Post #2713949
2023-09-20 11:12 UTC
Unlike currently popular phylogenetic diversity, phylogenetic entropy, and tree balance indices, our definitions assign interpretable values to all rooted trees and enable meaningful comparison of any pair of trees.
For example, this preprint figure compares the shapes of trees representing the evolution of HIV and of Uralic languages. If we ignore branch lengths then the trees are indistinguishable (a-d). But our new indices accounting for branch lengths capture important differences (e-h).
Replies (1)
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@robjohnnoble@ecoevo.social 2023-09-20 13:04
As explained in the preprint, we're building here on fifty years of pioneering work by Mark Hill, Daniel Faith, Anne Chao, Chun Huo Chiu, Lou Jost, Benjamin Allen, and many others. Although I'm convinced that our indices should supersede prior approaches, I very much doubt they'll be the last word.