title: Maximum likelihood estimation of population divergence times and population phylogenies under the infinite sites model.
abstract: In this paper, a maximum likelihood estimator of population divergence time based on the infinite sites model is developed. It is demonstrated how this estimator may be applied to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of the topology of population phylogenies. This approach addresses several classical problems occurring in the inference of the phylogenetic relationship of populations, most notably the problem of shared ancestral polymorphisms. The method is applied to previously published data sets of human African populations and of Caribbean hawksbill turtles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley 94720-3140, USA. rasmus@mws4.biol.berkeley.edu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D018703:Founder Effect; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D014426:Turtles / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial