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Re: Parsimony

[Now this is what I was expecting to see... -- MR ]

From: Jeff Poling <jpoling@dinosauria.com>

 >    What's a good definition of the principle of parsimony, and how
 > does it work?

The parsimony principle states that a phylogenetic reconstruction
that requires fewer changes (evolutionary steps) is better than
one which require more steps.


The way it is used in cladistics is that one constructs a cladogram
an then counts the number of state changes along the branches. The
cladogram with the lowest count is the most parsimonious.

swf@elsegundoca.ncr.com         sarima@ix.netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.