The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

with another taxon, namely Crassigyrinus . Panderichthys is not positively correlated with any other taxon, although it is negatively correlated with both Crassigyrinus and Greererpeton . However, bootstrap values for all taxon-pair correlations are low, ranging from 46% to 84% with a median value of 60%; none reaches >90%. The 3D MDS results indicate the same groupings (Figure 4), with an obvious cluster of Devonian tetrapods + Whatcheeria separated from Greererpeton + Crassigyrinus . Panderichthys stands apart from both of these groupings. The 3D stress was 0.157 with minimal stress of 0.104 at four dimensions. The baraminic distance correlation results for Daeschler’s (2006) matrix are summarized in Figure 5. There are three main clusters, comprising (1) the Devonian tetrapods ( Ichthyostega + Acanthostega ), (2) the elpistostegids ( Panderichthys + Tiktaalik + Elpistostege ), and (3) the other fishes ( Glyptolepis + Megalichthys + Gooloogongia + Eusthenopteron ). Each member of Group 1 is negatively correlated with each member of Group 3, although there are no negative correlations between members of Groups 1 and 2. One member of Group 2 ( Tiktaalik ) is negatively correlated with one member of Group 3 ( Glyptolepis ). Bootstrap values range from 47% to 100%, with a median value of 86.5%. The positive correlation between Glyptolepis and Gooloogongia has the lowest bootstrap value (47%); all others were 72% or above. The same groupings are evident in the 3D MDS results (Figure 6), with clear separation between the three clusters. The 3D stress was 0.071 with minimal stress of 0.049 at five dimensions. The baraminic distance correlation results for Ruta’s (2011) matrix are summarized in Figure 7. Two clusters are evident, one comprising all the tetrapods (including the Devonian forms) and another comprising all the fishes (including the elpistostegids). The two clusters are separated by significant negative correlation. Bootstrap values range from 47% to 100%, but are generally good with a median value of 97%. The lowest bootstrap values are associated with the negative correlations between some fishes and tetrapods (e.g. 50% between Gogonasus and Hynerpeton ; 53% between Panderichthys and Crassigyrinus ) and the positive Garner and Asher ◀ Devonian and Carboniferous tetrapodomorphs ▶ 2018 ICC 464 Figure 3. BDC results for Ahlberg and Clack’s (1998) matrix with a subset of 11 taxa, as calculated by BDISTMDS (relevance cutoff 0.75). Closed squares indicate significant, positive BDC; open circles indicate significant, negative BDC. Black symbols indicate bootstrap values >90% in a sample of 100 pseudoreplicates. Grey symbols represent bootstrap values <90%. Figure 4. Three dimensional MDS applied to Ahlberg and Clack’s (1998) matrix with a subset of 11 taxa. Devonian tetrapods are shown in blue, elpistostegids in red and Carboniferous tetrapods in yellow. Figure 5. BDC results for Daeschler et al.’s (2006) whole matrix, as calculated by BDISTMDS (relevance cutoff 0.75). Closed squares indicate significant, positive BDC; open circles indicate significant, negative BDC. Black symbols indicate bootstrap values >90% in a sample of 100 pseudoreplicates. Grey symbols represent bootstrap values <90%. Figure 6. Three dimensional MDS applied to Daeschler et al.’s (2006) whole matrix. Devonian tetrapods are shown in blue, elpistostegids in red and other fishes in black.