Post-molecular systematics and the future of phylogenetics

The time is past when a research program in systematics should be based on only a few genes, extant taxa, and ultrametric trees. Cheap genome sequencing, powerful statistical methods, and new fossil discoveries promise to reinvigorate research programs in evolutionary biology. Population genetics, phylogeography, and species delimitation all benefit from genomic data, not just tree building alone. Null-hypothesis testing and power analysis via simulation can increase the confidence and robustness of phylogenetic comparative methods. Merging morphological and molecular datasets for fossil and extant taxa gives a more complete view of the Tree of Life. Combined, these developments can foster a post-molecular systematics, integrating phylogenetic signal from the population up based on DNA and through time based on direct observation rather than inference.