MACROEVOLUTIONARY FORENSICS: PHYLOGENETICS, TREESHAPE & SIMULATION
Dr Paul-Michael Agapow, Department of Biology, Imperial College, London

Abstract: Phylogenies (evolutionary histories) present a window on phenomena that occur over a scale too vast to be directly observed. The very structure of phylogenies carries the fingerprints of the processes that created them. However, interpreting phylogenies is less than straightforward given the variety of evolutionary scenarios that can be in play. Here I present a software tool MESA that attacks this problem by allowing the simulation of complex evolutionary histories. This approach is demonstrated by its application to the problem of tree balance and detecting asymmetry in phylogenies, highlighting possible evolutionary turning points and innovations.

This seminar was held at the Department of Computer Science, Royal Holloway, University of London on 4 June 2001.

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