BIOL 3501 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Synapomorphy, Polyphyly, Paraphyly
Document Summary
Clades are monophyletic: 1 branch (includes common ancestor and all offspring. Paraphyletic: includes common ancestor but not all offspring. Groups are more closely related if they share a recent common ancestor. Read phylogenetic trees vertically, look at nodes to see which one comes first, whichever comes first is most closely related. Can group trees by physical or molecular (dna sequences) characteristics. Homology: shared traits due to a common ancestor. Homoplasy: shared traits that are not derived from a common ancestor (convergent evolution) Parsimony: the most likely explanation is the one requiring the least amount of change.
