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Comparative methods for explaining adaptations

Nature volume 351, pages 619–624 (1991)Cite this article

Abstract

The ways that taxonomic differences in morphology, behaviour or life history are related to each other and to differences in lifestyle have been used regularly to test ideas about the selective forces involved in their evolution. Such comparative tests have been transformed recently by using increased statistical rigour. The realization that the statistical model against which comparisons are made is a model of how evolution proceeds, forms the basis of a new generation of comparative tests that are grounded properly on phylogenetic reconstruction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, 0X1 3PS, UK

    Paul H. Harvey & Andy Purvis

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  1. Paul H. Harvey
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Harvey, P., Purvis, A. Comparative methods for explaining adaptations. Nature 351, 619–624 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/351619a0

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