Why Trees Are Important

Abstract

The Tree of Life is the result of the interplay of changes in information and speciation. Almost 100 years after publication of Darwin's Origin, the inception of Phylogenetic Systematics has resulted in a revolution in data inference. I briefly trace the development of this revolution and show examples of how data are interpreted relative to phylogenetic trees. I then provide brief discussions of how to read tree diagrams and the need to access the quality of phylogenetic inference.