The relationship between morphometrics and phylogenetic analysis has long been controversial. Here we propose an approach that is based on mapping morphometric traits onto phylogenies derived from other data and thus avoids the pitfalls encountered by previous studies. This method treats shape as a single, multidimensional character. We propose a test for the presence of a phylogenetic signal in morphometric data, which simulates the null hypothesis of the complete absence of phylogenetic structure by permutation of the shape data among the terminal taxa. We also propose 2 measures of the fit of morphometric data to the phylogeny that are direct extensions of the consistency index and retention index used in traditional cladistics. We apply these methods to a small study of the evolution of wing shape in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup, for which a very strongly supported phylogeny is available. This case study reveals a significant phylogenetic signal and a relatively low degree of homoplasy. Despite the low homoplasy, the shortest tree computed from landmark data on wing shape is inconsistent with the well-supported phylogenetic tree from molecular data, underscoring that morphometric data may not provide reliable information for inferring phylogeny.

中文翻译：

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测试和量化形态学数据中的系统发育信号和同质性

形态计量学和系统发育分析之间的关系长期以来一直存在争议。在这里，我们提出了一种方法，该方法基于将形态特征映射到来自其他数据的系统发育上，从而避免了以前研究中遇到的陷阱。此方法将形状视为单个多维字符。我们建议对形态测量数据中系统发育信号的存在进行测试，该测试通过排列末端分类群之间的形状数据来模拟完全不存在系统发育结构的零假设。我们还提出了两种形态测量数据与系统发育拟合的度量，它们是传统分支学中使用的一致性指数和保留指数的直接扩展。我们将这些方法应用于对黑腹果蝇亚群翅膀形状进化的小型研究，对此有非常强烈支持的系统发育。该案例研究揭示了显着的系统发育信号和相对较低的同质性。尽管同质性较低，但根据翼形标志性数据计算出的最短树与分子数据中得到充分支持的系统发育树不一致，强调形态测量数据可能无法为推断系统发育提供可靠信息。