Similarities as Evidence for Common Ancestry -- A Likelihood Epistemology
Populations and Evolution
2015-01-21 v1
Abstract
Darwin claims in the {\em Origin} that similarity is evidence for common ancestry, but that adaptive similarities are "almost valueless" as evidence. This claim seems reasonable for some adaptive similarities but not for others. Here we clarify and evaluate these and related matters by using the law of likelihood as an analytic tool and by considering mathematical models of three evolutionary processes -- directional selection, stabilizing selection, and drift. Our results apply both to Darwin's theory of evolution and to modern evolutionary biology.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1501.04665,
title = {Similarities as Evidence for Common Ancestry -- A Likelihood Epistemology},
author = {Elliott Sober and Mike Steel},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.04665},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
23 pages, 5 figures