In [[statistical genetics]], '''Felsenstein's tree-pruning algorithm''' (or '''Felsenstein's tree-peeling algorithm'''), dueattributed to [[Joe_Felsenstein|Joseph Felsenstein]], is an [[algorithm]] for computing the [[likelihood]] of an [[evolutionary tree]] from [[nucleic acid]] sequence data. <ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Felsenstein | first1 = J.| authorlink1 =Joseph Felsenstein| title = Maximum Likelihood and Minimum-Steps Methods for Estimating Evolutionary Trees from Data on Discrete Characters | doi = 10.1093/sysbio/22.3.240 | journal = Systematic Biology | volume = 22 | issue = 3 | pages = 240–249 | year = 1973 | pmid = | pmc = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Felsenstein | first1 = J.| authorlink1 = Joseph Felsenstein| title = Evolutionary trees from DNA sequences: A maximum likelihood approach | doi = 10.1007/BF01734359 | journal = Journal of Molecular Evolution | volume = 17 | issue = 6 | pages = 368–376 | year = 1981 | pmid = 7288891| pmc = }}</ref>
The algorithm is often used as a subroutine in a search for a [[maximum likelihood]] estimate for an evolutionary tree. Further, it can be used in a hypothesis test for whether evolutionary rates are constant (by using [[likelihood ratio test]]s). It can also be used to provide error estimates for the parameters describing an evolutionary tree.
