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Cladistics and the hominid fossil record
1Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque 87131.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
|September 1, 1990
Summary
Cladistics is widely used for hominid fossil analysis, but its biological limitations hinder accurate phylogenetic reconstruction. This method is best used as a preliminary tool for ordering complex paleontological data.
Area of Science:
- Paleontology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Systematics
Background:
- Cladistic methodology is frequently employed in phylogenetic analyses of the hominid fossil record.
- It emphasizes morphology for determining affinities and requires explicit statements of traits and methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the limitations of cladistics when applied to the hominid fossil record.
- To assess the utility of cladistics beyond a heuristic device in paleontology.
Main Methods:
- Critical review of cladistic methodology in the context of hominid fossil data.
- Identification and analysis of inherent limitations within cladistic approaches.
Main Results:
- Cladistics faces challenges including uncritical parsimony assumptions, homoplasy identification issues, sample delimitation difficulties, and failure to account for variation.
- Methodological problems arise with trait identification, biological relevance, intercorrelation, character type, and continuous variables.
- Issues with polarity identification and hypothesis testing further limit its application.
Conclusions:
- Despite focusing attention on phylogenetic reconstructions and methodological transparency, cladistics has significant biological limitations.
- These limitations render cladistics a heuristic device, suitable only for the preliminary ordering of complex human paleontological data.