User:Manudouz/sandbox/Character polarization

The character polarization is used in cladistics to find the transformation relationships among character states. Within an evolutionary context, polarity refers to the direction of character state transformations.^[1]

Polarization uses different assumptions to infer the most probable direction of character transformations.

Outgroup comparison

Most parsimonious

State y

	Character state x

...	Character state y

Character state y

Bla.

Less parsimonious

State y

	Character state x

...	Character state y

Character state y

Bla.

Disambiguation

Polarity (evolutionary biology), direction of transformation between character states Polarity (cellular biology), differences in the shape, structure, and function of cells

In biology

Polarization, finding the transformation between character states
Depolarization and hyperpolarization of neuronal membrane potentials (in neuroscience).

References

^ Bryant, Harold N. (2001). "Chapter 14: Character polarity and the rooting of cladograms". In Wagner, G. P. (ed.). The character concept in evolutionary biology. Academic Press. pp. 319–337. ISBN 0-12-730055-4.

[1] Bryant, Harold N. (2001). "Chapter 14: Character polarity and the rooting of cladograms". In Wagner, G. P. (ed.). The character concept in evolutionary biology. Academic Press. pp. 319–337. ISBN 0-12-730055-4.

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