Term
|
Definition
| The evolutionary history of species or group of related species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A scientific discipline focused on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A scientific discipline concerned with naming and classifying the diverse forms of life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The two-part latinized name of a species, consisting of the genus and specific epithet. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A taxonomic category above the species level, designated by the first word of a species' two-part scientific name. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In classification, the taxonomic category above genus. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In classification, the taxonomic category above the level of family. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In classification, the taxonomic category above the level of order. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In classification, the taxonomic category above class. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A taxonomic category above the kingdom level.The three domains are Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A named taxonomic unit at any given level of classification. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A branching diagram that represents a hypothesis about the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| System of classification of organisms based on evolutionary relationships |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The representation of a phylogenetic tree of the divergence of two or more taxa from a common ancestor.Most branch points are shown as dichotomies in which a branch representing the ancestral lineage splits (at the branch point) into two branches, one for each of the twodescendant taxa. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Groups of organisms that share an immediate common ancestor and hence are each other's closest relatives. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Describing a phylogenetic tree that contains a branch point (typically, the one farthest to the left) representing the last common ancestor of all taxa in the tree. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In a phylogenetic tree, a branch point from which more than two descendant taxa emerge.A polytomy indicates that the evolutionary relationships among the descendant taxa are not yet clear. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Similarity between two species that is due to convergent evolution rather than to descent from a common ancestor with the same trait. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Similar (analogous) structure or molecular sequence that that has evolved independently in two species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A scientific discipline that uses nucleic acids or other molecules in different species to infer evolutionary relationships. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An approach to systematics in which organisms are placed into groups called clades based primarily on common descent. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Pertaining to a group of taxa that consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants.A monophyletic taxon is equivalent to a clade. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Pertaining to a group of taxa that consists of a common ancestor and some, but not all of its descendants. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Pertaining to a group of taxa derived from two or more different ancestors. |
|
|
Term
| Shared Ancestral Character |
|
Definition
| A character, shared by members of a particular clade, that originated in an ancestor that is not a member of that clade. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An evolutionary novelty that is unique to a particular clade. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A species or group of species from an evolutionary lineage that is known to have diverged before the lineage that contains the group of species being studied.An outgroup is selected so that its members are closely related t the group of species being studied, but not as closely related as any study-group members are to each other. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A species or group of species whose evolutionary relationships we seek to determine. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A principle that states that when considering multiple explanations for an observation, one should first investigate the simplest explanation that is consistent with the facts. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| As applied to systematics, a principle that states that when considering multiple phylogenetic hypotheses, one should take into account the phyothesis that reflects the most likely sequence of evolutionary events, given certain rules about how DNA changes over time. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An approach in which features shared by two groups of organisms are predicted (by parsimony) to be present in their common ancestor and all of its descendants. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Homologous genes that are found in different species because of speciation. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Homologous genes that are found in the same genome as a result of gene duplication. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A method for estimating the time required for a given amount of evolutionary change, based on the observation that some regions of genomes appear to evolve at constant rates. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The hypothesis that much evolutionary change in genes and proteins has no effect on fitness and therefore is not influenced by Darwinian natural selection. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the transfer of genes from one genome to another through mechanisms such as transposable elements, plasmid exchange, viral activity, and perhaps fusion of different organisms. |
|
|
