Testing phylogenetic hypotheses using an Hennigian approach and DNA sequence data

The assumption that maximum parsimony in a phylogenetic tree is achieved by the reduction of the number of overall homoplasies to a minimum is questioned and an alternative approach of using the most parsimonious distribution of taxa at each dichotomy suggested. This approach can be put into practice using Hennigian logic to determine relationships, DNA sequence data as the character set and standard statistical techniques to determine the significance to be placed on the resulting phylogenetic tree. The logic and robustness of such an approach is described. A software package, SYNAPO, is available to assist such analyses.