Independent contrasts and regression through the origin

Following the pioneering work of Felsenstein and Garland, phylogeneticists have been using regression through the origin to analyze comparative data using independent contrasts. The reason why regression through the origin must be used with such data was revisited. The demonstration led to the formulation of a permutation test for the coefficient of determination and the regression coefficient estimates in regression through the origin. Simulations were carried out to measure type I error and power of the parametric and permutation tests under two models of data generation: regression models I and II (correlation model). Although regression through the origin assumes model I data, in independent contrast data error is present in the explanatory as well as the response variables. Two forms of permutations were investigated to test the regression coefficients: permutation of the values of the response variable y, and permutation of the residuals of the regression model. The simulations showed that the parametric tests or any of the permutation tests can be used when the error is normal, which is the usual assumption in independent contrast studies; only the test by permutation of y should be used when the error is highly asymmetric; and the parametric tests should be used when extreme values are present in covariables. Two examples are presented. The first one concerns non-specificity in fish parasites of the genus Lamellodiscus, the second the richness in parasites in 78 species of mammals.