Statistical consistency and phylogenetic inference: a brief review

Autor(es)

Brower, Andrew V. Z.

• Tipo de documento: Artigo de Revisão
• Fonte: CLADISTICS; v. 34, n. 5, p. 562-567, OCT 2018.
• Citações Web of Science: 1

Resumo

The claim that parsimony can be statistically inconsistent remains the chief criticism of the cladistic approach, and also the main justification for alternative model-based approaches such as maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Despite its refutation in the 1980s, this persistent myth of parsimony's Achilles' heel is entrenched in the primary literature, and has metastasized into textbooks, as well. Here, I review historical controversies, and offer three short arguments as to why statistical consistency is not only irrelevant to systematics, but to empirical science in general. (C) The Willi Hennig Society 2017. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 12/50260-6 - Estruturação e evolução da biota amazônica e seu ambiente: uma abordagem integrativa
• Beneficiário: Lúcia Garcez Lohmann
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático