Phylogenetics
This is the scientific study of naming, defining, and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics.
Taxonomy
This is a group of organisms (species, genus, family, etc.).
Taxa
These characteristics are similar because of a shared common ancestor
Homologous
This is a homologous trait that is shared by some but not all members of a group (shared by a recent common ancestor)
Synapomorphy
This group contains some but not all of the descendents of a common ancestor
Paraphyletic
List three of the levels of taxonomic classification (in no particular order)
Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, order, Family, Genus, Species
This is a group of organisms believed to have evolved from a common ancestor.
Clade
Analogous
List one example of a synapomorphy
Mammals have hair, milk, mammary glands, and a four-chambered heart (MANY examples)
These groups do not include the last common ancestor of the group
Polyphyletic
What is Peto's Paradox
Expectation that larger organisms would have more cancer, but this is not the case
What does a branching point on a phylogenetic tree represent?
Common Ancestor
Give one example of a homologous characteristic
Human arms, cat legs, whale fins, bat wings (MANY examples)
This is an ancestral character (trait) shared by two or more taxa
Plesiomorphy
This group of organisms descended from a common ancestor
Monophyletic
List two of the six hallmarks of cancer
Sustaining proliferative signaling, evading growth suppressors, enabling replicative immortality, activating invasion and metastasis, inducing angiogenesis, resisting cell death
What do the branches on a phylogenetic tree represent?
Different Species of Organisms
Give one example of an analogous characteristic
Insect and bat wings (MANY examples)
List one example of a plesiomorphy
Hair for primates
What scientific method provides insight into the past to see how organisms evolved?
Why is phylogenetics important?
The basis for comparative research (helps us understand big questions about species)
Phylogenetic trees move from ___ to ___ as you move from left to right.
Ancestors, Present-Day Species
What is convergent evolution?
Describe the differences you would see between a synapomorphy and a plesiomorphy on a phylogenetic tree.
Plesiomorphic characteristics can appear anywhere on a phylogenetic tree (presence does not say anything about relationships between organisms in the tree), while synapomorphic characteristics are more specific
What species did humans branch off of approximately 5-8 million years ago?