Chapter 12 Vocabulary Flashcards
Analogous structure
A character found in two taxa that looks similar because of convergent evolution, not because of descent from a common ancestor.
Binomial nomenclature
A system of two-part scientific names for an organism, which includes genus and species names.
Branch point
A point on a phylogenic tree where a single lineage splits to distinct new ones.
Clade
A group of taxa with the same set of shared derived characters, including an ancestral species and all its descendants.
Cladistics
A method used to organize homologous traits to describe phylogenies using common descendent as the primary criterion used to classify organisms.
Class
The category in the taxonomic classification system that falls within phylum and includes orders.
Domain
The highest level category in the classification system and that includes all taxonomic classifications below it; it is the most inclusive taxon.
Family
The category in the taxonomic classifications system that falls within order and includes genera.
Genus
The category in the taxonomic classification system that falls within family and includes species; the first part of the scientific name.
Kingdom
The category in the taxonomic classification system that falls within the domain and includes phyla.
Maximum parsimony
The category in the taxonomic classification system that falls within family and includes species; the first part of the scientific name.
Molecular systematics
The methods of using molecular evidence to identify phylogenetic relationships.
Monophyletic group
(also clade) organisms that share a single ancestor.
Order
The category in the taxonomic classification system that falls within class and includes families.
Phylogenic tree
Diagram used to reflect the evolutionary relationships between organisms or groups of organisms.
Phylogeny
Evolutionary history and relationship of an organism or group of organisms.
Phylum
The category in the taxonomic classification system that falls within kingdom and includes classes.
Rooted
Describing a phylogenic tree with a single ancestral lineage to which all organisms represented in the diagram relate.
Shared ancestral character
A character on a phylogenic branch that is shared by a particular clade.
Shared derived character
A character on a phylogenic tree that is shared only by a certain clade of organisms.
Sister taxa
Two lineages that diverged from the same branch point.
Species
The most specific category of classification.
Systematics
The science of determining the evolutionary relationships of organisms.
Taxon
A single level in the taxonomic classification system.
