Difference between revisions of "Phylogeny"

Revision as of 22:16, October 15, 2008

Sinful, and wrong anyway

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-[[Image:Cladogram.gif|right|thumb|250px|A cladogram.]]
+Sinful, and wrong anyway
-'''Phylogeny''' describes the relationships between groups of animals as understood by ancestor/descendant history, so that groups are linked together on the basis of the recency of common ancestry. This is assessed primarily by the recognition of shared derived characters. The pattern of evolutionary relationships within and between groups can be depicted in the form of a branching diagram called [[cladogram]]s, which are like genealogies of [[specie]]s.
-Not only is phylogeny important for understanding paleontology, but paleontology in turn contributes to phylogeny. Many groups of organisms are now extinct, and without their fossils we would not have as clear a picture of how modern life is interrelated.
-==Phylogenetics==
-Phylogenetics, the science of phylogeny, is one part of the larger field of [[systematics]], which also includes [[taxonomy]]. Taxonomy is the science of naming and classifying the diversity of organisms.
-==See Also==
-[[category:evolution]]