Publications

Mike Steel

See some of my co-authors hard at work (mostly in the South Island of New Zealand).

Disclaimer: The listing of papers on this webpage is for my own use. Some of these files are probably covered by publisher copyrights. Please ensure that your institution has the appropriate subscription before reading any of these .pdfs.

Selected publications (non-phylogenetic)

• Autocatalytic Networks
• Discrete Mathematics
• Probability and Philosophy

All publications

In press/submitted

- last updated May 16, 2025

315. Fuchs, M, and Steel, M. (2025). Predicting the depth of the most recent common ancestor of a random sample of k species: the impact of phylogenetic tree shape. arXiv. abstract
314. Fuchs, M, and Steel, M. (2025). The asymptotic distribution of the k-Robinson-Foulds dissimilarity measure on labelled trees. arXiv. abstract
313. Bremer, N., Martin, W.F. and Steel, M. (2024) The probability of a unique gene occurrence at the tips of a phylogenetic tree in the absence of horizontal gene transfer (the last-one-out). FEMS Microbiology Letters (in press). bioRxiv. abstract

2025

312. Fuchs, M., Steel, M. & Zhang, Q. (2025) Asymptotic Enumeration of Normal and Hybridization Networks via Tree Decoration. Bull. Math. Biol. 87, 69. doi: 10.1007/s11538-025-01444-y abstract
311. Rosenberg, N.A., Stadler, T. and Steel, M. (2025). A mathematical theory of evolution: phylogenetic models dating back 100 years. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. 380: 20230297. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0297
310. Steel, M. (2024). Neutral phylogenetic models and their role in tree-based biodiversity measures. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. B 380:20230308. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0297 abstract
309. Heiss, J., Huson, D. H., and Steel, M. (2025). Transformations to simplify phylogenetic networks. Bull. Math. Biol. 87: 20 doi:10.1007/s11538-024-01398-7. abstract

2024

308. Bienvenu, F., Steel, M. (2024). 0–1 Laws for Pattern Occurrences in Phylogenetic Trees and Networks. Bull Math Biol 86, 94. doi: 10.1007/s11538-024-01316-x. abstract
307. Snir, S., Wolf, Y., Brezner, S., Koonin, E., Steel, M. (2024). On the Distribution of Synteny Blocks Under a Neutral Model of Genome Dynamics. In: Scornavacca, C., Hernández-Rosales, M. (eds) Comparative Genomics. RECOMB-CG 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14616. Springer, Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-58072-7_9
306. Huson, D., Xavier, J. C., and Steel, M. (2024). Self-generating autocatalytic networks: structural results, algorithms, and their relevance to early biochemistry. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Article ID:20230732. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2023.0732. abstract
305. Rosindell, J., Manson, K., Gumbs, R., Pearse, W. D., and Steel, M. (2024). Phylogenetic Biodiversity Metrics Should Account for Both Accumulation and Attrition of Evolutionary Heritage. Systematic Biology, 73(1), 158–182, doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syad072. abstract
304. Huson, D. H., Xavier, J. C. (2024). CatReNet: interactive analysis of (auto-)catalytic reaction networks. Bioinformatics, 40(8), btae515, doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btae515 abstract
303. Francis, A., Marchei, D., and Steel, M. (2024). Phylogenetic network classes through the lens of expanding covers. Journal of Mathematical Biology 88, 58. doi: 10.1007/s00285-024-02075-y. abstract

2023

302. Steel, M. (2023). Interior operators and their relationship to autocatalytic networks. Acta Biotheoretica 71 (21). abstract
301. Katriel, G., Mahanaymi, U., Koutschan, C., Zeilberger, D., Steel, M. and Snir, S. (2023). Gene Transfer-based Phylogenetics: Analytical Expressions and Additivity via Birth–Death Theory. Proceedings of ISBRA 2023 LNBI 14248 (X. Guo et al. (Ed.s). pp. 120–135. BioRxiv. abstract
300. Francis, A. and Steel, M. (2023) Labelleable phylogenetic networks. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 85, 46. doi: 10.1101/2023.02.09.527917. abstract
299. Manson, K. and Steel, M. (2023). Spaces of phylogenetic diversity indices: combinatorial and geometric properties. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 85, 78. DOI: 10.1007/s11538-023-01183-y. abstract
298. Overwater, M., Pelletier, D. & Steel, M. (2023). The expected loss of feature diversity (versus phylogenetic diversity) following rapid extinction at the present. J. Math. Biol. 87, 53. DOI: 10.1007/s00285-023-01988-4. abstract
297. Bocharov, S., Harris, S., Kominek, E., Mooers, A. O. and Steel, M. (2023). Predicting long pendant edges in model phylogenies, with applications to biodiversity and tree inference. Systematic Biology 72(3): 575-589, doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syac059. abstract
296. Gumbs, R., Gray, C.L., Böhm, M., Burfield, I.J., Couchman, O.R., Faith, D.P., et al. (2023). The EDGE2 protocol: Advancing the prioritisation of Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species for practical conservation action. PLoS Biol. 21(2): e3001991, doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001991. abstract

2022

295. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. (2022). Autocatalytic sets arising in a combinatorial model of chemical evolution. Life 12(11), 1703. abstract
294. Gabora, L. & Steel, M. (2022) From uncertainty to insight: An autocatalytic framework. In: Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity, Learning and Development (Beghetto, R. & Jaeger, G., Eds.), 125-156, Berlin: Springer
293. Mehta, R. S., Steel, M. and Rosenberg, N. A. (2022). The probability of joint monophyly of all species in an arbitrary species tree. Journal of Computational Biology 29(7): 679-703. doi: 10.1089/cmb.2021.0647.
292. Manson, K. Semple, S. and Steel, M. (2022). Counting and optimising maximum phylogenetic diversity sets. Journal of Mathematical Biology 85:11
291. Gabora, L., Beckage, N. and Steel, M. (2022). An autocatalytic network model of conceptual change. Topics in cognitive Science 14: 163-188, doi: 10.1111/tops.12583.
290. Wertheim, J. O., Steel, M. and Sanderson, M. J. (2022). Accuracy in near-perfect virus phylogenies. Systematic Biology 71(2): 426-438, doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syab069. bioRxiv. abstract
289. Bienvenu, F., Lambert, A. and Steel, M. (2022). Combinatorial and stochastic properties of ranked tree-child networks. arxiv. Random Structures and Algorithms 60(4): 653-689. doi.org/10.1002/rsa.21048. abstract

2021

288. Weller-Davies, O., Steel, M. and Hein, J. (2021) Combinatorics of polymer-based models of early metabolism. SIAM Journal of Discrete Mathematics 35 (4): 2304-2316 abstract
287. Gabora, L and Steel, M. (2021). An evolutionary process without variation and selection. J. R. Soc. Interface 18: 20210334. BioRxiv. abstract
286. Francis, A., Huson, D. and Steel, M. (2021) Normalising phylogenetic networks. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 163: 107215. arxiv. abstract
285. Susko, E., Steel, M., and Roger, A. J. (2021). Conditions under which distributions of edge length ratios on phylogenetic trees can be used to order evolutionary events. Journal of Theoretical Biology 526: 110788. bioRxiv. abstract
284. Steel, M. (2021). Modelling aspects of consciousness: a topological perspective. Journal of Theoretical Biology 523: 110713, doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110713. abstract
283. Wicke, K., Mooers, A. and Mike Steel (2021). Formal Links between Feature Diversity and Phylogenetic Diversity. Systematic Biology, 70(3): 480-490, doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syaa062. abstract
282. Kauffman, S. and Steel, M. (2021). The expected number of viable autocatalytic sets in chemical reaction systems. Artificial Life 27:1-14, doi: artl_a_00333. abstract
281. Bai, A., Erdös, P.L., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2021). Defining phylogenetic networks using ancestral profiles. Mathematical Biosciences, 332: 108537. abstract

2020

280. Sanderson, M.J. McMahon, M.M. and Steel, M. (2020). Terraces in gene tree reconciliation-based species tree inference. bioRxiv. abstract
279. Gabora, L. and Steel, M. (2020). A model of the transition to behavioral and cognitive modernity using reflexively autocatalytic networks. J. R. Soc. Interface.1720200545, doi: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0545. abstract
278. Gabora, L. and Steel, M. (2020). Modeling a cognitive transition at the origin of cultural evolution using autocatalytic networks. Cognitive Science. 44(9): e12878, doi: 10.1111/cogs.12878. abstract
277. Steel, M., Xavier, J. C., and Huson, D. H. (2020). The structure of autocatalytic networks, with application to early biochemistry. J. Royal Society Interface, 17: 20200488, doi: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0488. abstract
276. Weller-Davies, O., Steel, M. and Hein, J. (2020) Complexity results for autocatalytic network models. Mathematical Biosciences. 325(2020): 108365. abstract
275. Xavier, J. C., Hordijk, W., Kauffman, S., Steel M. and Martin, W. F. (2020). Autocatalytic chemical networks at the origin of metabolism. Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 287: 2019237, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2377. abstract
274. Wicke, K. and Steel, M. (2020). Combinatorial properties of phylogenetic diversity indices for rooted and unrooted trees. J. Math. Biol. 80: 687-715. abstract
273. Steel, M., Hordijk, W. and Kauffman, S. (2020). Dynamics of a birth-death process based on combinatorial innovation. J. Theor. Biol. 491: 110187. abstract
272. Steel, M. (2020). Lambert and Stadler (2013): A unifying framework for modelling evolutionary trees. Theor. Pop. Biol. 133: 38-39. first paragraph
271. Gascuel, O. and Steel, M. (2020). A Darwinian uncertainty principle. Systematic Biology, 69(3): 521-529 (https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syz054), abstract

2019

270. Huson, D. H., Albrecht, B., Patz, S. and Steel, M. (2020). Anti-consensus: detecting trees that have an evolutionary signal that is lost in consensus. BioRxiv. https://dx.doi.org/10.1101/706416, abstract
269. Sevillya, G. Lerner, Y., Doerr, D., Stoye, J., Steel, M., and Snir, S. (2019). Horizontal Gene Transfer Phylogenetics: A Random Walk Approach. Mol. Biol. Evol. 37(5): 1470-1479, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz302, abstract
268. Stadler, T. and Steel, M. (2019). Swapping birth and death: Symmetries and transformations in phylodynamic models. Systematic Biology, Volume 68(5): 852-858. abstract
267. Erdös, P. L., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2019). A class of phylogenetic networks reconstructable from ancestral profiles. Mathematical Biosciences, 313: 33-40. abstract
266. L. Herbst, T. Li and M. Steel. (2019). Quantifying the accuracy of ancestral state prediction in a phylogenetic tree under maximum parsimony. J. Math. Biol. 78:1953-1979. abstract
265. Hoppe, A., Türpitz, S. and Steel, M. (2019). Species notions that combine phylogenetic trees and phenotypic partitions. Journal of Mathematical Biology 78:117-134 abstract
264. Pons, J. C., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2019). Tree-based networks: characterisations, metrics, and support trees. Journal of Mathematical Biology 78(4): 899-918. abstract
263. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. A. (2019). Molecular Diversity Required for the Formation of Autocatalytic Sets. Life 9: 23. abstract
262. Huber, K. T., Moulton, V. and Steel, M. (2019). Phylogenetic flexibility via Hall-type inequalities and submodularity. Bull. Math. Biol. 81(2): 598-617. abstract
261. Steel, M., Hordijk, W. and Xavier, J. C. (2019). Autocatalytic networks in biology: structural theory and algorithms. J. Royal Society Interface 16: 20180808. abstract, supplementary material

2018

260. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2018). Autocatalytic networks at the basis of life's origin and organization. Life 8(4): 62. abstract
259. Bordewich, M., Deutschmann, I. M., Fischer, M., Kasbohm, E., Semple, C., Steel, M. (2018). On the information content of discrete phylogenetic characters. J. Math. Biol. 77(3): 527-544. abstract
258. Grunewald, S., Huber, K. T., Moulton, V., and Steel, M. Combinatorial properties of triplet covers for binary trees. Adv. Appl. Math. 99: 59-82. abstract
257. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Dittrich, P. (2018). Autocatalytic sets and chemical organizations: Modeling self-sustaining reaction networks at the origin of life. New Journal of Physics 20:015011. abstract
256. Steel, M., Pourfaraj, V., Chaudhary, A. and Mooers, A. (2018). Evolutionary isolation and phylogenetic diversity loss under random extinction events. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 438: 151-155. abstract
255. Francis, A., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2018). New characterisations of tree-based networks and proximity measures. Adv. Appl. Math. 93: 93-107. abstract
254. Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. (2018). A note on random catalytic branching processes. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 437: 222-224. abstract

2017

253. Huber, K. T., Moulton, V. and Steel, M. (2017). Minimum triplet covers of binary phylogenetic X-trees. J. Math. Biol. 75: 1827-1840. abstract
252. Gabora, L. and Steel, M. (2017), Autocatalytic networks in cognition and the origin of culture. J. Theor. Biol. 431: 87-95. abstract
251. Bryant, D., Francis, A. and Steel, M. (2017). Can we "future-proof" consensus trees? Syst. Biol. 66(4): 611-619. abstract
250. Casanellas, M. and Steel, M. (2017), Phylogenetic mixtures and linear invariants for equal input models J. Math. Biol., 74(5): 1107-1138. abstract
249. Huson, D. H., Steel, M., El-Hadidi, M., Mitra, S., Silke, P. and Willmann, M. (2017). A simple statistical test of taxonomic or functional homogeneity using replicated microbiome sequencing samples. Journal of Biotechnology, 250: 45-50. abstract
248. Steel, M. and Leuenberger, C. (2017). The optimal rate for resolving a near-polytomy in a phylogeny. J. Theor. Biol., 420: 174-179. abstract
247. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2017). Chasing the tail: The emergence of autocatalytic networks. Biosystems, 152:1-10. abstract
246. Matschiner, M., Musilová, Z., Barth, J. M. I., Starostová, Z., Salzburger, W., Steel, M. and Bouckaert, R. (2017). Bayesian phylogenetic estimation of clade ages supports trans-atlantic dispersal of cichlid fishes, Systematic Biology, 66 (1): 3-22. abstract
245. Sober, E. and Steel, M. (2017). Similarities as Evidence for Common Ancestry — A Likelihood Epistemology. British J. Phil. Sci. 68(3): 617-638. abstract

2016

244. J. V. de Jong, J. C. McLeod, and M. Steel. (2016). Neighbourhoods of phylogenetic trees: exact and asymptotic counts. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, 30(4): 2265-2287. abstract
243. Huber, K. T., Moulton, V., Steel, M. and Wu, T. (2016). Folding and unfolding phylogenetic trees and networks. J. Math. Biol. 73(6): 1761-1780. abstract
242. Steel, M. (2016). Phylogeny: Discrete and random processes in evolution (Book), CBMS-NSF Regional conference series in Applied Mathematics. SIAM. 303 pages. table of contents, 9-page review at SIAM Reviews, 7-page review at Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, errata
241. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2016). Autocatalytic sets in polymer networks with variable catalysis distributions, J. Math. Chem., 54(10): 1997-2021. abstract
240. Mark, S., McLeod, J.C., and Steel, M. (2016). A navigation system for tree space. Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications, 20(2): 247-268. abstract
239. Gascuel, O. and Steel, M. (2016). A 'stochastic safety radius' for distance-based tree reconstruction. Algorithmica, 74: 1386-1403. abstract
238. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2016). Comment on "Tibor Gánti and Robert Rosen" by Athel Cornish-Bowden. J. Theor. Biol., 392: 122-123. introduction

2015

237. Bernstein, D.I., Ho, L.S.T, Long, C., Steel, M. St John, K. and Sullivant, S. (2015). Bounds on the expected size of the maximum agreement subtree. SIAM J Discr. Math. 29(4): 2065-2074. abstract
236. McTavish, E.J., Steel, M. and Holder, M.T. (2015). Twisted trees and inconsistency of tree estimation when gaps are treated as missing data — the impact of model mis-specification in distance corrections. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 93:289-295. abstract
235. Francis, A. and Steel, M. (2015). Which phylogenetic networks are merely trees with additional arcs? Syst. Biol. 64 (5): 768-777. abstract
234. Steel, M. (2015). Self-sustaining autocatalytic networks within open-ended reaction systems. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry, 53(8): 1687-1701. abstract
233. Sanderson, M.J., McMahon, M.M., Stamatakis, A., Zwickl, D.J., and Steel, M. (2015). Impacts of terraces on phylogenetic inference. Systematic Biology 64 (5): 709-726 abstract
232. Hordijk, W., Smith, J. I. and Steel, M. (2015). Algorithms for detecting and analysing autocatalytic sets. Algorithms in Molecular Biology 10: 15. abstract
231. Chor, B. and Steel, M. (2015). Do tree split probabilities determine the branch lengths? J. Theor. Biol. 374: 54-59 abstract
230. Steel, M. (2015). Reflections on the extinction-explosion dichotomy. Theor. Pop. Biol. 101: 61-66. abstract
229. Sober, E. and Steel, M. (2015). How probable is common ancestry according to different evolutionary processes? J. Theor. Biol. 373: 111-116. abstract
228. Gravel, S. and Steel, M. (2015). The existence and abundance of ghost ancestors in biparental populations. Theor. Pop. Biol. 101: 47-53. abstract
227. Scotland, R.W. and Steel, M. (2015). Circumstances in which parsimony but not compatibility will be provably misleading. Systematic Biology 64 (3): 492-504 abstract
226. Francis, A.R. and Steel, M. (2015). Tree-like reticulation networks -- When do tree-like distances also support reticulation evolution? Math. Biosci. 259: 12-19. abstract
225. Hagen, O., Hartmann, K., Steel, M. and Stadler, T. (2015). Age-dependent speciation can explain the shape of empirical phylogenies. Syst. Biol. 64 (3): 432-440 abstract
224. Roch, S. and Steel, M. (2015). Likelihood-based tree reconstruction on a concatenation of aligned sequence data sets can be statistically inconsistent. Theoretical Population Biology, 100: 56-62. abstract
223. Sousa, F.L., Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Martin, W. (2015). Autocatalytic sets in E. coli metabolism. J. Syst. Chem. 6: 4. abstract
222. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2015). Autocatalytic sets and boundaries. J. Syst. Chem. 6:1. DOI 10.1186/s13322-014-0006-2. abstract
221. Molitor, D., Steel, M. and Taylor, A. (2015). The structure of symmetric n-player games when influence and independence collide. Adv. Appl. Math. 62: 15-40. abstract
220. Steel, M. (2015). Capturing a phylogenetic tree when the number of character states varies with the number of leaves. (ArXiV). abstract
219. Steel, M. (2015). A consistency lemma in statistical phylogenetics. (ArXiv). abstract
      

2014

218. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2015). Conditions for evolvability of autocatalytic sets: a formal example and analysis. Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 44(2): 111-124. abstract
217. Mossel, E. and Steel, M. (2014). Majority rule has transition ratio 4 on Yule trees under a 2-state symmetric model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 360: 315-318. abstract
216. Fischer, M., Galla, M., Herbst, L. and Steel, M. (2014). The most parsimonious tree for random data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 80: 165-168. abstract
215. Dress, A., Huber, K. and Steel, M. (2014). A matroid associated with a phylogenetic tree. Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science 16(2): 41-56. abstract
214. Steel, M. and Velasco, J. (2014). Axiomatic opportunities and obstacles for inferring a species tree from gene trees. Syst. Biol. 63(5): 772-778. abstract
213. Steel, M. (2014). Tracing evolutionary links between species. American Mathematical Monthly 121(9): 771-792. abstract
212. Sober, E. and Steel, M. (2014). Time and knowability in evolutionary processes. Philosophy of Science 81(4): 558-579 abstract
211. Huber, K. and Steel, M. (2014). Reconstructing fully-resolved trees from triplet cover distances. Electronic Journal of Combinatorics 21(2): p2.15 abstract
210. Smith, J.I., Steel, M. and Hordijk, W. (2014). Autocatalytic sets in a partitioned biochemical network. Journal of Systems Chemistry 5:2 abstract
209. Gascuel, O. and Steel, M. (2014). Predicting the ancestral character changes in a tree is typically easier than predicting the root state. Systematic Biology. 63(3): 421-435 abstract
208. Hordijk, W., Wills, P. and Steel, M. (2014). Autocatalytic Sets and Biological Specificity. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 76(1): 201-224. abstract

2013

207. Becker, M., Gruenheit, N., Steel, M., Voelckel, C., Deusch,O., Heenan, P.B., McLenachan, P.A., Kardailsky, O., Leigh, J.W. and Lockhart, P.J. (2013). Hybridization may facilitate in situ survival of endemic species through periods of climate change. Nature Climate Change 3, 1039-1043. abstract
206. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman. (2013). The origin of life, evolution, and functional organization. pp. 49-60 in Evolutionary Biology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms, Pierre Pontarotti (Editor), Springer. abstract
205. Steel, M. (2013). Consistency of Bayesian inference of resolved phylogenetic trees. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 336: 246-249. abstract
204. Bapteste, E., van Iersel, L., Janke, A., Kelchner, S., Kelk, S., McInerney, J., Morrison, D., Nakhleh, L., Steel, M., Stougie, L., Whitfield, J. (2013). Networks: Expanding evolutionary thinking. Trends in Genetics 29(8): 439-441. first paragraph
203. Lambert, A. and Steel, M. (2013). Predicting the loss of phylogenetic diversity under non-stationary diversification models. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 337: 111-124. abstract
202. Radel, D., Sand, A. and Steel, M. (2013). Hide and seek: placing and finding an optimal tree for thousands of homoplasy-rich sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 69(3): 1186-1189. abstract
201. Sand, A. and Steel, M. (2013). The standard lateral gene transfer model is statistically consistent for pectinate four-taxon trees. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 335: 295-298. abstract
200. Steel, M., Hordijk, W., and Smith, J. (2013). Minimal autocatalytic networks. Journal of Theoretical Biology 332: 96-107. abstract
199. Zhu, S. and Steel, M. (2013). Does Random Tree Puzzle produce Yule-Harding trees in the many-taxon limit? Mathematical Biosciences. 243: 109-116. abstract
198. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2013). A formal model of autocatalytic sets emerging in an RNA replicator system. J. Systems Chemistry 4:3. abstract
197. Steel, M., Linz, S., Huson, D.H. and Sanderson, M.J. (2013). Identifying a species tree subject to random lateral gene transfer. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 322: 81-93. abstract
196. Sober, E. and Steel, M. (2013). Screening-off and causal incompleteness: a no-go theorem. British J. Philos. Sci. 64(3): 513-550. doi: 10.1093/bjps/axs021. abstract

2012

195. Nelson-Saithi, S., Dagan, T., Landan, G. Janssen, A., Steel, M. McInerney, J.O., Deppenmeier, U. and Martin W.F. (2012). Acquisition of 1,000 eubacterial genes physiologically transformed a methanogen at the origin of Haloarchaea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109: 20537-20542. abstract
194. Martyn, I. and Steel, M. (2012). The impact and interplay of long and short branches on phylogenetic information content. Journal of Theoretical Biology 314: 157-163. abstract
193. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. (2012). The Structure of Autocatalytic Sets: Evolvability, Enablement, and Emergence. Acta Biotheoretica, 60: 379-392. abstract
192. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2012). Autocatalytic Sets Extended: Dynamics, Inhibition, and a Generalization. Journal of Systems Chemistry, 3:5 (12 pp.). abstract
191. Steel M. (2012). Root location in random trees: A polarity property of all sampling consistent phylogenetic models except one. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 65: 345-348. abstract
190. Soubrier, J., Steel, M. Lee, M. Der Sarkissian, C. Guindon, S., Ho, S.Y.W., Cooper, A. (2012). The influence of rate heterogeneity among sites on the time dependence of molecular rates. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29(11): 3345-3358. abstract
189. Dress, A.W.M., Huber, K.T. and Steel, M. (2012). 'Lassoing' a phylogenetic tree I: Basic properties, shellings, and covers. Journal of Mathematical Biology 65(1): 77-105. abstract
188. Bryant, D. and Steel, M. (2012). 'Bureaucratic' set systems, and their role in phylogenetics. Applied Mathematics Letters 25: 1148-1152. abstract
187. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2012). Predicting template-based catalysis rates in a simple catalytic reaction model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 295: 132-138. abstract
186. Stadler, T. and Steel, M. (2012). Distribution of branch lengths and phylogenetic diversity under homogeneous speciation models. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 297: 33-40. abstract
185. Faller, B. and Steel, M. (2012). Trait-dependent extinction leads to greater expected biodiversity loss. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics 26(2): 472-481. abstract
184. Moulton, V. and Steel, M. (2012). The 'Butterfly effect' in Cayley graphs with applications to genomics. Journal of Mathematical Biology, 65(6-7): 1267-1284. abstract
183. Mooers, A., Gascuel, O., Stadler, T., Li, H. and Steel, M. (2012). Branch lengths on Birth-Death trees and the expected loss of phylogenetic diversity. Systematic Biology 61(2): 195-203. abstract

2011

182. Sanderson, M.J., McMahon, M.M. and Steel, M. (2011). Terraces in phylogenetic tree space. Science 333: 448-450. abstract
181. Steel, M. (2011). Can we avoid 'SIN' in the House of 'No Common Mechanism'? Systematic Biology 60(1): 96-109. abstract
180. Sober, E. and Steel, M. (2011). Entropy increase and information loss in Markov models of evolution. Biology and Philosophy 26(2): 223-250. abstract
179. Zhu, S., Degnan, J.H., and Steel, M. (2011). Clades, clans and reciprocal monophyly under neutral evolutionary models. Theoretical Population Biology 79: 220-227. abstract
178. Holder, M.T. and Steel, M. (2011). Estimating phylogenetic trees from pairwise likelihoods and posterior probabilities of substitution counts. Journal of Theoretical Biology 280: 159-166. abstract
177. Hordijk, W., Kauffman, S., and Steel, M. (2011). Required levels of catalysis for the emergence of autocatalytic sets in models of chemical reaction systems. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Special issue: Origin of Life 2011) 12: 3085-3101. abstract
176. Steel, M. (2011). Can maths help us glimpse the future? NZ Science Teacher 126: 6-7(non-peer reviewed). first paragraph

2010

175. van Iersel, L., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2010). Quantifying the extent of lateral gene transfer required to avert a 'Genome of Eden'. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 72: 1783-1798. abstract
174. Steel, M. and Mooers, A. (2010). Expected length of pendant and interior edges of a Yule tree. Applied Mathematics Letters 23(11): 1315-1319. abstract
173. Gascuel, O. and Steel, M. (2010). Inferring ancestral sequences in taxon-rich phylogenies. Mathematical Biosciences, 227: 125-135. abstract
172. Sanderson, M.J., McMahon, M.M. and Steel, M. (2010). Phylogenomics with incomplete taxon coverage: the limits to inference. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10: 155. abstract
171. Dress, A.W.M., Moulton, V., Steel, M. and Wu, T. (2010) Species, clusters and the 'Tree of Life': A graph-theoretic perspective. Journal of Theoretical Biology 265(4): 535-542. abstract
170. Hordijk, W., Hein, J. and Steel, M. (2010). Autocatalytic Sets and the Origin of Life, Entropy 12(7): 1733-1744. abstract
169. Magnuson-Ford, K., Mooers, A., Rioux Paquette S, Steel, M. (2010). Comparing strategies to preserve evolutionary diversity. Journal of Theoretical Biology 266(1): 107-116. abstract
168. Mihaescu, R. and Steel, M. (2010). Logarithmic bounds on the posterior divergence time of two sequences. Applied Mathematics Letters 23: 975-979. abstract
167. Ingram, T. and Steel, M. (2010). Modelling the unpredictability of biodiversity in ecological networks. Journal of Theoretical Biology 264: 1047-1056. abstract
166. Steel, M. and Sanderson, M.J. (2010). Characterizing phylogenetically decisive taxon coverage. Applied Mathematics Letters 23, 82-86. abstract
165. van Iersel, L. Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2010). Locating a tree in a phylogenetic network. Information Processing Letters 110: 1037-1043. abstract
164. Steel, M. and Penny, D. (2010). Origins of life: Common ancestry put to the test. Nature 465: 168-169. abstract
163. Book review of 'The phylogenetic handbook: A practical approach to phylogenetic analysis and hypothesis testing', Biometrics, 66(1): 324-325, 2010. first 2 paragraphs

2009

162. Steel, M. A. and Szekely, L. (2009). Inverting random functions (III): Discrete MLE revisited. Annals of Combinatorics 13(3): 365-382. abstract
161. Dress, A. and Steel, M. (2009). A Hall-type theorem for triplet set systems based on medians in trees. Appl. Math. Lett. 22, 1789-1792. abstract
160. Szekely, L. and Steel, M. (2009). An improved bound on the Maximum Agreement Subtree problem. Applied Mathematics Letters 22: 1778-1780. abstract
159. Bryant, D. and Steel, M. (2009). Computing the distribution of a tree metric. IEEE/ACM Transactions in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 16(3): 420-426. abstract
158. Steel, M. and Faller, B. (2009). Markovian log-supermodularity, and its applications in phylogenetics. Applied Mathematics Letters 22 (7): 1141-1144. abstract
157. Steel, M., Szekely, L. and Mossel, E. (2009). Phylogenetic information complexity: Is testing a tree easier than finding it? Journal of Theoretical Biology 258: 95-102. abstract
156. Steel, M. (2009). The 'Penny Ante': Mathematical biology or biological mathematics?. New Zealand Science Review 66(1): 11-12. first paragraph
155. Semple, C. and Steel, M. (Feb. 2009). Mathematical aspects of the 'Tree of life'. Math Horizons. first paragraph
154. Huson, D., Moulton, V. and Steel, M. (2009). Special Section: Phylogenetics. IEEE/ACM Transactions in computational biology and bioinformatics 6(1): 4-6. ISSN: 1545-5963. first paragraph
153. Mossel, E., Roch, S. and Steel, M. (2009). Shrinkage effect in ancestral maximum likelihood. IEEE/ACM Transactions in computational biology and bioinformatics 6(1): 126-133. ISSN: 1545-5963. abstract
152. Wu, T., Moulton, V., and Steel, M. (2009). Refining phylogenetic trees given additional data: Algorithms based on parsimony. IEEE/ACM Transactions in computational biology and bioinformatics 6(1): 118-125. ISSN: 1545-5963. abstract
151. Fischer, M. and Steel, M. (2009). Sequence length bounds for resolving a deep phylogenetic divergence. Journal of Theoretical Biology 256: 247-252. abstract
150. Steel, M. (2009). A basic limitation on inferring phylogenies by pairwise sequence comparisons. Journal of Theoretical Biology 256: 467-472. abstract

2008

149. Whitfield, J., Cameron, S., Huson, D., and Steel, M. (2008). Filtered z-closure supernetworks for extracting and visualizing recurrent signal from incongruent gene trees. Systematic Biology 57(6): 939-947. first paragraph
148. Huson, D, Moulton, V., Steel, M., Freiberger, M. (2008). Reconstructing the tree of life. PLUS magazine. first 3 paragraphs
147. Gernhard, T., Hartmann, K., and Steel, M. (2008). Stochastic properties of generalised Yule models, with biodiversity applications. Journal of Mathematical Biology 57: 713-735. first paragraph
146. Li, G., Steel, M. and Zhang, L. (2008). More taxa are not necessarily better for the reconstruction of ancestral character states. Systematic Biology 57(4):647-653. abstract
145. Gruenheit, N., Lockhart, P. J., Steel, M. and Martin, W. (2008). Difficulties in testing for covarion-like properties of sequences under the confounding influence of changing proportions of invariable sites. Molecular Biology and Evolution 25: 1512-1520. abstract
144. Gill, J., Linusson, S., Moulton, V. and Steel, M. (2008). A regular decomposition of the edge-product space of phylogenetic trees. Advances in Applied Mathematics 41: 158-176. abstract
143. Matsen, F. A., Mossel, E. and Steel, M. (2008). Mixed-up trees: The structure of phylogenetic mixtures. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 70(4), 1115-1139. abstract
142. Steel, M. and Rodrigo, A. (2008). Maximum likelihood supertrees. Systematic Biology 57(2): 243-250, 2008. abstract
141. Thatte, B. and Steel, M. (2008). Reconstructing pedigrees: A stochastic perspective. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 251(3): 440-449. abstract
140. Fischer, M. and Steel, M. (2008). Expected anomalies in the fossil record. Evolutionary bioinformatics online 4: 61-67. abstract
139. Thierer, T., Bryant, D. and Steel, M. (2008). Counting ancestral reconstructions in a fixed phylogeny, Annals of Combinatorics 12: 123-132. abstract
138. Faller, B. Pardi, F. and Steel, M. (2008) Distribution of phylogenetic diversity under random extinction. Journal of Theoretical Biology 251, 286-296. abstract

2007

137. Steel, M. and Szekely, L. (2007) Teasing apart two trees. Combinatorics, Probability and Computing 16, 903-922. abstract
      
136. Steel, M., Mimoto, A and Mooers, A. O. (2007). Hedging our bets: the expected contribution of species to future phylogenetic diversity. Evolutionary Bioinformatics 3: 237-244. abstract
135. Matsen, F. A. and Steel, M. (2007). Phylogenetic mixtures on a single tree can mimic a tree of another topology. Systematic Biology 56(5): 767-775. abstract
     
     
134. Gascuel, O and Steel, M. (eds). (2007). Reconstructing Evolution: New Mathematical and Computational Advances . Book (340 pp). Oxford University Press. Publication date: June 2007. [Amazon.com: Search inside this book]
133. Hartmann, K. and Steel, M. (2007). Phylogenetic diversity: From combinatorics to ecology. Book chapter for: Reconstructing evolution: New mathematical and computational approaches (eds. O. Gascuel and M. Steel) Oxford University Press. abstract
132. Grunewald, S., Steel, M. and Swenson, M.Shel. (2007). Closure operations in phylogenetics. Mathematical Biosciences 208, 521-537. abstract
     
     
131. Dress, A. and Steel, M. (2007). Phylogenetic diversity over an abelian group Annals of Combinatorics 11, 143-160. abstract
     
     
130. Moulton, V., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2007). Optimizing phylogenetic diversity under constraints. Journal of Theoretical Biology 246, 186-194. abstract
129. Steel, M. and Matsen, E. (2007). The Bayesian 'star paradox' persists for long finite sequences. Molecular Biology and Evolution 24: 1075-1079. abstract
     
     
128. Steel, M. (2007). Tools to construct and study big trees: A mathematical perspective. Chapter 7 (pp. 97-112) in Reconstructing the Tree of Life: Taxonomy and Systematics of Species Rich Taxa (eds. Trevor Hodkinson, John Parnell and Steve Waldren) CRC Press (Taylor and Francis). abstract

2006

127. Gernhard, T., Ford, D., Vos, R. and Steel, M. (2006). Estimating the relative order of speciation or coalescence events on a given phylogeny. Evolutionary Bioinformatics 2: 309-317. abstract
126. Bordewich, M., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2006). Identifying X-trees with few characters. Electronic Journal of Combinatorics 13 #R83 abstract
     
     
125. Steel, M. and Szekely, L. (2006). On the variational distance of two trees, Annals of Applied Probability 16(3): 1563-1575. abstract
     
124. Gascuel, O. and Steel, M. (2006). Neighbor-Joining revealed. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23(11): 1997-2000. abstract
     
123. Huson, D., Steel, M. and Whitfield, J. (2006). Reducing distortion in phylogenetic networks. Proceedings of WABI (Workshop on algorithms in bioinformatics) 2006. P. Buecher and BME Moret (eds). Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics 475, pp. 150-161, Springer-Verlage Berlin Heidelberg. abstract
122. Hartmann, K. and Steel, M. (2006). Maximimizing phylogenetic diversity in biodiverstity conservation: greedy solutions to the Noah's Ark problem. Systematic Biology 55(4), 644-651. abstract
121. Baroni, M. and Steel, M. (2006). Accumulation phylogenies. Annals of Combinatorics 10: 19-30. abstract
     
     
120. Dress, A. and Steel, M. (2006). Mapping edge sets to splits in trees: the path index and parsimony. Annals of Combinatorics 10: 77-96 abstract
     
     
119. Baroni, M., Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2006). Hybrids in real time. Systematic Biology 44(1): 46-56. abstract
     
     
118. Steel, M. and Hein, J. (2006). Reconstructing pedigrees: a combinatorial perspective. Journal of Theoretical Biology 240(3) 360-367. abstract
     
117. Steel, M and Pickett, K. M. (2006). On the impossibility of uniform priors on clade size. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(2), 585-586. abstract
     
     
116. Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2006). Unicyclic networks: compatibility and enumeration. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 3(1), 84-91. abstract
115. M. Steel and D. Penny. (2005). Maximum parsimony and the phylogenetic information in multi-state characters. Pp. 163-178 In Parsimony, phylogeny and genomics (ed. V. Albert), Oxford University Press. abstract

2005

114. P. Lockhart and M. Steel. (2005). A tale of two processes. Systematic Biology, 54(6): 948-951. abstract
     
     
113. M. Steel. (2005). Phylogenetic diversity and the greedy algorithm. Systematic Biology 54(4): 527-529. abstract
     
     
112. D.H. Huson, T. Kloepper, Pete J. Lockhart, Mike Steel. (2005). Reconstruction of reticulate networks from gene trees. RECOMB 2005. LNBI 3500. (S. Miyano et al. eds). pp 233-249. Springer-Verlag Heidelberg. abstract
111. M. Steel. (2005). Should phylogenetic models be trying to 'fit an elephant'? Trends in Genetics 21(6), 307-309. abstract
110. K. Huber, V. Moulton and M. Steel. (2005). Four characters suffice to convexly define a phylogenetic tree. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics 18(4): 835-843. abstract
109. E. Mossel and M. Steel. (2005). How much can evolved characters tell us about the tree that generated them? pp. 384-412 In Mathematics of Evolution and Phylogeny (Olivier Gascuel ed.), Oxford University Press. abstract
108. E. Mossel and M. Steel. (2005). Random biochemical networks and the probability of self-sustaining autocatalysis. Journal of Theoretical Biology 233(3), 327-336. abstract
107. K.T. Huber, V. Moulton, C.Semple and M. Steel. (2005). Recovering a phylogenetic tree using pairwise closure operations. Applied Mathematics Letters 18(3): 361-366. abstract

2004

106. W. Hordijk, and M. Steel. (2004). Detecting autocatalyctic, self-sustaining sets in chemical reaction systems. Journal of Theoretical Biology 227(4): 451-461. abstract
     
     
105. Daniel H. Huson, Tobias Dezulian, Tobias Klöpper, Mike A. Steel. (2004). Phylogenetic Super-Networks from Partial Trees IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. Vol 1(4): 151-158. abstract
104. M. Baroni, C. Semple, and M. Steel. (2004). A framework for representing reticulate evolution. Annals of Combinatorics. Vol 8(4): 391-408. abstract
     
103. D. Huson and M. Steel. (2004). Phylogenetic trees based on gene content. Bioinformatics 20: 2044-2049. abstract
     
102. V. Moulton and M. Steel. (2004). Peeling phylogenetic 'oranges'. Advances in Applied Mathematics 33(4): 710-727. abstract
     
     
101. E. Mossel and M. Steel. (2004). A phase transition for a random cluster model on phylogenetic trees. Mathematical Biosciences. 187: 189-203. abstract
     
100. Semple, C., Daniel, P., Hordijk, W., Page, R.D.M. and Steel, M. (2004). Supertree algorithms for ancestral divergence dates and nested taxa. Bioinformatics 20(15): 2355-2360. abstract
99. J.D. Bashford, P.D. Jarvis, J. Sumner and M. Steel. (2004). U(1) x U(1) x U(1) symmetry of the Kimura 3ST model and phylogenetic branching processes. Journal of Physics (A) 37(8): L81-L89. abstract
98. D. Bryant, C. Semple and M. Steel. (2004). Supertree methods for ancestral dates and other applications. In Phylogenetic Supertrees: Combining information to reveal the tree of life. (O.R.P. Bininda-Emonds ed.) Kluwer. pp. 129-150. abstract
97. C. Semple and M. Steel. (2004). Cyclic permutations and evolutionary trees. Advances in Applied Mathematics 32(4): 669-680. abstract
    
    
96. D. H. Huson and M. Steel. (2004). Distances that perfectly mislead, Systematic Biology 53(2): 327-332. abstract
    
    
95. M. Steel and D. Penny. (2004). Two further links between MP and ML under the Poisson Model. Applied Mathematics Letters 17(7): 785-790. abstract
94. T. Dezulian and M. Steel. (2004). Phylogenetic closure operations and homoplasy-free evolution. In Classification, clustering, and data mining applications (Proceedings of the meeting of the International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS) 2004). (ed. D. Banks, L. House, F.R. McMorris, P. Arabie, and W. Gaul), pp. 395-416. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. abstract
93. Esser et al. (2004). A genome phylogeny for mitochondria among ±-proteobacteria and a predominantly eubacterial ancestry of yeast nuclear genes. Mol.Biol.Evol. 21(9): 1643-1660. abstract
92. M. Steel. (2004). Inferring Phylogenies - an epic worth the wait (Book Review) Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19(4): 173-174. abstract

2003

91. Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2003). Phylogenetics [Book, 250 pages] Oxford University Press (Mathematics and its Applications series, No. 22). [Amazon.com: Search inside this book]
90. D. Bryant, A. McKenzie and M. Steel. (2003). The size of a maximum agreement subtree for random binary trees. In BioConsensus (Dimacs Series in discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science), American Mathematical Society 61: 55-65. abstract

2002

89. Bininda-Emonds, O.R.P., Gittleman, J.L. and Steel, M.A. (2002). The (super) tree of life: procedures, problems, and prospects. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 33: 265-289. abstract
88. Sober, E. and Steel, M. (2002). Testing the hypothesis of common ancestry. J. Theor. Biol. 218: 395-408. abstract
    
87. Steel, M. A. and Szekely, L.A. (2002). Inverting random functions (II): explicit bounds for discrete maximum likelihood estimation, with applications, SIAM J. Discr. Math. 15(4): 562-575. abstract
86. Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2002). A characterisation for a set of partial partitions to define an X-tree, Discrete Mathematics 247: 169-186. abstract
    
85. Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2002). Tree reconstruction from multi-state characters, Adv. Appl. Math. 28(2): 169-184. abstract
    
84. Steel, M. (2002). Some statistical aspects of the maximum parsimony method. In Molecular Systematics and Evolution: Theory and Practice (Ed. R. DeSalle, G. Giribet, W. Wheeler). 125-140, Birkhauser. abstract

2001

83. Steel, M. and Hein, J. (2001). Applying the Thorne-Kishino-Felsenstein model to sequence evolution on a star tree. Applied Mathematics Letters. 14(6): 679-684. abstract
82. Steel, M. and McKenzie, A. (2001). Properties of phylogenetic trees generated by Yule-type speciation models. Mathematical Biosciences 170: 91-112. abstract
    
81. Bryant, D. and Steel, M. (2001). Constructing optimal trees from quartets. Journal of Algorithms, 38: 237-259. abstract
    
80. Allen, B. and Steel, M. (2001). Subtree transfer operations and their induced metrics on evolutionary trees. Annals of Combinatorics 5: 1-13. abstract
79. Meir, A., Moon, J. and Steel, M. (2001). A limiting theorem on 2-coloured trivalent trees. Congressus Numerantium. 150: 43-63. abstract
    
78. Semple, C. and Steel, M.A. (2001). Tree reconstruction via a closure operation on partial splits. pp 126-134, In Computational Biology (proceedings of JOBIM 2000), LNCS 2066, Springer-Verlag. abstract
77. Steel, M. and McKenzie, A. (2001). The "shape" of phylogenies under simple random speciation models. Proceedings of Biological Evolution and Statistical Physics conference, Max Plank Institute (Dresden, 2000), (Book Chapter P. 165-185). Springer. abstract

2000:

76. McKenzie, A. and Steel, M. (2000). Distributions of cherries for two models of trees. Mathematical Biosciences 164: 81-92. abstract
    
75. Steel, M. (2000). Sufficient conditions for two tree reconstruction techniques to succeed on sufficiently long sequences. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics. 14(1):36-48. abstract
74. Semple, C. and Steel, M. (2000). A supertree method for rooted trees. Discrete Applied Mathematics 105: 147-158. abstract
    
73. Moulton, V., Zuker, M. Steel, M., Penny, D. and Pointon, R. (2000). Metrics on RNA Secondary Structures. J. Computational Biology 7(1): 277-292. abstract
    
72. Steel, M. and Penny, D., (2000). Parsimony, likelihood and the role of models in molecular phylogenetics. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17(6): 839-850. abstract
71. Lockhart, P.J., Huson, D., Maier, U. Fraunholz, M. J., Peer, Y. v., Barbrook, A.C., Howe, C. and Steel M.A. (2000). How molecules evolve in Eubacteria. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17(5), 835-838. abstract
70. Steel, M., Huson, D. and Lockhart P.J. (2000). Invariable sites models and their use in phylogeny reconstruction. Systematic Biology 49(2): 225-232. abstract
    
69. Bryant, D., Böcker, S., Dress, A.W.M., and Steel, M. (2000). Algorithmic aspects of tree amalgamation. Journal of Algorithms 37: 522-537. abstract
    
68. Steel, M., Böcker, S., and Dress, A.W.M. (2000). Simple but fundamental limits for supertree and consensus tree methods. Systematic Biology 49(2): 363-368.abstract
67. Meei, N., Steel, M., and Wormald, N. (2000). The difficulty of constructing a leaf-labelled tree including or avoiding given subtrees. Discrete Applied Mathematics 98: 227-235. abstract
66. Steel, M. (2000). The emergence of a self-catalysing structure in abstract origin-of-life models. Applied Mathematics Letters 13 (3): 91-95. abstract

1999:

65. Semple, C. and Steel, M.A. (1999). Tree representations of non-symmetric, group-valued proximities. Advances in Applied Mathematics 23: 300-321. abstract
    
64. Erdös, P.L., Steel, M.A., Székely, L.A. and Warnow, T. (1999). A few logs suffice to build (almost) all trees (Part 2). Theoretical Computer Science 221: 77-118. abstract
63. Steel, M. and Waddell, P.J. (1999). Approximating likelihoods under low but variable rates across sites. Applied Mathematics Letters 12(6): 13-19. abstract
    
62. Moulton V. and Steel, M.A. (1999). Retractions of finite distance functions onto tree metrics. Discrete Applied Mathematics 91:215-233. abstract
    
61. Erdös, P.L., Steel, M.A., Székely, L.A. and Warnow, T. (1999). A few logs suffice to build (almost) all trees (Part 1). Random Structures and Algorithms 14(2):153-184. abstract
60. Böcker, S., Dress, A.W.M., Steel, M. (1999). Patching up X-trees. Annals of Combinatorics 3:1-12. abstract
    
    
59. Steel, M.A., and Székely, L.A. (1999). Inverting random functions. Annals of Combinatorics 3:103-113. abstract

1998:

58. Bonet, M., Steel, M.A., Warnow, T., and Yooseph, S. (1998). Better methods for solving parsimony and compatibility. Journal of Computational Biology 5(3): 391-407. abstract
57. Steel, M.A. Hendy, M.D. and Penny, D. (1998). Reconstructing phylogenies from nucleotide pattern probabilities - a survey and some new results. Discrete Applied Mathematics 88: 367-396. abstract
56. Lockhart, P.J. Steel, M.A., Barbrook, A.C. Huson, D., Charleston, M.A. and Howe, C.J. (1998). A covariotide model explains apparent phylogenetic structure of oxygenic photosynthetic Lineages. Molecular Biology and Evolution 15(9): 1183-1187. abstract

1997:

55. Waddell, P.J. and Steel, M.A. (1997). General time reversible distances with unequal rates across sites. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 8(3): 398-414. abstract
    
54. Tuffley, C. and Steel, M.A. (1997). Modelling the covarion hypothesis of nucleotide substitution. Mathematical Biosciences 147: 63-91. abstract
    
53. Hamel, A. and Steel, M.A. (1997). The length of a random leaf coloration on a random tree. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics. 10: 359-372. abstract
52. Erdös, P.L. , Steel, M., Székeley, L. and Warnow, T. (1997). Local quartet splits of a binary tree imply all quartet splits under one dyadic inference rule. Computers and Artificial Intelligence 16(2): 217-227. abstract
51. Dress, A., Moulton, V. and Steel, M.A. (1997). Trees, taxonomy and strongly compatible multi-state characters. Advances in Applied Mathematics 19(1): 1-30. abstract
50. Tuffley, C. and Steel, M. (1997). Links between maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony under a simple model of site substitution. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 59(3): 581-607. abstract
49. Moulton, V. Steel, M. and Tuffley, C. (1997). Dissimilarity maps and substitution models: some new results. In Mathematical Hierarchies and Biology, DIMACS series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, Vol 37, American Mathematical Society, (Book chapters) abstract

1996:

48. Penny, D. Steel, M.A., Lockhart, P.J. and Hendy, M.D. (1996). Corrected parsimony, minimum evolution and Hadamard conjugations. Systematic Biology 45(4): 596-696.
    
47. Lockhart P.J., Steel M.A. & Larkum A.W.D. (1996). Gene Duplication and the Evolution of Photosynthetic Reaction Centers. FEBS Letters 385: 193-196.
    
46. Baritompa, B. and Steel, M.A. (1996). Bounds on absorption times of directionally biased random sequences. Random Structures and Algorithms 9(3): 279-293. abstract
45. Lockhart, P.J., Larkum, W.D., Steel, M.A., Waddell, P, and Penny, D. (1996). Evolution of chlorophyll and bacteriochlorophyll: The problem of invariant sites in sequence analysis. Proceedings National Academy Sciences, USA, 93: 1930-1934. abstract
44. Steel, M.A., Cooper, A. and Penny, D. (1996). Confidence Intervals for the divergence times of two clades. Systematic Biology 45(2): 127-134. abstract
    
43. Hamel, A. and Steel, M.A. (1996). Finding a maximum compatible tree is NP-hard for sequences and trees. Applied Mathematics Letters 9(2): 55-60. abstract
42. Steel, M., Goldstein, L, and Waterman, M.S. (1996). A central limit theorem for the parsimony length of trees. Advances in Applied Probability 28(4): 1051-1071. abstract

1995:

41. Bryant, D.J. and Steel, M.A. (1995). Extension operations on sets of leaf-labelled trees. Advances in Applied Mathematics 16(4): 425-453. abstract
    
40. Penny, D. Steel, M.A. Waddell, P.J. and Hendy, M.D. (1995). Improved Analyses of Human mtDNA Sequences Support a Recent African Origin for Homo sapiens. Molecular Biology and Evolution 12(5): 863-882. abstract
39. Zabinski, Z. Wood, G. Steel, M.A. and Baritompa, B. (1995). Pure adaptive search for finite global optimization. Mathematical Programming 69: 443-448. abstract
    
38. Bandelt, H.-J. and Steel, M.A. (1995). Symmetric matrices representable by weighted trees over a cancellative abelian monoid. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics 8(4): 517-525. abstract
37. Steel, M.A. and Fu, Y.X. (1995). Classifying and counting linear phylogenetic invariants for the Jukes-Cantor model. Journal of Computational Biology 2(1): 39-47. abstract
36. Steel, M. A. Lockhart, P.J. and Penny, D. (1995). A frequency dependent significance test for parsimony. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 4(1): 64-71. abstract
35. Steel, M.A. and Charleston, M. (1995). Five surprising properties of parsimoniously colored trees. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 57(2): 367-375. abstract
34. Penny, D. Steel, M.A. Lockhart, P.J. and Hendy, M.D. (1995). The role of models in reconstructing evolutionary trees. pp. 211-230. In Models in Phylogeny reconstruction (Oxford University Press, eds. R.W. Scotland, D.J. Siebert, and D.M. Williams ). (Book chapters)

1994:

33. Steel, M.A. (1994). The maximum likelihood point for a phylogenetic tree is not unique. Systematic Biology 43(4): 560-564. abstract
    
32. Székely, L. Erdös, P.L. and Steel, M.A. (1994). The combinatorics of evolutionary trees - a survey. Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing 15: 241-254. abstract
31. Steel, M.A. Székely, L. and Hendy, M.D. (1994). Reconstructing trees when sequence sites evolve at variable rates. Journal of Computational Biology 1(2): 153-163. abstract
30. Lockhart, P.J. Steel, M.A. Penny, D. and Hendy, M.D. (1994). Recovering evolutionary trees under a more realistic model of sequence evolution. Molecular Biology and Evolution 11(4): 605-612. abstract
29. Hendy, M.D., Penny, D. and Steel, M.A. (1994). A discrete Fourier analysis for evolutionary trees. Procedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 91: 3339-3343. abstract
28. Steel, M.A. (1994). Recovering a tree from the leaf colourations it generates under a Markov model. Applied Mathematics Letters 7(2): 19-24. abstract

1993:

27. Steel, M.A. Penny, D. and Hendy, M.D. (1993). Parsimony can be consistent! Systematic Biology 42: 581-587.
    
26. Steel, M.A. Lockhart, P. and Penny, D. (1993). Confidence in evolutionary trees from biological sequence data. Nature 364: 440-442. abstract
    
25. Steel, M.A. and Warnow, T. (1993). Kaikoura tree theorems: computing the maximum agreement subtree. Information Processing Letters 48: 77-82. abstract
24. Steel, M.A. Székely, L. Erdös, P.L. and Waddell, P. (1993). A complete family of phylogenetic invariants for any number of taxa under Kimura's 3ST model. NZ Journal of Botany (conference proceedings) 13(3): 289-296. abstract
23. Wood, G.R. and Steel, M.A. (1993). On a problem of Andersson and Perlman. Statistics and Probability Letters 18: 381-382. abstract
22. Moon, J.W. and Steel, M.A. (1993). A limiting theorem for parsimoniously bicoloured trees. Applied Mathematics Letters 6(4): 5-8. abstract
21. Penny, D. Steel, M.A. and Watson, E. (1993). Trees from languages and genes are very similar. Systematic Biology 42(3): 382-384.
    
20. Székely, L. Steel, M.A. and Erdös, P.L. (1993). Fourier calculus on evolutionary trees. Advances in Applied Mathematics 14: 200-216. abstract
19. Székely, L. Erdös, P.L. Steel, M.A. and Penny, D. (1993). A fourier inversion formula for evolutionary trees. Applied Mathematics Letters 6(2): 13-17. abstract
18. Steel, M.A. and Penny, D. (1993). Distributions of tree comparison metrics - some new results. Systematic Biology 42(2): 126-141. abstract
17. Steel, M.A. (1993). Decompositions of leaf-coloured binary trees. Advances in Applied Mathematics 14(1): 1-24. abstract
16. Steel, M.A. (1993). Distributions on bicoloured binary trees arising from the principle of parsimony. Discrete Applied Mathematics 41(3): 245-261. abstract

1992 - 1988:

15. Steel, M.A. Hendy, M.D., Székely, L. and Erdös, P.L. (1992). Spectral analysis and a closest tree method for genetic sequences. Applied Mathematics Letters 5(6): 63-67. abstract
14. Dress, A. and Steel, M.A. (1992). Convex tree realizations of partitions. Applied Mathematics Letters, 5(3): 3-6. abstract
13. Penny, D. Hendy, M.D. and Steel, M.A. (1992). Progress with methods for constructing evolutionary trees. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 7(3): 73-79.
    
12. Steel, M.A., Hendy, M.D. and Penny, D. (1992). Significance of the length of the shortest tree. Journal of Classification 9: 71-90. abstract
11. Steel, M. (1992). The complexity of reconstructing trees from qualitative characters and subtrees. Journal of Classification 9: 91-116. abstract
10. Penny, D. Hendy, M.D. and Steel, M.A. (1991). Testing the theory of descent. In Phylogenetic Analysis of DNA sequences, (eds. M. Miyamoto and J. Cracraft ) Oxford University Press, 155-183. (Book chapters)
9. Steel, M.A. (1990). Distributions on bicoloured evolutionary trees, (PhD abstract). Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society 41: 159-160. first paragraph
8. Steel, M.A. (1989). Distributions on bicoloured evolutionary trees. PhD Thesis. Massey University. abstract
7. Steel, M. A., Penny, D. and Hendy, M.D. (1988). Loss of information in genetic distances. Nature 336(6195): 118. first 2 paragraphs
6. Steel, M. A. (1988). Distribution of the symmetric difference metric on phylogenetic trees. SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics 1(4): 541-551. abstract
5. Hendy, M.D., Steel, M. A., Penny, D and Henderson, I.M. (1988). Families of trees and consensus. In Classification and Related Methods of Data Analysis (ed. H.H. Bock), Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North Holland). 355-362. (Book chapters). abstract

Papers published in refereed conference proceedings (partial list)

4. Bryant, D. and Steel, M. (1999). Fast algorithms for constructing optimal trees from quartets, Proceedings of SODA (Symposium on Discrete Algorithms), Baltimore, USA.
3. Erdös, P.L., Steel, M.A., Székely, L.A. and Warnow, T. (1997). Constructing big trees from short sequences, ICALP -97 (International Congress on Automata and Language Programming), Bolognia, Italy.
2. Steel, M. Reconstructing evolutionary trees under a variety of Markov-style models. (1995). Proceedings of Phylogeny Workshop, Princeton University (DIMACS Technical Report 95-48): 51-54.
1. McMorris, F.R. and Steel, M.A. (1994). The complexity of the median procedure for binary trees. In Procedings of the International Federation of Classification Societies, 1993, Springer-Verlag, New York. abstract