Generalizations on the parsimony question in evolution (Q2562138)

This paper introduces a new set of stability concepts for games and applies them to problems of selecting the best biological evolutionary tree. The formation of a most parsimonious or `minimal evolution' cladistic tree is considered in the context of a decision scheme under the restriction of only one possible character state transition. Any arbitrary parsimony criterion is permitted, and the techniques are shown to be invariant with respect to units for certain parsimony functions. The general case in which different parsimony functions apply to different parts of the decision scheme is developed. A new class of stability concepts extending those of equilibrium points is applied, thus permitting the analysis of biological situations in which the selective pressures of the environment may be relaxed for different periods, or that different evolutionary pathways may be exposed to constraints equivalent to different parsimony functions.