Evolutionary Bioinformatics

¹Department of Computer Science; ²Department of Ecology Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA. ³Department of Biological Sciences and IRMACS, 8888 University Drive, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 Canada.

Abstract: Continuously varying traits such as body size or gene expression level evolve during the history of species or gene lineages. To test hypotheses about the evolution of such traits, the maximum likelihood (ML) method is often used. Here we introduce CoMET (Continuous-character Model Evaluation and Testing), which is module for Mesquite that automates likelihood computations for nine different models of trait evolution. Due to its few restrictions on input data, CoMET is applicable to testing a wide range of character evolution hypotheses. The CoMET homepage, which links to freely available software and more detailed usage instructions, is located at http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/labs/oakley/software/comet.htm.