Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 30, 2026

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
Published on: February 5, 2014
TESS: an R package for efficiently simulating phylogenetic trees and performing Bayesian inference of lineage
Sebastian Höhna1, Michael R May2, Brian R Moore2
1Department of Integrative Biology, Department of Statistics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA, Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA and Department of Mathematics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden.
Unlabelled:
Many fundamental questions in evolutionary biology entail estimating rates of lineage diversification (speciation-extinction) that are modeled using birth-death branching processes. We leverage recent advances in branching-process theory to develop a flexible Bayesian framework for specifying diversification models-where rates are constant, vary continuously, or change episodically through time-and implement numerical methods to estimate parameters of these models from molecular phylogenies, even when species sampling is incomplete. We enable both statistical inference and efficient simulation under these models. We also provide robust methods for comparing the relative and absolute fit of competing branching-process models to a given tree, thereby providing rigorous tests of biological hypotheses regarding patterns and processes of lineage diversification.
Availability And Implementation:
The source code for TESS is freely available at http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/TESS/ CONTACT: Sebastian.Hoehna@gmail.com.
Related Concept Videos
Phylogenetic Trees
Phylogenetic Trees
Microbial Phylogeny
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Phylogeny
Applications of Molecular Taxonomy

