20. Phylogeny

Question 1

phylogeny

Answer 1

the evolutionary history of a species or a group of species

Question 2

systematics

Answer 2

a discipline focused on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships

Question 3

taxonomy

Answer 3

how organisms are named and classified

Question 4

binomial nomenclature

Answer 4

the two part format of a Latin scientific name

Question 5

genus

Answer 5

first part of a binomial

Question 6

taxon

Answer 6

the named taxonomic unit at any level of the hierarchy

Question 7

phylogenic tree

Answer 7

a representation of the evolutionary history of a group of organisms

Question 8

branch points

Answer 8

dichotomies in a phylogenic tree that represents the divergence of two evolutionary lineages from a common ancestor

Question 9

sister taxa

Answer 9

groups of organisms that share an immediate common ancestor

Question 10

rooted

Answer 10

a branch point within the tree represents the most recent common ancestor of all taxa in the tree

Question 11

basal taxon

Answer 11

a lineage the diverges early in the history of a group and hence lies on a branch that originates near the common ancestor of the group

Question 12

polytomy

Answer 12

a branch point from which more than two descendant groups emerge

Question 13

homoplasies

Answer 13

analogous structures that arose independently