Entomology 301 Lecture

Flashcards covering the information from Entomology 301 Lecture 1

Systematics

The study of biological diversity and the relationships among organisms through time.

Phylogeny

A hypothesis of evolutionary relationships among organisms

Phylogenetic tree

A hypothesis based on all of the available data (taxa and characters)

Autapomorphy

uniquely derived character

Synapomorphy

shared derived character

Symplesiomorphy

shared ancestral character

Monophyletic group

A group of organisms which includes the most recent common ancestor of all of its members and all of the descendants of that most recent common ancestor

Paraphyletic group

A group of organisms which includes the most recent common ancestor of all of its members, but not all of the descendants of that most recent common ancestor

Polyphyletic group

A group of organisms which does not include the most recent common ancestor of those organisms; the ancestor does not possess the character shared by members of the group