We recently analyzed the robustness of competing evolution models developed to identify the root of the Tree of Life: 1) An empirical Sankoff parsimony (ESP) model (Harish and Kurland, 2017), which is a nonstationary and directional evolution model; and 2) An a priori ancestor (APA) model (Kim and Caetano-Anollés, 2011) that is a stationary and reversible evolution model. Both Bayesian model selection tests as well as maximum parsimony analyses demonstrate that the ESP model is, overwhelmingly, the better model. Moreover, we showed that the APA model is not only sensitive to artifacts, but also that the underlying assumptions are neither empirically grounded nor biologically realistic.

我们最近分析了为确定生命之树的根而开发的竞争性进化模型的鲁棒性：1）Sankoff简约经验（ESP）模型（Harish和Kurland，2017年），这是一种非平稳的定向进化模型; 2）先验先祖（APA）模型（Kim和Caetano-Anollés，2011），是平稳和可逆的演化模型。贝叶斯模型选择测试和最大简约分析都表明，ESP模型绝对是更好的模型。此外，我们证明了APA模型不仅对人工制品敏感，而且基本假设既不是基于经验的，也不是生物学上的现实。