COMPONENT ANALYSIS: A VALIANT FAILURE?

Abstract

Abstract- Rerent criticisms of component analysis are based on misunderstandings of the relationship between component analysis, parsimony and consensus methods. These criticisms are rebutted, and the appropriateness of applying the Wagner parsimony criterion to the study of biogcography and co-speciation is questioned. An alternative parsimony method, previously applied to mapping gene cladograms onto organism cladograms, is developed.