Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-and-computational-biology-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-1/c5/b/solution

Count the number of descendant leaves on each branch during each phylogenetic epoch. From the tips backward, both topologies have branch-size lists during , then during . During , type A has and type B has .
Let be the total length of branches carrying descendant leaves. Adding the relevant phylogenetic epoch durations gives
For example, type A has one external branch and one three-descendant branch throughout , while type B has two two-descendant branches. In either case the total expected branch length is , a useful accounting check. The stem above the common root is excluded because mutations there would be shared by all four samples.

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