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Science 14 December 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5550, p. 2245
DOI: 10.1126/science.294.5550.2245g
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This Week in Science
Bayesian phylogenetic techniques (see the review by Huelsenbeck et al., p. 2310), in which statistical measures are used to assess the likelihood of the numerous complex trees that can be constructed, are providing new insights into old problems. The characteristics of the common ancestor of the land plants and charophycean algae have remained enigmatic since Darwin's day. Karol et al. (p. 2351) present a multigene Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of the plant kingdom that confirms the charophycean algae to be the sister taxon to land plants but also substantially resolves branching order throughout the charophycean algae. Murphy et al. (p. 2348; see the news story by Pennisi) apply Bayesian techniques to the enigma of the early radiation of placental mammals 100 million years ago. They resolve all but a few nodes on the mammalian phylogenetic tree and provide robust evidence that the placental mammals had their most recent common ancestor in southern-hemisphere Gondwana.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
