title: The seven deadly sins of comparative analysis.
abstract: Phylogenetic comparative methods are extremely commonly used in evolutionary biology. In this paper, I highlight some of the problems that are frequently encountered in comparative analyses and review how they can be fixed. In broad terms, the problems boil down to a lack of appreciation of the underlying assumptions of comparative methods, as well as problems with implementing methods in a manner akin to more familiar statistical approaches. I highlight that the advent of more flexible computing environments should improve matters and allow researchers greater scope to explore methods and data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal & Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. r.freckleton@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Freckleton
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010802:Phylogeny