07 + 08 - Phylogeny and the Tree of Life

Flashcards covering key concepts and terminology related to phylogeny and the classification of life.

Taxonomy

The science of identifying, naming, and classifying organisms based on their morphological similarity.

Morphological similarity

Relatedness based on physical characteristics rather than evolutionary history.

Paraphyletic

A group that includes a common ancestor and some of its descendants but not all of them.

Monophyletic

A group that includes a common ancestor and all of its descendants.

Polyphyletic

A classification based on similarities that do not stem from a common ancestor.

Phylogeny

The evolutionary history and relationship of an organism or group of organisms.

Cladistics

A method of classifying species based on shared traits and common ancestry.

Phylogenetic Tree

A diagram that represents the evolutionary relationships among species, inferred from morphological and molecular homologies.

Amniota

A clade that includes animals that do not depend on a water environment for reproduction.

Tetrapoda

A clade of four-limbed vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Gnathostomata

The clade that includes all jawed vertebrates.

Common ancestor

An ancestral species from which multiple species have descended.