RE: Erketu ellisoni online free access

[Michael Mortimer <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com>]

Ken Carpenter wrote-

> I was referring to Weims 2006. In this paper, he offers more
> hypothetical results rather than real evidence of having tested his
> statements. No data matrices are presented, nor resultant analyses (he
> does refer to a paper "in press"). He writes (p40): "I tested the
> effects of adding 50 incomplete characters to a set of 50 characters in
> the 16-taxon case using parsimony...adding the set of incomplete
> characters generally INCREASES phylogenetic accuracy relative to
> excluding them." Hell, in that case, let's just cut 50% from all the
> characters of Wilson 2002 and call the results more accurate than Wilson
> 2002.

Er, you misunderstand.  Wiens meant if you have a 16 taxon, 50 character 
matrix with no missing data, adding another 50 characters with missing data 
generally increases the accuracy of the results (as long as the missing data 
is 75% or less).  Adding another 50 characters with no missing data would 
result in even more accuracy, of course (Wiens, 1998).  "Adding the set of 
incomplete characters generally increases phylogenetic accuracy relative to 
excluding them", not relative to leaving those characters complete.

Mickey Mortimer