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Science 11 November 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5750, pp. 979 - 980
DOI: 10.1126/science.1117727
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Perspectives

EVOLUTION:
The Tree-Thinking Challenge

David A. Baum, Stacey DeWitt Smith, Samuel S. S. Donovan

Phylogenetic trees are widely used to study the relationships among living species and genes. In their Perspective, Baum et al. discuss how it has become apparent that trees are commonly misunderstood, leading to confusion about the concept of common ancestry. Although challenging, tree thinking should be taught as an element of evolution training at all levels.

D. A. Baum and S. D. Smith are in the Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA. E-mail: dbaum{at}wisc.edu; sdsmith4{at}wisc.edu S. S. Donovan is in the Department of Instruction and Learning, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. E-mail: sdonovan{at}pitt.edu

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E-Letters:

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Comment on Tree Thinking
Andrew V. Z. Brower, et al.
Science Online, 22 Mar 2006 [Full text]
Re: Comment on Tree Thinking
David A Baum, et al.
Science Online, 22 Mar 2006 [Full text]

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