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Phylogenetic Trees definitions

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  • Phylogeny
    Evolutionary relationship patterns among groups of organisms, revealing how species are related through descent.
  • Node
    A point on a diagram marking either a current organism or a shared ancestor from which lineages diverge.
  • Terminal Node
    An endpoint on a diagram representing a present-day organism for which data is available.
  • Internal Node
    A branching point indicating a shared ancestor that gave rise to multiple descendant species.
  • Branch
    A line connecting points, illustrating evolutionary connections and often indicating time since divergence.
  • Rooted Tree
    A diagram with a single ancestral point from which all other lineages originate, showing direction of evolution.
  • Homology
    Similarity in traits or sequences among species due to inheritance from a shared ancestor.
  • Phenotypic Trait
    An observable characteristic, such as bone structure, used to infer evolutionary relationships.
  • Monophyletic Group
    A set of species all descended from a single most recent common ancestor, forming a distinct branch.
  • Clade
    A group including an ancestor and all its descendants, representing a complete branch on the diagram.
  • Cladistics
    A method for constructing evolutionary diagrams by evaluating all possible branching patterns.
  • Principle of Parsimony
    A guideline favoring the simplest evolutionary pathway among many possible branching scenarios.
  • Homologous Structure
    A physical feature in different species that shares a similar form due to common ancestry.