Biology 1001A Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Autapomorphy, Symplesiomorphy, Convergent Evolution
23 Jun 2015
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Lecture 19: phylogeny: the meaning of systematics, phylogeny, phylogenetic tree, classification, taxon, taxonomic hierarchy. Systematics: branch of biology that studies the diversity of life and its evolutionary relationships. Phylogeny: the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. Phylogenetic tree: a branching diagram depicting the evolutionary relationships of groups of organisms. Classification: an arrangement of organisms into hierarchical groups that reflect their relationships. Taxon (plural, taxa): a name designating a group of organisms included within a category in the linnaean taxonomic hierarchy. Taxonomic hierarchy: a system of classification based on arranging organisms into even more inclusive categories: why similarities in morphology or lifestyle do not necessarily reflect close relatedness, using examples. There is a tendency for organisms to develop similar body structures when living under the same environmental conditions. This is known as parallel or convergent evolution, depending on the evolutionary relatedness of the organisms involved.
