April Marie Wright

This study estimates dicynodont phylogeny using continuous traits under Brownian motion models and finds they contribute different signal compared to discrete traits, leading to different tree topologies.

This paper develops a model to distinguish between punctuated and continuous-time character evolution models using Bayesian analyses of strophomenoid brachiopods, finding support for punctuated models over continuous-time models.

The paper assesses the adequacy of morphological models in phylogenetics using posterior predictive simulations and finds that current Mk model variations perform adequately but no single model is universally best.

The paper evaluates standard parameters for modeling among-character rate variation in Bayesian morphological phylogenetic analyses and offers recommendations.