Bayes Maximum Likelihood analysis of Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) relationships
Harp Seals were
collected from four breeding grounds, the southern Gulf of St
Lawrence (GS), the Newfoundland and Labrador Ice Front (NL
and NL'), Jan Mayen Island in the Greenland Sea (GS),
and the White Sea (WS).
Several methods of constructing phylogenetic trees of the genetic relationships are available. "Bayes Analysis" uses "conditional probability" based on evidence-based assumptions about molecular change. The probability of any particular tree is extremely low, but can be estimated. Maximum Likelihood analysis then identifies which of the many unlikely trees is the least unlikely, that is, maximally likely. ML identifies six major lineages (clades) (A - F) and within these up to five sub-lineages (A1 - A5). Groups are identified by posterior probabilities.
Several methods of constructing phylogenetic trees of the genetic relationships are available. "Bayes Analysis" uses "conditional probability" based on evidence-based assumptions about molecular change. The probability of any particular tree is extremely low, but can be estimated. Maximum Likelihood analysis then identifies which of the many unlikely trees is the least unlikely, that is, maximally likely. ML identifies six major lineages (clades) (A - F) and within these up to five sub-lineages (A1 - A5). Groups are identified by posterior probabilities.