Phylogeny And Classification Flashcards
Define phylogeny
The evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms, or a particular feature in an organism
Define systematics
A scientific way of classifying organisms and what their evolutionary relationship is
What is molecular systematics
The study of relationships among individuals and species using molecular genetics - DNA and RNA help to find these
Hint: molecular think DNA and RNA
What is an analogy?
Similarities with structure or behaviour between unrelated species who don’t have a common ancestor.
Think birds and insects both fly but aren’t related!!
Could remember this by a-Na logy. Like ahhhh naaaa its not related
Define Homoplasy
A characteristic thats shared by multiple species but not present in the common ancestor.
Example is an eye that orginitated independatly in many species
Sometimes called convergent evolution
Binomial means…
The way of naming species in Latin
Define hireachial classification
Grouping species into increasingly broad taxonomic categories
Think hireachy.. taxonomy.. therefore it goes Life Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Define clade
A group of organisms that include an ancestral species and all of its descendants
Define cladistics
Organisms are categorised based on shared derived characteristics and resemblance
Define monophylectic
A group of organisms which form a Clade, therefore it includes ancestral species and its descendants.
Think mono is one therefore its one group that is altogether
What is paraphylectic?
Its a monophylectic clade (one group of taxon that have shared derived characters however it excludes some of its descendants
Polyphelitic means….
A group of taxa that includes distantly related species but not a recent common ancestor. Its like a tree branched out with lots of twigs that sits next to another branch close by, however had diverged a long time ago
What is a shared derived character?
A characteristic unique to a particular clade
For example the hair that divides tetrapods from mammals
Shared primitive character means
A characteristic found in the clade, but also in older clade. So its like the grandma characteristic that has been around for a while
Eg a backbone in mammals which make it a vertebrate
What is an outgroup?
A group of organisms who’s evolutionary relationship does not belong to the group being investigated. Its used for comparison in studies!!
Its outside, less important to remember
