[Taxacom] New Cladistics program?

[Curtis Clark]

On 2008-02-25 11:52, Richard Jensen wrote:
> I am proofreading a paper and came across this line:
> 
> "Phylogenetic analyses were performed with PHYLIP, the Phylogeny 
> Interference Package, using Maximum Parsimony (MP)."
> 
> Could this be a Hennigian slip? Or, can software really interfere with 
> our understanding of what's going on?

No, it means "interference" in the physics sense. Each character has a 
phylogenetic signal. Combining those signals as if they were wave forms 
results in some nodes being amplified and others being canceled out. 
This method is criticized by proponents of Quantum Phylogeny, who assert 
that phylogenies are best characterized as streams of particles rather 
than as waves.

-- 
Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
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