Evolutionary implications of alternative rootings of a network:
Are the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda) and Red Panda (Ailurus) most closely related?

    A sinle unrooted network with four terminal taxa (above) can be rooted at any of five places: on the branches leading to each of the four species, or on the internode. In the four-taxon carnivore example (below), the internode that separates the pairs (Ailuropoda + Ursus) and (Procyon + Martes) remains in the same relative place in any of the rootings. Different placements of the root have different implications for the relationships of Ailuropoda & Ursus: in the two bottom diagrams, they are not each others closest relatives.