Comparative methods for explaining adaptations
Abstract
The ways that taxonomic differences in morphology, behaviour or life history are related to each other and to differences in lifestyle have been used regularly to test ideas about the selective forces involved in their evolution. Such comparative tests have been transformed recently by using increased statistical rigour. The realization that the statistical model against which comparisons are made is a model of how evolution proceeds, forms the basis of a new generation of comparative tests that are grounded properly on phylogenetic reconstruction.
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Closely related species tend to be similar because they share genes by common descent.
“Closely related species tend to be similar because they share genes by common descent, which must be accounted for in analyses.”
From A phylogenetic approach to comparative genomics (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
Species, genomes, and genes cannot be considered independent data points within statistical tests.
“However, species, genomes and genes cannot be considered as independent data points within statistical tests.”
From A phylogenetic approach to comparative genomics (2025) · cites this paper as [17]
Cites
Phylogenies and the Comparative Method
Felsenstein, J. (1985) · The American Naturalist · doi:10.1086/284325 · Cited by 9,793 · see citing works
Harvey, P. H., & Krebs, J. R. (1990) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.2196673 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Self-citationBrain Size Allometry Ontogeny and Phylogeny
Martin, R. D., & Harvey, P. H. (1985) · Size and Scaling in Primate Biology · doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-3647-9_8 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
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Evolutionary radiation of visual and olfactory brain systems in primates, bats and insectivores
Barton, R. A., Purvis, A., & Harvey, P. H. (1995) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.1995.0076 · Cited by 352 · see citing works
Self-citationThe seven deadly sins of comparative analysis
FRECKLETON, R. P. (2009) · Journal of Evolutionary Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01757.x · Cited by 339 · see citing works
(1993) · Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.1993.0129 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
Sherry, D. F. (2006) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070324 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Molecular Clocks in Reptiles: Life History Influences Rate of Molecular Evolution
Bromham, L. (2002) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a004083 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
A phylogenetic approach to comparative genomics
Dewar, A. E., Belcher, L. J., & West, S. A. (2025) · Nature Reviews Genetics · doi:10.1038/s41576-024-00803-0 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
- Authors
- Harvey, P. H., & Purvis, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 1991-06
- Volume
- 351
- Issue
- 6328
- Pages
- 619-624
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2061846917
- Cited by
- 383
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 27.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Geometry and Topology › Morphological variations and asymmetry
- Keywords
- comparative analysis, adaptation, evolutionary constraints, phylogenetic comparative analysis, morphological evolution, life history evolution, evolution of behavior, selective forces, phylogenetic inference
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Biological Evolution, Female, Gorilla gorilla, Humans, Lizards, Male, Models, Biological, Phylogeny
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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