Cladistics: the Theory and Practice of Parsimony Analysis

"Cladistics" aims to reconstruct genealogies based on common ancestry, thus revealing the phylogenetic relationships between taxa. Its applications vary from linguistic analysis to the study of conservation and biodiversity, and it has become a method of choice for comparative studies in all fields of biology. This new edition of "Cladistics" - first published in 1992 - reflects the many changes and developments which have taken place in the field over the last five years, while retaining the clarity and readability that made the first edition so successful. For all students interested in the systematic relationships among organisms, this book provides a state-of-the-art account of the techniques and methods of modern cladistics, and how to put them into practice.