  The multispecies coalescent model describes the generation of gene trees from
a rooted metric species tree, and thus provides a framework for the inference
of species trees from sampled gene trees. We prove that the STAR method of Liu
et al., and generalizations of it, are statistically consistent methods of
topological species tree inference under this model. We discuss the impact of
gene tree sampling schemes for species tree inference using generalized STAR
methods, and reinterpret the original STAR as a consensus method based on
clades.
