Microevolution and Phylogeny (ALA week 12)

Shared derived characteristic

a evolutionary novelty unique to a particular clade

Ancestral characteristic

a character that originated in an ancestor of the taxon

Clade

a group of organisms believed to have evolved from common ancestor

Divergent evolution

when two groups of the same species evolve different traits within those groups in order to accommodate for differing environmental and social pressures

Convergent evolution

when organisms that aren’t closely related evolve similar features or behaviors, often as solutions to the same problems

Homoplasy

the development of organs or other bodily structures within different species, which resemble each other and have the same functions, but did not have a common ancestral origin. These organs arise via convergent evolution and are analogous

Explanation for the observation that the nuclear DNA of wolves and domestic dogs has a very high degree of sequence homology? Dogs and wolves….

share a recent common ancestor

Some beetles and flies have antler-like structures on their heads, much like male deer do. The existence of antlers in beetle, fly, and deer species with strong male—male competition is an example of ________.

convergent evolution

Maximum Parsimony

a principle that states that trees require the fewest evolutionary events. It is a method for reconstructing evolutionary trees

sister taxa

are groups that share an immediate common ancestor

Oviparous

ability to lay eggs

The best classification system is that which most closely

reflects evolutionary history