comparative method

• Comparative Method


  A method for using phylogenies to address evolutionary questions beyond just revealing evolutionary relationships and improving classifications
• Comparative Method


  • Useful for addressing evolutionary questions like:
  • Speciation
  • Gene evolution
  • Extinction
  • Adaptation
  • Coevolution
  • Mutualisms and parasitic relationships
  • Ecological associations
• Concentrate today on using phylogenies to help better identify and understand adaptation
• Adaptation


  A trait that improves fitness
• Adaptation (process)


  The means by which an adaptation (trait) was produced by natural selection over a specific period and then maintained by purifying selection
• If we disregard phylogeny, we might overestimate the evidence for selection's effect in natural experiments, as each species would appear to have evolved its adaptation independently