The conceptual relationship of cladistic phylogenetics and vicariance biogeography

Abstract

It is argued that inference procedures used in cladistic phylogenetics and in vicariance biogeography make different assumptions. In cladistic phylogenetics, vertical transmission of characters is assumed; in vicariance biogeography, the competing hypotheses disagree as to whether transmission is horizontal or vertical. The bearing of this difference on the idea that a single methodology underlies the two inference problems is considered. © 1988 National Association of Social Workers, Inc.