EVOLUTIONARY

RELATIONSHIPS
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying plants and
animals which organisms are categorized in groups
or clades. The group of species evolved from
common ancestors but expresses different
characteristics in response to their adaptation for
survival.
Phylogenetics
is a field of systematics that studies phylogeny.
Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of the
relationships between all living things based on the
comparison of their genetic contents. These
relationships expressed by systematists through
phylogenetic tree.
Phylogenetic Tree
a branching diagram showing implied evolutionary
starting point among classified organisms

Each branch represents the hierarchical

classification of groups while the branch
points show the divergence of the two
species.
The length of branches is equivalent to the
amount of character change in the species.
Parts of a Phylogenetic Tree
Sister taxa – point of two lineages stem
from the same branch
Polytomy – branch with more than two
lineages
Basal taxon – lineage that evolved early
from the root and remains unbranched
Branch point – the point where split
occurs
Root – indicates that an ancestral lineage
gave rise to all organisms on the tree
Parts of a Phylogenetic Tree
Terminal taxa – taxa (species,
genera, families) depicted in a
phylogenetic tree

Branches – line segments that

make up the tree

Nodes – branching points where

branches come together
Four Groups of Evolutionary Tree

Monophyletic Group shares a single

common ancestor and also includes all of
the descendants of that common
ancestor. On a phylogenetic tree, a
monophyletic group includes a node and
all of the descendants of that node,
represented by both nodes and terminal
taxa. Thus, a monophyletic group is also a
clade.
Four Groups of
Evolutionary Tree
Paraphyletic Group includes
a single ancestor and some of
its descendants; it is similar to
a monophyletic group, but
some descendants are
excluded.
Four Groups of
Evolutionary Tree
Polyphyletic Group is a
group that is not defined by a
single common ancestor.
Four Groups of
Evolutionary Tree
Polytomy indicates more than
two immediate descendants
Interpreting a
Cladogram
1.Locate the starting point of the
cladogram.
Every cladogram has a main line that represents time. The line
starts at onepoint
The starting endisbefore
usuallythere
the are any branches.
bottom-left, but it might be a
different spot depending on the
orientation of the cladogram
you're looking at. Orientation
doesn't matter with cladograms—
they still convey the same
information regardless of how
they're turned.
2. Move up the main line of the cladogram
to move forward through time.
That starting point you
identified is the earliest point in
time represented on the
cladogram you're looking at.
The opposite end of the
cladogram is the most recent
point in time. The position of a
node on the line indicates the
relative point in time when that
particular characteristic or trait
evolved.
2. Move up the main line of the cladogram
to move forward through time.
•Lines on a cladogram aren't drawn to scale.
In other words, the main line doesn't start or
end on any particular year and the distance
between nodes doesn't correspond to any
particular range of years.
•Since the lines aren't drawn to scale, you
can't infer how long ago any particular
characteristic evolved. You can only infer
whether a characteristic evolved before or
after another characteristic represented on
the cladogram.
3. Use the position of the nodes to determine
which characteristics evolved first.
Every cladogram has a main line that represents time. The line
starts at one end before there are any branches.
The node closest to the start
represents the characteristic that
evolved first relative to the other
characteristics represented by the
cladogram. The next one up from
that was the next characteristic to
evolve, and so on until the last
node, which represents the most
recent evolutionary development.
4. Determine differences in animals based on
where they branch off from the main line.

An animal branches off the

main line at the point that its
evolution diverges from the
other animals depicted on the
cladogram. It doesn't have
any of the characteristics
beyond the node where it
branched off.
5. Relate the animals to each other based on the
characteristics they share.
Larger groups of animals
have a common ancestor
further back in time. If you
start at the first node of a
cladogram, all of the animals
that branch off after that node
have the characteristic
indicated by the first node in
common.
 Think:

In the cladogram, what

species is most primitive?

In the cladogram, what

species is least primitive?

What traits does the lizard

have?

What traits does the

salamander have?

What is the chimp most

closely related to?

Is the lizard more closely

related to the salamander or
the perch?
Making a
Cladogram
1.Choose 3 or 4 animals for the endpoints of
your cladogram.
2. Find a characteristic that all of your
animals have in common.
The first node on your cladogram represents a common ancestor that evolved
one characteristic that all of your animals have in common. This characteristic
is also the first characteristic to evolve out of all the characteristics that will
eventually be included on your cladogram.
3. Brainstorm other characteristics the animals have.
Try to come up with around twice the number of characteristics as you have
animals. Make a table and run your list of characteristics down the left side.
Along the top line of the table, make a column for each animal you want to
include in your cladogram. Then, you can simply place a checkmark in the
row for the characteristic if the animal in that column has it.
4. Narrow down your list so one animal branches off
at each node.
Try to come up with around twice the number of characteristics as you have
animals. Make a table and run your list of characteristics down the left side.
Along the top line of the table, make a column for each animal you want to
include in your cladogram. Then, you can simply place a checkmark in the
row for the characteristic if the animal in that column has it.
5. Draw concentric circles to illustrate which animals
have which characteristics in common.
The largest circle represents the characteristic that all of your animals have in
common. Then, draw a smaller circle inside it that represents a characteristic
some, but not all, of the animals have.
6. Create a cladogram from your concentric
circles.
Draw the main line of your cladogram diagonally from the bottom-left corner
to the top-right corner. Create a branch a little way up from the starting point
at the bottom-left corner. Then create the rest of the branches at intervals up
the line until you get to the end.
How to Make a Cladogram
Found on Alive? Mammal? Walks?
Earth?

Human
Snake
Rock
Whale
Characters: Taxa:
Vertebrae Shark
Two pairs of limbs Bullfrog
Mammary glands Kangaroo
Placenta Human
Let’s Practice!

Characters: Taxa:
Hair Human
Legs Snake
Thumbs Monkey
Eyes Mouse
Starfish
Convert the following table into a Venn diagram,
and then into a cladogram: