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Re: Reduced Consensus (Was: Afrotheria revisited)



David Marjanovic writes:
 > > Autapomorphies shouldn't be a problem, since they just make the
 > > OTU distinct within the clade that its other characters assign it
 > > to.  Its a funny mix of synapomorphies that will do for you.
 > 
 > That's often the same -- the autapomorphies that make a long branch
 > will often also be autapomorphies of another clade, producing
 > noise. Many of them will be reversals, producing more noise...

Thank you.  You're right of course, I was being sloppy here.  It is
truly unique character states that are "safe" in terms of not mucking
up the resolution an analysis; but a characters that is autapomorphic
below one node may also well by autapomorphic below and second (and
synapomophic on a third).

 > > If it's any use to you, I am :-) Seriously, it's not cheating.
 > > If you excluded it from the analysis it would be cheating.  Think
 > > of it like a football league.
 > 
 > How refreshing to have someone explain something by something other
 > than baseball! ;-)
 > 
 > (I like saying that, having read Gould's Full House, I now
 > understand evolution, but I still haven't understood baseball.)

Baseball -- the definitive, unsinkable counter-argument to anyone who
claims that Americans are slipping behind the rest of the world.  And
country whose kids can understand it is worthy of great respect.
(That said, I would still argue that cricket is superior as it's the
only game whose laws include rules about tea-breaks.)

 _/|_    ___________________________________________________________________
/o ) \/  Mike Taylor    <mike@indexdata.com>    http://www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\  "I know if I had one of those [Pterosaur crests], women would
         be throwing themselves at me, convinced of my sexual prowess
         and reproductive fitness, and men would shrink from me, sure
         that my strength greatly exceeded theirs" -- Chris Bennett.