Evolution - 5.4 Cladistics Flashcards
what is a clade (understanding)
A clade is a group of organisms that have evolved from a common ancestor
- each clade consists of an ancestral organism and ALL of its evolutionary descendants
- most members of a clade will posses common characteristics (due to their shared evolutionary lineage)
What is a Cladograms (understanding)
Cladograms are tree diagrams that show the most probable sequence of divergence in clades
Evidence for a clade/species (understanding)
Evidence for which species are part of a clade can be obtained from the base sequence of a gene or the corresponding amino acid sequence of a protein
- also includes biomolecules (eg DNA/RNA/protein/cytochromes)
- also includes structural characteristics (eg wings, egg laying)
differences in species and divergence (understanding)
Sequence differences accumulate gradually so there is a positive correlation between the number of differences between two species and the time since they diverged from a common ancestor
traits throughout species (changes in them) (understanding)
Traits can be analogous or homologous
Evidence from cladistics has shown that classification of some groups based on structure did not correspond with the evolutionary origins of a group or species
cladistics definition
it is a new branch of taxonomy that classifies organisms in terms of their place in the evolutionary tree based on chated characteristic with a common ancestor
what organism will have the DNA most SIMILAR to a bird (question from page 24)
= crocodiles because they are very close (= THE DIVERGE AT THE CLOSEST POINT) and have many similar characteristics
what organism will have the DNA most DIFFERENT to a bird (question from page 24)
= sharks because they are very close (= THE DIVERGE AT THE FUREREST POINT) and do not have many similar characteristics
main groups of primates
- prosimians
- New world monkeys
- old world monkeys
- hominoids
1) apes
2) hominids
examples of hominoids (primate species make closely related to humans)
1) apes
eg. chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons
2) hominids
eg. humans, neanderthal, Australopithecus
relation between number of differences between 2 species and time
sequence differences accumulate gradually so there is a positive correlation between the number of differences between two species and the time since they diverged from a common ancestor
Phylogeny
==> information from this can be used to construct a phylogenetic tree (or clades) based on the genetic difference (%) between different species
” can be described as the relationship between all the organisms on Earth that have descended from a common ancestor, whether they are extinct or extant.”
= it has added to cladistics by using genetic analysis of the genomes to determine the genetic difference between species
significance of Mitochondrial (DNA (mt DNA)) in determining the genetic distance/difference of species
mitochondrial DNA (aka the Y chromosome DNA) can be used to determine the genetic distance between species
= as: all cells in our body began from the egg cell, then the mitochondrial DNA in our cells came from our MOTHER, our GRANDMOTHER etc - ie its passed down throughout the maternal ancestral line
- the mitochondrial DNA is not affected by the sperm = it mutates at a constant rate
Mitochondrial (DNA (mt DNA)) is not in bacteria and viruses so for evidence we use:
their main DNA strand
details on Cladograms (NODES)
Nodes – Each node corresponds to a hypothetical common ancestor that speciated to give rise to two (or more) daughter taxa
details on cladograms (ROOT)
Root – The initial ancestor common to all organisms within the cladogram (incoming line shows it originates from a larger clade)
details on cladograms (OUTGROUP)
Outgroup – The most distantly related species in the cladogram which functions as a point of comparison and reference group
details on cladograms (CLADES)
Clades – A common ancestor and all of its descendants (i.e. a node and all of its connected branches)
steps to constructing a cladogram (Using Structural Evidence)
https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-5-evolution-and-biodi/54-cladistics/cladograms.html
- Organise selected organisms according to defined characteristics
- Sequentially order organisms according to shared characteristics to construct a cladogram