An authoritative introduction to the latest comparative methods in evolutionary biology Phylogenetic comparative methods are a suite of statistical approaches that enable biologists to analyze and better understand the evolutionary tree of life, and shed vital new light on patterns of divergence and common ancestry among all species on Earth. This textbook shows how to carry out phylogenetic comparative analyses in the R statistical computing environment. Liam Revell and Luke Harmon provide an incisive conceptual overview of each method along with worked examples using real data and challenge problems that encourage students to learn by doing. By working through this book, students will gain a solid foundation in these methods and develop the skills they need to interpret patterns in the tree of life. Covers every major method of modern phylogenetic comparative analysis in R Explains the basics of R and discusses topics such as trait evolution, diversification, trait-dependent diversification, biogeography, and visualization Features a wealth of exercises and challenge problems Serves as an invaluable resource for students and researchers, with applications in ecology, evolution, anthropology, disease transmission, conservation biology, and a host of other areas Written by two of today’s leading developers of phylogenetic comparative methods

An authoritative introduction to the latest comparative methods in evolutionary biology Phylogenetic comparative methods are a suite of statistical approaches that enable biologists to analyze and better understand the evolutionary tree of life, and shed vital new light on patterns of divergence and common ancestry among all species on Earth. This textbook shows how to carry out phylogenetic comparative analyses in the R statistical computing environment. Liam Revell and Luke Harmon provide an incisive conceptual overview of each method along with worked examples using real data and challenge problems that encourage students to learn by doing. By working through this book, students will gain a solid foundation in these methods and develop the skills they need to interpret patterns in the tree of life. Covers every major method of modern phylogenetic comparative analysis in RExplains the basics of R and discusses topics such as trait evolution, diversification, trait-dependent diversification, biogeography, and visualizationFeatures a wealth of exercises and challenge problemsServes as an invaluable resource for students and researchers, with applications in ecology, evolution, anthropology, disease transmission, conservation biology, and a host of other areasWritten by two of today’s leading developers of phylogenetic comparative methods

Phylogenetic comparative approaches are powerful analytical tools for making evolutionary inferences from interspecific data and phylogenies. The phylogenetic toolkit available to evolutionary biologists is currently growing at an incredible speed, but most methodological papers are published in the specialized statistical literature and many are incomprehensible for the user community. This textbook provides an overview of several newly developed phylogenetic comparative methods that allow to investigate a broad array of questions on how phenotypic characters evolve along the branches of phylogeny and how such mechanisms shape complex animal communities and interspecific interactions. The individual chapters were written by the leading experts in the field and using a language that is accessible for practicing evolutionary biologists. The authors carefully explain the philosophy behind different methodologies and provide pointers – mostly using a dynamically developing online interface – on how these methods can be implemented in practice. These “conceptual” and “practical” materials are essential for expanding the qualification of both students and scientists, but also offer a valuable resource for educators. Another value of the book are the accompanying online resources (available at: http://www.mpcm-evolution.com), where the authors post and permanently update practical materials to help embed methods into practice.

This book integrates a wide variety of data analysis methods into a single and flexible interface: the R language. The book starts with a presentation of different R packages and gives a short introduction to R for phylogeneticists unfamiliar with this language. The basic phylogenetic topics are covered. The chapter on tree drawing uses R's powerful graphical environment. A section deals with the analysis of diversification with phylogenies, one of the author's favorite research topics. The last chapter is devoted to the development of phylogenetic methods with R and interfaces with other languages (C and C++). Some exercises conclude these chapters.

An introduction to statistical analyses of phylogenetic trees using comparative methods.

Functional and Phylogenetic Ecology in R is designed to teach readers to use R for phylogenetic and functional trait analyses. Over the past decade, a dizzying array of tools and methods were generated to incorporate phylogenetic and functional information into traditional ecological analyses. Increasingly these tools are implemented in R, thus greatly expanding their impact. Researchers getting started in R can use this volume as a step-by-step entryway into phylogenetic and functional analyses for ecology in R. More advanced users will be able to use this volume as a quick reference to understand particular analyses. The volume begins with an introduction to the R environment and handling relevant data in R. Chapters then cover phylogenetic and functional metrics of biodiversity; null modeling and randomizations for phylogenetic and functional trait analyses; integrating phylogenetic and functional trait information; and interfacing the R environment with a popular C-based program. This book presents a unique approach through its focus on ecological analyses and not macroevolutionary analyses. The author provides his own code, so that the reader is guided through the computational steps to calculate the desired metrics. This guided approach simplifies the work of determining which package to use for any given analysis. Example datasets are shared to help readers practice, and readers can then quickly turn to their own datasets.

And when new fossils are found, such as those of the tiny humans of Flores, scientists compare these remains to other fossils and contemporary humans.