Universal Artifacts Affect the Branching of Phylogenetic Trees
Author Information
Author(s): Altaba Cristian R.
Primary Institution: University of the Balearic Islands
Hypothesis
Are the regularities found in the branching pattern of phylogenetic trees supported by evidence, or are they just methodological artifacts?
Conclusion
The study concludes that there is no evidence for universal scaling in the tree of life, and that artifacts introduced by outgroups significantly affect phylogenetic tree shapes.
Supporting Evidence
- Phylogenetic trees are sensitive to artifacts introduced by outgroups.
- Published phylogenies show effective control against artifacts.
- Meta-analyses of phylogenetic trees are subject to pitfalls due to uneven intrinsic merits.
- Imbalance introduced by outgroups can lead to convergence in tree shapes.
- Real trees often deviate from simplistic random models due to natural factors like uneven speciation and extinction rates.
Takeaway
This study shows that the way we build phylogenetic trees can be misleading because of artifacts from outgroups, which can make trees look more balanced than they really are.
Methodology
The study analyzed the impact of outgroups on tree shape by assessing 100 combinations of ingroup and outgroup species using four different tree-building methods.
Potential Biases
There is a risk of bias due to the selection of outgroups and the methods used to analyze tree shapes.
Limitations
The study's findings are limited by the variability in data and methods used to build phylogenetic trees, which can introduce artifacts.
Statistical Information
P-Value
<0.001
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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