Mossel, ElchananRoch, Sebastien2023-05-232023-05-232013-10-012016-07-11https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/47939Mutation rate variation across loci is well known to cause difficulties, notably identifiability issues, in the reconstruction of evolutionary trees from molecular sequences. Here we introduce a new approach for estimating general rates-across-sites models. Our results imply, in particular, that large phylogenies are typically identifiable under rate variation. We also derive sequence-length requirements for high-probability reconstruction. Our main contribution is a novel algorithm that clusters sites according to their mutation rate. Following this site clustering step, standard reconstruction techniques can be used to recover the phylogeny. Our results rely on a basic insight: that, for large trees, certain site statistics experience concentration-of-measure phenomena.The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s00285-012-0571-4.phylogenetic reconstructionrates-across-sites modelsconcentration of measureBiostatisticsStatistics and ProbabilityArticle