Session 2: Reconstructing evolutionary history (RDMP)

[Lecture slides]

Seminar and practical (2 x 80 mins), Sem

This session introduces the problem of reconstructing evolutionary trees. We start with an exercise using the Caminalcules -- imaginary creatures that have a known evolutionary history. We then review of methods for building evolutionary trees and reconstructing character evolution. You will get a chance to explore these topics in more detail in the next session.

Reading

Chapters 2 and 6 of Page and Holmes. Handouts based on these chapters are in the box of reading for the course, and are available online as Acrobat PDF files:

• Trees and their terms
• Introduction to tree building

Learning objectives

At the end of this session you should be able to

• Outline the major methods of reconstructing evolutionary trees
• Describe the strengths and weakness of the different tree building methods