IV. Methods of Analysis of Molecular Data A. Phylogenetic Analysis 1. Tree-Building Methods 2. Statistical Methods for Testing the Reliability of a Tree 3. Other Methods B. Phylogenetics versus Population Genetics V. Application of Molecular Methods in Amphibian Systematics A. Determination and Identification of Species and Species Hybrids B. Molecular Phylogeny of Living Amphibians 1. The Phyl...

The advent and maturation of algorithms for estimating species trees-phylogenetic trees that allow gene tree heterogeneity and whose tips represent lineages, populations and species, as opposed to genes-represent an exciting confluence of phylogenetics, phylogeography, and population genetics, and ushers in a new generation of concepts and challenges for the molecular systematist. In this essay...

Long restricted to the domain of molecular systematics and studies of molecular evolution, likelihood methods are now being used in analyses of discrete morphological data, specifically to estimate ancestral character states and for tests of character correlation. Biologists are beginning to apply likelihood models within a Bayesian statistical framework, which promises not only to provide answ...