Application of compatibility analysis in numerical cladistics at the infraspecific level

Abstract

Compatibility analysis was applied to a set of evolutionary units (EUs) whose true cladogram is known. These EUs consisted of 16 Avena cultivars. The results show great differences between the true cladogram and the generated trees. Very few characters were found to correctly reflect the cladistic relationships among the 16 EUs. An attempt is made to explain this discrepancy, and as a result, a number of unanswered questions are raised.