Alternative phylogenetic methods applied to a five-taxon problem:
Is the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda) more closely related to the Red Panda (Ailurus) or the Brown Bear (Ursus)?

    (1) UPGMA phenogram, equality of branch lengths assumed, (2) Neighbor-Joining, with inferred distances along each branch, (3) NJ Radiation phenogram, without implicit rooting, (4) Maximum Parsimony, with inferred number of SNP changes along each branch, and (5) Maximum Likelihood, with probabilities of changes along each branch.

Note that NJ and NJ unrooted networks have the same topology. Note that NJ distances and MP numbers are roughly the same values on terminal branches, but.

UPGMAUPGMANJNJ rooted
NJ
unrootedNJ
          unrooted
MPMPMLML


Figures & Text ©2021 by  Steven M. Carr