Interpreting Phylogenetic Trees and Cladograms

Question 1

branching diagram that represents the evolutionary history of a group of
organisms

Answer 1

phylogenetic tree

Question 2

branches in a cladogram are representatives of the relative amount of _____________ between organisms whereas

Answer 2

change or evolutionary time that has occurred

Question 3

branches in a phylogenetic tree can be proportional to the ____

Answer 3

evolutionary time

Question 4

Organisms being classified are found at the tips of the tree’s ______

Answer 4

branches

Question 5

each organism or species is called a ______

Answer 5

taxon

Question 6

Their relationships are depicted in a series of two-way

Answer 6

branch points

Question 7

represent the most common ancestor of the organisms found to the right of the branch points

Answer 7

Branch points

Question 8

groups of organisms that share an immediate common ancestor

Answer 8

sister taxa

Question 9

is a lineage that diverges early in the history of a group

Answer 9

basal taxon (also called an
outgroup)

Question 10

a branch point from which more than two descendant groups emerge

Answer 10

polytomy

Question 11

an approach to systematics wherein common ancestry is the primary criterion used to classify organisms

Answer 11

Cladistics

Question 12

Species are placed into groups called _____

Answer 12

clades

Question 13

major types of clades

Answer 13

monophyletic, paraphyletic and
polyphyletic

Question 14

consists of an ancestral species and all of its descendants

Answer 14

monophyletic group

Question 15

consists of an ancestral species and some, but not all of its descendants

Answer 15

paraphyletic group

Question 16

Characteristics originating in an ancestor of the taxon are __________

Answer 16

shared ancestral characters

Question 17

not found in their ancestors but are present in the descendant taxa are _____

Answer 17

shared derived characters