READ THE FOLLOWING AND THEN PUSH

THE BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN

TNT stands for Tree Analysis Using New Technology, a new program by Pablo Goloboff, Steve Farris, and Kevin Nixon. It is a program that can analyse large data sets (i.e. 300-500 taxa) in reasonable times (minutes to find a shortest tree, hours to produce a reliable consensus).  For some of the new methods already implemented in TNT, see:

This is a VERY beta version, very far from complete. It has been posted here only for the following reasons:

(1) documenting the algorithms described in Cladistics 15(4)

(2) facilitating analysis of very difficult data sets, for people who can't deal with their data sets using current software (we won't say which software...).

The program is still so preliminary that we do not even expect bug reports at this point (they would be hassle more than help). All we would expect from users are reports of run results with large data sets (i.e. above 100-150 taxa). For some aspects of the analysis, the results will have to be exported to NONA. The macro language is still very incomplete. We anticipate a release of a more polished Beta before 2001. There is still no documentation; only the "help" screen summarizes (some of) the commands.

Additionally, it must be stressed that the program, in its current state, will virtually be of no use for people working with small data sets. The "new technology" algorithms used will produce (on many small data sets) slower analyses than NONA. The difference arises only with large data sets.

There are 5 executables for TNT.   Previously, you needed to download all 5 executables.

Now, we have zipped the 5 executables into a single self-extracting executable called tntextract.exe.  You need to click on this file AFTER you download it by clicking on the link below.

TNT is COPY protected and requires a DIFFERENT password to be run on every machine. When you download and run TNT, the program will request for a password corresponding to a given "serial number." The program cannot be run without this password. If you think your analysis requires a program like TNT, send Pablo Goloboff ( instlillo@infovia.com.ar ) an email, briefly stating the reasons why you want to use the program, and stating that you understand this is a very beta version which we are distributing only to assist people in their analyses (TNT is not being posted up "just for the curious").

When writing to Pablo, include "para Pablo Goloboff" in the subject field of your email; this is a shared account.

NOTE: in this version, data files MUST be in the same directory with the program. Uninformative characters may cause problems during searches; until this bug is solved, it's better to eliminate them (e.g. using NONA or Winclada).