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OUCH: Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models
for phylogenetic Comparative hypotHeses

OUCH: Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models for Comparative hypotHeses

OUCH is a package for phylogenetic comparative analysis. Ongoing support for the package will primarily be in the R language (www.r-project.org), but a MATLAB (www.mathworks.com) version of the basic functionality exists as well. Most of the functions in the MATLAB version will run under the free software package octave (www.octave.org).

The method is based on the ideas of Thomas F. Hansen (see T. F. Hansen, 1997. Stabilizing selection and the comparative analysis of adaptation. Evolution, 51:1341-1351). It is explained fully in

Butler, M.A. and A.A. King, 2004. Phylogenetic comparative analysis: a modeling approach for adaptive evolution. American Naturalist 164:683-695.

Reprints are available on request from the authors (write to <mabutler at utk dot edu> or <kingaa at umich dot edu>). The appendix for this paper, in which the mathematical underpinnings are explained, is provided here (in PDF).

Visit the authors' websites by going to http://tsuga.biology.lsa.umich.edu/king or http://www2.hawaii.edu/~mbutler.