What is the Difference Between Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood are two different approaches used to infer phylogenetic relationships, which are the evolutionary relationships between species. The main differences between these two methods are:
- Criterion:
- Maximum parsimony (MP) seeks to find the tree topology that requires the fewest changes in character states to produce the characteristics of the tip species.
- Maximum likelihood (ML) seeks to find the tree topology that confers the highest probability on the observed characteristics of the tip species.
- Estimation:
- MP analyzes few characteristics and minimizes the character changes.
- ML takes both mean and variance into consideration and obtains maximum likelihood estimates.
- Reliability:
- The reliability of MP alone is not adequate to derive a conclusion.
- ML acts as a confirmative test of the results of MP.
- Model Assumptions:
- MP assumes that the model is false, and it presupposes that at least one of the postulates is false, but the test procedure does not say which of them MP assumes is false.
- ML does not require one to adopt an unrealistic process model.
Both methods play an important role in generating phylogenetic trees and are based on genetic data, usually obtained through DNA sequencing or RNA sequencing. However, conclusions should be drawn using both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood, as the two methods can sometimes disagree about which tree is best supported by the observations.
Comparative Table: Maximum Parsimony vs Maximum Likelihood
Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood are two different approaches used in phylogenetic inference. Here is a table summarizing their differences:
| Feature | Maximum Parsimony | Maximum Likelihood |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A technique that constructs a tree with the minimum number of character state changes. | A method that takes both mean and variance into consideration and obtains the maximum likelihood. |
| Goal | Minimizes character changes. | Maximizes the likelihood of the data given the model and parameters. |
| Method | Constructs phylogenetic trees based on genetic data. | Incorporates both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood results to derive conclusions. |
| Reliability | Maximum parsimony alone is not adequate to derive a conclusion. | Maximum likelihood can act as a confirmative test of the results of maximum parsimony. |
Both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods are important in generating phylogenetic trees and are based on genetic data, usually from DNA sequencing or RNA sequencing. These methods are often used together to derive conclusions about the relationships of organisms to their ancestors.
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