This functions resolves a single multifurcation or all multifurcations in a tree in all possible ways. If the input tree has edge lengths, then the resolutions will use internal edges of zero length.
resolveNode(tree,node)
resolveAllNodes(tree)an object of class "phylo".
for resolveNode, the node with a polytomy to resolve.
An object of class "multiPhylo" - or, if the input tree is already fully resolved, an object of class "phylo" indentical to tree.
For resolveNode applied to a multifurcation with n descendants, the number of resolved trees will be equal to the number of possible rooted trees of n taxa. (For instance, three for a trifurcation, 15 for a quadrifurcation, and so on.)
For resolveAllNodes the number of fully resolved trees will be equal to the product of numbers for resolveNode applied to each multifurcation separately. (For instance, 45 for a tree containing one trifurcation and one quadrifurcation.)
Revell, L. J. (2012) phytools: An R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods Ecol. Evol., 3, 217-223.