Chapter 26
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jmaster5090 on June 23, 2010
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38 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Phylogeny | The evolutionary history of a species or group of related species |
| Systematics | A scientific discipline focused on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships |
| Binomial | The two part latinized name of a species consisting of the genus and specific epithet |
| Genus | A taxonomic category above the species level, designated by the first word of a species two part scientific name |
| Family | In classification, the taxonomic category above genus |
| Order | In classification, the taxonomic category above the level of family |
| Class | In classification, the taxonomic category above the level of order |
| Phyla (Phylum) | In classification, the taxonomic category category above class |
| Kingdom | A taxonomic category, the second broadcast after domain |
| Domain | A taxonomic category above the kingdom level. |
| Taxon | A named taxonomic unit at any given level of classification |
| Taxonomy | A scientific discipline concerned with naming and classifying the diverse forms of life |
| Phylogenetic Tree | A branching diagram that represents a hypothesis about the evolutionary history of a group of organisms |
| Phylocode | System of classification of organisms based on evolutionary relationships: Only groups that include a common ancestor and all of its descendants are named |
| Branch Points | The representation on a phylogenetic tree of the divergence of two or more taxa from a common ancestor |
| Sister Taxa | Groups of organisms that share an immediate common ancestor and hence are each other's closest relatives |
| Rooted | Describing a phylogenetic tree that contains a branch point representing the last common ancestor of all taxa in the tree |
| Polytomy | In a phylogenetic tree a branch point from which more than two descendant taxa emerge |
| Analogy | Similarity between two species that is due to convergent evolution rather than to descent from a common ancestor with the same trait |
| Homoplasy | Similar structure or molecular sequence that has evolved independently develops into a bisexual gametophyte |
| Cladistics | An approach to systematics in which organisms are places into groups called clades based primarily on common descent |
| Clades | A group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants |
| Monophyletic | Pertaining to a group of taxa that consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants |
| Paraphyletic | Pertaining to a group of taxa that consists of a common ancestor and some but not all of its descendants |
| Polyphyletic | Pertaining to a group of taxa derived from two or more different ancestors |
| Shared Ancestral Character | A character shared by members of a particular clade, that originated in an ancestor that is not a member of that clade. |
| Shared Derived Character | An evolutionary novelty that is unique to a particular clade. |
| Outgroup | A species or group of species from an evolutionary lineage that is known to have diverged before the lineage that contains the group of species being studied |
| Ingroup | A species or group of species whose evolutionary relations hips we seek to determine |
| Maximum Parsimony | A principle that states when considering multiple explanations for an observation, one should first investigate the simplest explanation that is consistent with the facts |
| Maximum Likelihood | A principle that states that when considering multiple phylogenetic hypotheses, one should take into account the hypothesis that reflects the most likely sequence of evolutionary events, given certain rules about how DNA changes over time |
| Phylogenetic Bracketing | An approach in which features shared by two groups of organisms are predicted to be present in their common ancestor and all of its descendants |
| Orthologous Genes | Homologous genes that are found in different species because of speciation |
| Paralogous Genes | Homologous genes that are found in the same genome as a result of gene duplication |
| Molecular Clock | A method for estimating the time required for a given amount of evolutionary change, based on the observation that some regions of genomes appear to evolve at constant rates |
| Neutral Theory | The hypothesis that much evolutionary change in genes and proteins has no effect on fitness and therefore is not influenced by Darwinian natural selection |
| Horizontal Gene Transfer | The transfer of genes from one genome to another through mechanisms such as transposable elements, plasmid exchange, viral activity, and perhaps fusions of different organisms. |
| Polytomy | In a phylogenetic tree, a branch point from which more than two descendant taxa emerge |
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