click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Biology Chpater 17.2
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Systematics | The classification of living organisms in terms of their natural relationships; it includes describing, naming, and classifying the organisms. |
Phylogenetics | The analysis of evolutionary, or ancestral, relationships between taxa. |
Phylogenetic Diagram | A branching diagram that models the relationships by ancestry between different species or other taxonomic groups. |
Cladistics | A phylogenetic classification system that uses shared derived characters and ancestry as the sole criterion for grouping taxa. |
Shared Character | A feature that is shared by all members of a particular group of organisms. |
Derived Character | A feature that evolved only within a particular taxonomic group. |
Clade | A taxonomic grouping that includes only a single ancestor and all of its descendants. |
Cladogram | A diagram that is based on patterns of shared, derived traits and that shows the evolutionary relationships between groups of organism. |