Question
Briefly describe differences among the distance approach, the maximum parsimony approach, and the maximum likelihood approach to the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees
Answer
The distance approach relies on the degree of overall similarity between phenotypic characteristics or gene sequences; the most-similar species are grouped together. The parsimony approach tries to reconstruct an evolutionary pathway on the basis of the minimum number of evolutionary changes that must have taken place since the species last had an ancestor in common. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods infer phylogenetic relationship on the basis of which phylogeny maximize the probability of obtaining the set of characteristics exhibited by the organisms.
Briefly describe differences among the distance approach, the maximum parsimony approach, and the maximum likelihood approach to the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees
Answer
The distance approach relies on the degree of overall similarity between phenotypic characteristics or gene sequences; the most-similar species are grouped together. The parsimony approach tries to reconstruct an evolutionary pathway on the basis of the minimum number of evolutionary changes that must have taken place since the species last had an ancestor in common. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods infer phylogenetic relationship on the basis of which phylogeny maximize the probability of obtaining the set of characteristics exhibited by the organisms.
