ESTIMATING CHARACTER WEIGHTS DURING TREE SEARCH

Abstract- A new method for weighting characters according to their homoplasy is proposed; the method is non-iterative and does not require independent estimations of weights. It is based on searching trees with maximum total fit, with character fits defined as a concave function of homoplasy. Then, when comparing trees, differences in steps occurring in characters which show more homoplasy on the trees are less influential. The reliability of the characters is estimated, during the analysis, as a logical implication of the trees being compared. The "fittest" trees imply that the characters are maximally reliable and, given character conflict, have fewer steps for the characters which fit the tree better. If other trees save steps in some characters, it will be at the expense of gaining them in characters with less homoplasy.