Early evolution without a tree of life.

Biol Direct · 2011 · PMC3158116 · PMID 21714942

Europe PMC DOI

hedged sentence

—

closest p

—

boldest claim

The sentences

a statistical trendno p-value reported

Yes, evolution of eukaryotes is more tree-like than evolution of prokaryotes (due in large part to meiosis and regular sex in most groups) but the general description is the same: the TOL is not an overarching pattern but a statistical trend and in that form is real and useful.

also in 1,573 other papers

Quoted from the open-access full text in Europe PMC under the licence the publisher applied. The sentence is reproduced exactly as published; the emphasis is ours.