Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis

Catalog description

This course is designed to give students the knowledge and technical competence necessary for working with molecular phylogenetic data. Students will learn how to edit and align sequence data, and will explore how alternative alignments affect phylogenetic reconstructions. They will learn how to access and download data from online databases such as Genbank and Tree Base. Differing analytical approaches will be presented and discussed, including current and ongoing controversies in the primary literature. Students will gain experience using numerous software packages for analyzing data, testing constraints, choosing likelihood models, assessing support and exploring character evolution.