Morphometric variables can be analyzed using cladistic methods: A reply to Adams et al.

ROLANDO GONZÁLEZ-JOSÉ; IGNACIO ESCAPA,; RUBÉN CÚNEO,; WALTER NEVES,; HECTOR PUCCIARELLI,

JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2011 vol. 60 p. 244 - 245

0047-2484

It is a pleasure to respond toAdamset al. (in press). Because shape characters are often at least partially the results of heritable variation, there is no theoretical basis to discard them as phylogenetic markers (Rae,1998). Thus,weseeAdams et al.?s critique of our recent research (González-José et al., 2008) as largely methodological. Adams et al. focus on some potential methodological pitfalls that, in their view, do not support our proposal that our approach offered ?an improvement over alternative methods? Adams et al. (in press: 1). Here, we acknowledge some of the points raised by Adams et al. (in press), especially the problem of sensitivity to rotation. However, when compared to previous alternative methods, our paper offered advances in addressing some theoretical issues, such as the inclusion of modularity and its relation to the character concept. In our view, this should be considered in future research in phylogenetics, particularly as methodologies improve.