MO640 - Exercises - Phylogenetic trees: Parsimony, Felsenstein (2004) - chapter 1

Exercises marked with (*) require further reading/search beyond the suggested texts.

3. Find a tree that minimizes the total number of changes for the matrix spieces vs. characters below.

	Dorsal nerve cord	Legs	Egg	Development	Hair	Pouch	Bidpedal posture
Fish	Y	N	Requires water	In egg	N	N	N
Frog	Y	Y	Requires water	In egg	N	N	N
Turtle	Y	Y	Shell	In egg	N	N	N
Kangaroo	Y	Y	Develops inside mother	Marsupial	Y	Y	Y
Mouse	Y	Y	Develops inside mother	Placental	Y	N	N
Human	Y	Y	Develops inside mother	Placental	Reduced	N	Y

Answer:

A possible tree that minimizes the total number of changes follows.

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