Random Cladistics, version 3.0. —Mark Siddall. 1995. Computer program available by anonymous ftp from zoo.toronto.edu.
AbstractSyst. Biol. 45(4):610-612, 1996 SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY VOL. 45 Random Cladistics, version 3.O.âMark Siddall. 1995. Computer program available by anonymous ftp from zoo.toronto.edu. Hennig86 (Farris, 1988) is an effective but somewhat dated cladistics program for DOS machines. Random Cladistics 3.0 is a Hennig86 utilities package that gives the program improved functionality. Some Random Cladistics routines involve randomization, but most do not. The name is taken from the paper by Carpenter (1992), but whether in reference to randomization methods or a more or less random selection of methods is unclear. Among routines not involving randomization, Random Cladistics offers removal of uninformative characters, data packing of identically distributed characters, conversion from Hennig86 DNA code (0123 = ACGT) to three-character binary coding, and translation of Hennig86 files or simple #NEXUS files into Rapid Nucleotide Analysis (RNA) (Farris, 1994) format. Three nonpermutation procedures, the Farris et al. (1994, 1995) data congruence test, a taxon jackknife (Lanyon, 1985; Siddall, 1995), and Brooks parsimony analysis (Brooks, 1990), also are offered. Data packing may assist working around the 999 character limit in Hennig86 and will be appreciated by molecular systematists. The character removal routine has similar potential but is less useful for sequence data because it