundance of highly technical computer programs.
>Fortunately, one can interpret trees and use them for organizing knowledge
>of biodiversity without knowing the details of phylogenetic inference. The
>reverse is, however, not true. One cannot really understand phylogenetics if
>one is not clear what an evolutionary tree is.

If one wants to use trees properly, you want not only a single estimate
of the tree, but some information about the uncertainty of different parts
of the tree. Baum exaggerates the ease of interpreting what may be an
error-prone estimate of the tree.

>Comment:
....
>And Darwin seems to have held the view that Lamarck believed in branching as
>the following letter indicates surprise in the French people's belief in
>paralell creation:

He held the view for good reason. Lamarck did come (after some resistance)
to a tree of life, fifty years before Darwin.

See the discussion of this by Stephen Jay Gould:

Gould, S. J. 2000. A Tree Grows in Paris: Lamarck's division of Worms and
Revision of Nature. ln: S. J. Gould: The Lying Stones of Marrakech:
Penultimate Reflections in Natural History. N.Y.: Harmony Books, pp. 115-143.

--
Joe Felsenstein joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Department of Genome Sciences and Department of Biology,
University of Washington, Box 357730, Seattle, WA 98195-7730 USA

.

Relevant Pages

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