Statistical Tests of DNA Phylogenies

In this article, we review (1) statistical tests of DNA phylogenies inferred by the maximum- parsimony method, including tests that take into account the effect of different base compositions among lineages, (2) statistical tests based on the minimum-evolution criterion, i.e., the best tree is the tree with the smallest sum of branch-length estimates, and (3) the bootstrap technique for estimating the confidence level of a phylogenetic hypothesis based on either the maximum-parsimony or the neighbor-joining method. We explain why the bootstrap technique usually gives biased estimates and how to correct the bias. (DNA phylogenies; parsimony; neighbor joining; minimum evolution; statis? tical tests; bootstrap; bias correction.)