LT Quiz Phylogenetic Trees

What does a phylogenetic tree represent?

represents a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships

What does each branch point represent?

the divergence of two evolutionary lineages from a common ancestor

What are sister taxa?

are groups that share an immediate common ancestor that is not shared by any other group

What is the outgroup?

a species or group of species that is closely related to the ingroup, the various species being studied, and the group that has diverged before the ingroup.

What do systematists compare?

each ingroup species with the outgroup to differentiate between shared derived and shared ancestral characters.