5 - Simulating diversity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2009
Summary
The results presented in this chapter primarily focus on the most fundamental aspects of the simulation: the generation of character diversity, and subsequent phylogenetic reconstruction. As discussed in Chapter 3, the nature of any particular simulation is determined by setting parameters that control the number of characters and the way in which they can change at each generation, the influence of non-hereditary characters, time-dependent fossilisation, and the splitting and optional merging of lineages. By employing different values for these parameters, the simulation can model many different situations. For the purposes of this book, only runs with direct relevance to hominoid evolution have been studied.
Because, as discussed in Sections 2.1 and 2.2, the number of extant hominoid species is far less than appears to have been the case previously, results from simulations employing profiles that feature a recent reduction in diversity are presented first. Following this, results from simulations of subspecies or interbreeding groups are presented, based on profiles that display an increase in recent diversity (Oxnard, 1997; Oxnard and Wessen, 2001).
Of particular interest are those aspects of the simulation that concern the time of the most recent common ancestor, the degree to which fossils enable this to be determined, and the accuracy of the estimates of this provided by both the fossil and Wagner reconstructions.
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- Simulating Human Origins and Evolution , pp. 56 - 83Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005