phylogeneticist

A phylogeneticist is a scientist who studies evolutionary relationships among organisms or genes by constructing and interpreting phylogenetic trees. Their work aims to understand patterns of descent, diversification, and shared ancestry, and to apply these insights to taxonomy, comparative biology, and conservation.

Phylogenetics relies on data from living organisms, including molecular data such as DNA, RNA, and protein sequences, and, when available, morphological characters. Methods to infer trees include maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, and parsimony, often combined with molecular clocks to estimate timing of divergences. Analyses may account for uncertainty and test alternative hypotheses.

Applications span systematics and taxonomy, comparative studies of traits, biogeography, epidemiology, and the tracking of pathogens or crops through evolutionary history. The work often informs classifications, guides conservation priorities, and supports studies of trait evolution and diversification rates.

Typical workflow involves collecting sequence data from repositories such as GenBank, EMBL, or BOLD, aligning sequences, and inferring trees with software like RAxML, IQ-TREE, BEAST, or MrBayes. Results are visualized and interpreted with dedicated tools and integrated with fossil or geological information when available.

Education and career: Phylogeneticists usually hold advanced degrees in biology, bioinformatics, or related fields, with training in statistics and programming. They work in universities, research institutes, museums, conservation organizations, public health agencies, or industry.

Challenges include discordance between gene trees and species trees, incomplete lineage sorting, horizontal gene transfer, and limitations of models and data that can affect tree inference.