Campbell: Biology Twelfth Edition Chapter 26 - Phylogeny and the Tree of Life

This set of flashcards covers key concepts from Chapter 26 on phylogeny and the classification of life.

Phylogeny

The evolutionary history of a species or group of related species.

Systematics

A discipline focused on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships.

Binomial nomenclature

A system of taxonomy that uses two-part names for species, consisting of genus and specific epithet.

Genus

The first part of the binomial name, indicating the group to which a species belongs.

Specific epithet

The second part of the binomial name, unique for each species within the genus.

Taxon

A group at any level of the hierarchy in classification.

Monophyletic group (clade)

A group consisting of an ancestor and all of its descendants.

Paraphyletic group

A group consisting of an ancestor and some, but not all, of its descendants.

Polyphyletic group

A group that includes distantly related species but not their most recent common ancestor.

Homology

Similarity due to shared ancestry.

Analogy

Similarity due to convergent evolution, not shared ancestry.

Horizontal gene transfer

The movement of genes from one genome to another, often across species.

Molecular clock

A method used to estimate the time of evolutionary change based on mutation rates in DNA.

Cladistics

A method of classifying organisms based on common ancestry and evolutionary relationships.

Evolutionary lineage

A sequence of species, each of which is considered to have evolved from its predecessors.

Phenotypic similarities

Similarities in physical traits due to shared ancestry.

Ribosomal RNA

A type of RNA that is common in organisms, used to detect ancient relationships due to its slow rate of evolution.

Eukarya

The domain comprising all organisms with complex cells containing a nucleus.

Prokaryotes

Single-celled organisms without a nucleus, classified into domains Bacteria and Archaea.

Three-domain system

A classification system that includes Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya, based on genetic and molecular data.

Phenotypic complexity

The variety of forms and functions seen among organisms, which does not correlate directly with gene number.