Abstract: Parsimony analysis (cladistics) has long been one of the most widely used methods of phylogenetic inference in the fields of systematic and evolutionary biology. Moreover, it has mathematical attributes that lend themselves for use with complex, genomic-sacle data sets. In this book, specialists review philosophical, statistical, methodological, and mathematical aspects of parsimony analysis, and demonstrate the potential that this powerful hierarchical data summarization method has for both structural and functional genomics research.

Keywords: cladistics, phylogenomics, systematics, evolutionary biology, likelihood, Dollo's law, Ockham's razor