pbs Digest, Vol 17, Issue 29
ConroeJoe@aol.com (Sun, 20 Jun 2004 13:54:24 PDT)

In a message dated 6/20/2004 2:38:57 PM Central Daylight Time,
pbs-request@lists.ibiblio.org writes:

Hi,

Nice work I'm sure, I've read some of your manuscripts and they are well
done, and -well-thought-out.

I've got to ask how you know that only tree branching occurred (clades),
rather than reticulate branching (fusions) as well. The clades-only approach is
inconsistent with the evolution of some plant species and I've been trying to
understand how this issue is finessed or directly addressed, as opposed to
sidestepped. So far I think I've mostly confused myself.

When I've looked at single genes, it is easy enough to see proper clades.
Recombination doesn't clutter the picture too much within a cistron. But whole
genomes present another picture altogether. Hybridization events have
produced some genomes that are fusions of clades and not bifurcations.

Perhaps reticulation (where it occurs) only limits precision, while still
allowing easy identification of major migrations?

Conroe Joe

LINKS:

Reconstructing Reticulate Evolution in Species
http://cs.utexas.edu/users/nakhleh/…

Journey Into the World of Cladistics (if you dare)
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/clad/clad1.html