 If phylogenetic inference is seen as a problem in statistical inference, it might be thought that general arguments for ideal statistical methods will just apply in this case. Maximum likelihood or Bayesian methods could be defended on these grounds for example. In this light, parsimony is a statistical method and as such, we can study its statistical properties (Felsenstein 1983, 2004). Anthony Edwards (1996) claims that his initial usage of the “minimum evolution” principle was as an approximation to the maximum likelihood solution which he believed to be justified on general, statistical grounds, i.e., parsimony methods could be assessed as a statistical approach. Since that time, a number of authors have shown exact connections (ordinally equivalent rankings) between parsimony and likelihood in a range of cases (Felsenstein 1973; Sober 1985; Tuffley &amp; Steel 1997; Steel &amp; Penny 2000).