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The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution

Modern phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used to address questions about macro-level patterns in cultural evolution. These methods can illuminate the unobservable histories of cultural traits and identify the evolutionary drivers of trait change over time, but their application is not with...

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Autores principales: Evans, Cara L., Greenhill, Simon J., Watts, Joseph, List, Johann-Mattis, Botero, Carlos A., Gray, Russell D., Kirby, Kathryn R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8126464/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33993767
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0056
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author Evans, Cara L.
Greenhill, Simon J.
Watts, Joseph
List, Johann-Mattis
Botero, Carlos A.
Gray, Russell D.
Kirby, Kathryn R.
author_facet Evans, Cara L.
Greenhill, Simon J.
Watts, Joseph
List, Johann-Mattis
Botero, Carlos A.
Gray, Russell D.
Kirby, Kathryn R.
author_sort Evans, Cara L.
collection PubMed
description Modern phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used to address questions about macro-level patterns in cultural evolution. These methods can illuminate the unobservable histories of cultural traits and identify the evolutionary drivers of trait change over time, but their application is not without pitfalls. Here, we outline the current scope of research in cultural tree thinking, highlighting a toolkit of best practices to navigate and avoid the pitfalls and ‘abuses' associated with their application. We emphasize two principles that support the appropriate application of phylogenetic methodologies in cross-cultural research: researchers should (1) draw on multiple lines of evidence when deciding if and which types of phylogenetic methods and models are suitable for their cross-cultural data, and (2) carefully consider how different cultural traits might have different evolutionary histories across space and time. When used appropriately phylogenetic methods can provide powerful insights into the processes of evolutionary change that have shaped the broad patterns of human history. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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spelling pubmed-81264642021-06-03 The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution Evans, Cara L. Greenhill, Simon J. Watts, Joseph List, Johann-Mattis Botero, Carlos A. Gray, Russell D. Kirby, Kathryn R. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci Part III: Deciphering the Patterns of Cultural Variation Modern phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used to address questions about macro-level patterns in cultural evolution. These methods can illuminate the unobservable histories of cultural traits and identify the evolutionary drivers of trait change over time, but their application is not without pitfalls. Here, we outline the current scope of research in cultural tree thinking, highlighting a toolkit of best practices to navigate and avoid the pitfalls and ‘abuses' associated with their application. We emphasize two principles that support the appropriate application of phylogenetic methodologies in cross-cultural research: researchers should (1) draw on multiple lines of evidence when deciding if and which types of phylogenetic methods and models are suitable for their cross-cultural data, and (2) carefully consider how different cultural traits might have different evolutionary histories across space and time. When used appropriately phylogenetic methods can provide powerful insights into the processes of evolutionary change that have shaped the broad patterns of human history. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Foundations of cultural evolution'. The Royal Society 2021-07-05 2021-05-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8126464/ /pubmed/33993767 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0056 Text en © 2021 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Part III: Deciphering the Patterns of Cultural Variation
Evans, Cara L.
Greenhill, Simon J.
Watts, Joseph
List, Johann-Mattis
Botero, Carlos A.
Gray, Russell D.
Kirby, Kathryn R.
The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution
title The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution
title_full The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution
title_fullStr The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution
title_full_unstemmed The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution
title_short The uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution
title_sort uses and abuses of tree thinking in cultural evolution
topic Part III: Deciphering the Patterns of Cultural Variation
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8126464/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33993767
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0056
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