A3.2 Cladistics (HL)

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to biodiversity and cladistics for exam preparation.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in the world or a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Cladistics

A classification method that groups organisms based on common ancestry and evolutionary relationships.

Taxon

The taxonomic group of any rank, such as species, family, or class.

Phylogenetics

The study of evolutionary relationships among biological species.

Clade

A group of organisms that includes an ancestor and all its descendants.

Mitochondrial DNA

DNA that is inherited maternally and used to trace lineage and evolutionary relationships.

Cladogram

A diagram that shows the evolutionary relationships among a group of organisms.

Molecular clock

A method for estimating the time of divergence between species based on the rate of molecular evolution.

Analogous structures

Structures in different species that perform similar functions but do not share a common ancestry.

Homology

The existence of shared ancestry between a pair of structures, or genes, in different taxa.