RRphylo

RRphylo is an R package that introduces a new method, implemented in the function search.conv, for testing morphological convergence in non-ultrametric (paleontological) and ultrametric phylogenies using multivariate data. Based on their phylogenetic distance, the technique assesses whether phylogenetically distant clades are more morphologically similar than expected. It also allows for the incorporation of known phenotypes of the most recent common ancestors of clades using fossil information.

The authors evaluated the power and false positive rate of search.conv through simulations and applied it to three well-known cases of supposed morphological convergence: grazing adaptation in ungulate mandibles, mandibular shape evolution in sabertooth cats, and discrete ecomorphs in Caribbean anoles.