Cladograms and Phylogenetic Trees

Front

What is a cladogram?

Back

A cladogram is a diagram that shows the evolutionary relationships among a group of organisms, illustrating how they are related through common ancestors.

Front

What does each node on a cladogram represent?

Back

Each node on a cladogram represents the last point at which two groups shared a common ancestor.

Front

What is a phylogenetic tree?

Back

A phylogenetic tree is a branching diagram that represents the evolutionary history of a group of organisms, showing how they have diverged from common ancestors over time.

Front

What is the difference between a cladogram and a phylogenetic tree?

Back

A cladogram focuses on the order of branching and relationships, while a phylogenetic tree includes information about the time of divergence and evolutionary distance.

Front

What is the domain Eukarya?

Back

The domain Eukarya contains organisms that have a true nucleus in their cells and includes four kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, and Protista.

Front

Which group of animals are most closely related to birds?

Back

Saurischian dinosaurs are most closely related to birds.

Front

What is taxonomy?

Back

Taxonomy is the science of classifying and naming organisms based on shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships.

Front

What rank comes directly below Order in taxonomy?

Back

Family is the rank that comes directly below Order in taxonomy.

Front

What is a common ancestor?

Back

A common ancestor is an ancestral species from which two or more species have evolved.

Front

What is a clade?

Back

A clade is a group of organisms that includes an ancestor and all its descendants.