Reconstructing and Using Phylogenies (chapter 20)

Phylogenic tree

a diagrammatic reconstruction of the history of evolutionary relationships and histories of organisms

Node

The point at which ancestral population splits and no longer interbreeds

taxon

any group with a name

Clade

any taxon that consists of all the evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor

Sister Species

two species that are each others closest relatives

Converse analogous

convergent evoluion

synapomorphy

derived traits that are shared among a group of organisms

convergent evolution

traits that evolved independently in different lineages arose by this phenomenon

analogous

functionally similar structures that have independent evolutionary origins (i.e., wings in bats and birds)

evolutionary reversal

a trait that moves from its derived state back to ancestral state is

Homoplasy

similar traits that are generated by convergent evolution and evolutionary reversals

ingroup

phylogenetic analysis organisms of primary interest

outgroup

species that are closely related to the ingroup but outside fo the ingroup

parsomony

simplest explanation is often the best explanation

parsimony principle

the preferred explanation for observed data is the sinplest explanation

Occam’s Razor

the best explanation is the one that fits the data while making the fewest assumptions

Morphology

presence, size or shape, and other attributes of body parts

Molecular Clock Theory

Molecular changes are constant enough that they can be used to predict divergence times

Binomial nomenclature

a system of naming around the world used to refer to the same organism by the same name

genus

a group of closely related species