Phylogenetics

'Phylogenetics' is the reconstruction and analysis of phylogenetic (evolutionary) trees and networks based on inherited characteristics. It is a flourishing area of intereaction between mathematics, statistics, computer science and biology.The main role of phylogenetic techniques lies in evolutionary biology, where it is used to infer historical relationships between species. However, the methods are also relevant to a diverse range of fields including epidemiology, ecology, medicine, as well as linguistics and cognitive psychologyThis graduate-level book, based on the authors lectures at The University of Canterbury, New Zealand, focuses on the mathematical aspects of phylogenetics. It brings together the central results of the field (providing proofs of the main theorem), outlines their biological significance,and indicateshow algorithms may be derived. The presentation is self-contained and relies on discrete mathematics with some probability theory. A set of exercises and at least one specialist topic ends each chapter.This book is intended for biologists interested in the mathematical theory behind phylogenetic methods, and for mathematicians, statisticians, and computer scientists eager to learn about this emerging area of discrete mathematics.'Phylogenetics' in the 24th volume in the Oxford Lecture Series in Mathematics and its Applications. This series contains short books suitable for graduate students and researchers who want a well-written account of mathematics that is fundamental to current to research. The series emphasises futuredirections of research and focuses on genuine applications of mathematics to finance, engineering and the physical and biological sciences.

The long-awaited revision of the industry standard on phylogenetics Since the publication of the first edition of this landmark volume more than twenty-five years ago, phylogenetic systematics has taken its place as the dominant paradigm of systematic biology. It has profoundly influenced the way scientists study evolution, and has seen many theoretical and technical advances as the field has continued to grow. It goes almost without saying that the next twenty-five years of phylogenetic research will prove as fascinating as the first, with many exciting developments yet to come. This new edition of Phylogenetics captures the very essence of this rapidly evolving discipline. Written for the practicing systematist and phylogeneticist, it addresses both the philosophical and technical issues of the field, as well as surveys general practices in taxonomy. Major sections of the book deal with the nature of species and higher taxa, homology and characters, trees and tree graphs, and biogeography—the purpose being to develop biologically relevant species, character, tree, and biogeographic concepts that can be applied fruitfully to phylogenetics. The book then turns its focus to phylogenetic trees, including an in-depth guide to tree-building algorithms. Additional coverage includes: Parsimony and parsimony analysis Parametric phylogenetics including maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches Phylogenetic classification Critiques of evolutionary taxonomy, phenetics, and transformed cladistics Specimen selection, field collecting, and curating Systematic publication and the rules of nomenclature Providing a thorough synthesis of the field, this important update to Phylogenetics is essential for students and researchers in the areas of evolutionary biology, molecular evolution, genetics and evolutionary genetics, paleontology, physical anthropology, and zoology.

During the last ten years, remarkable progress has occurred in the study of molecular evolution. Among the most important factors that are responsible for this progress are the development of new statistical methods and advances in computational technology. In particular, phylogenetic analysis of DNA or protein sequences has become a powerful tool for studying molecular evolution. Along with this developing technology, the application of the new statistical and computational methods has become more complicated and there is no comprehensive volume that treats these methods in depth. Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetics fills this gap and present various statistical methods that are easily accessible to general biologists as well as biochemists, bioinformatists and graduate students. The text covers measurement of sequence divergence, construction of phylogenetic trees, statistical tests for detection of positive Darwinian selection, inference of ancestral amino acid sequences, construction of linearized trees, and analysis of allele frequency data. Emphasis is given to practical methods of data analysis, and methods can be learned by working through numerical examples using the computer program MEGA2 that is provided.

This book integrates a wide variety of data analysis methods into a single and flexible interface: the R language. The book starts with a presentation of different R packages and gives a short introduction to R for phylogeneticists unfamiliar with this language. The basic phylogenetic topics are covered. The chapter on tree drawing uses R's powerful graphical environment. A section deals with the analysis of diversification with phylogenies, one of the author's favorite research topics. The last chapter is devoted to the development of phylogenetic methods with R and interfaces with other languages (C and C++). Some exercises conclude these chapters.

A broad, hands on guide with detailed explanations of current methodology, relevant exercises and popular software tools.

This volume, A Mathematical Primer of Molecular Phylogenetics, offers a unique perspective on a number of phylogenetic issues that have not been covered in detail in previous publications. The volume provides sufficient mathematical background for young mathematicians and computational scientists, as well as mathematically inclined biology students, to make a smooth entry into the expanding field of molecular phylogenetics. The book will also provide sufficient details for researchers in phylogenetics to understand the workings of existing software packages used. The volume offers comprehensive but detailed numerical illustrations to render difficult mathematical and computational concepts in molecular phylogenetics accessible to a variety of readers with different academic background. The text includes examples of solved problems after each chapter, which will be particularly helpful for fourth-year undergraduates, postgraduates, and postdoctoral students in biology, mathematics and computer sciences. Researchers in molecular biology and evolution will find it very informative as well.

Offering a rich diversity of models, Bayesian phylogenetics allows evolutionary biologists, systematists, ecologists, and epidemiologists to obtain answers to very detailed phylogenetic questions. Suitable for graduate-level researchers in statistics and biology, Bayesian Phylogenetics: Methods, Algorithms, and Applications presents a snapshot of current trends in Bayesian phylogenetic research. Encouraging interdisciplinary research, this book introduces state-of-the-art phylogenetics to the Bayesian statistical community and, likewise, presents state-of-the-art Bayesian statistics to the phylogenetics community. The book emphasizes model selection, reflecting recent interest in accurately estimating marginal likelihoods. It also discusses new approaches to improve mixing in Bayesian phylogenetic analyses in which the tree topology varies. In addition, the book covers divergence time estimation, biologically realistic models, and the burgeoning interface between phylogenetics and population genetics.

Phylogenetics aims to study the evolutionary relatedness of living organisms in our planet. Its application is extended to the key areas such as evolution, classification and taxonomy of living organisms; ecology, diversity, and conservation biology of agrobiocenosis; monitoring of pathogen spread, outbreaks and source of transmissions, forensic analyses, etc. Historically, phylogenetics studies were prevalently based on morphological features of species that helped to classify the 'Tree of Life' on Earth. Modern phylogenetics studies, however, rely more heavily on DNA sequences. In this Phylogenetics book, we aimed to present readers the latest developments in phylogenetics studies that highlight multi-kingdom systems, reticulated evolution and conservation biology of living organisms as well as 'omics'-based phylogenetics advances.