BIOL214 lecture 10

phylogeny

the evolutionary history of a lineage or lineages

nodes

represent common ancestors for all descendent lineages

clades

a common ancestor and all of its descendents

taxa

can be rotated around nodes and still depict the same relationships 

tip

terminal end of an evolutionary tree, representing species, molecules, or populations being compared

characters

identifiable heritable traits

character states

the condition of the character 

convergent evolution

independent evolution of similar traits in separate lineages

evolutionary reversal

reversion back to an ancestral character state which can happen through mutations 

polytomy

we can’t determine which members of these branches are most closely related

exaptation

describes a shift in the function of a trait during evolution

heterochrony

evolutionary change in forms due to change in rate or timing of developmental events 

paedomorphosis

a change of timing produces a sexually mature adult with juvenile feature