Cladistics

Systematics underpins all biology. Cladistics is a systematic method of classification which classifies organisms on the basis of common ancestry rather than on simple anatomical similarity.

True phylogenic relationships are thus revealed. This book is based on a course sponsored by the Systematics Association.

To introduce the subject, the principle of parsimony and methods for character coding and determining character polarity are first presented.

Methods of cladistic tree-building follow, and tree statistics are detailed.

Alternatives to parsimony, molecular applications of cladistics and the relevance of fossils are then discussed.

The concluding chapters review two important topics in cladistics: cladistic biogeography and the implementation of cladistic results in systematics.

This book provides an account of the techniques of modern cladistics, and should prove useful for students interested in systematics and comparative studies.