Homology and hominid phylogeny: Problems and potential solutions

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of how to reconstruct accurately the hominid evolutionary tree from skeletal remains. Few would disagree that DNA is generally better than bone as a source of data for assessing phylogenetic relationships. To be sure, DNA base pairs present their own special headaches for phylogenetic reconstruction,1 not the least of which is that only four possible characters exist at any locus. But base pairs satisfy all the criteria for good phylogenetic data (see Box 1): By definition, they are discrete, heritable, quantifiable, and natural units of phylogenetic information that pass directly from ancestor to descendant.