title: Four-cluster analysis: a simple method to test phylogenetic hypotheses.
abstract: A simple statistical test for comparing three alternative phylogenetic hypotheses for four monophyletic groups is presented. This test is based on the minimum-evolution principle, and it does not require any information regarding the branching order within each monophyletic group. It is computationally efficient and can be easily extended to five or more monophyletic groups.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rzhetsky
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010802:Phylogeny; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S