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A system that groups organisms by ancestry

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9y ago
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6mo ago

Cladistics is a method in Biology used to determine the evolutionary relationships between organisms based on shared characteristics. It involves creating diagrams called cladograms that show the relationships between different groups of organisms by examining their similarities and differences. Cladistics relies on the principle of common ancestry to group organisms into clades, which are branches on the tree of life representing a common evolutionary history.

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10y ago

Cladistics is a system of classifying organisms by their evolutionary histories. The organisms are grouped based on whether or not they share a particular characteristic with the group's most recent ancestor. Learn more at 23andme.com.

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aquavibe79

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3y ago

the classification of living things according to generations stemming from a common ancestor

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Q: What is cladistics?
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What basic idea does cladistics use to classify groups of organisms?

Cladistics shows the genetic relationships between organisms.


What is the main disadvantage to using cladistics?

One main disadvantage of cladistics is that it relies heavily on subjective decisions about which traits to include in the analysis, which can lead to different conclusions depending on the researcher's choices. Additionally, cladistics assumes that evolution always proceeds in a bifurcating manner, which may not always reflect the complexities of evolutionary relationships.


How is cladistics used to reveal evolutionary relationships between organisms?

Cladistics analyzes shared characteristics in organisms to group them into evolutionary related categories called clades. By identifying shared derived characteristics among species, cladistics can reveal the evolutionary relationships and common ancestry between organisms. This method helps to construct evolutionary trees that show the branching patterns of species over time.


Which of cladistics or phylogeny is the most useful in understanding how an organism developed into its current form?

Phylogeny is the most useful in understanding how an organism developed into its current form because it focuses on the evolutionary history and relationships between different species. By analyzing phylogenetic trees and genetic data, scientists can trace the evolutionary pathways of organisms and determine their common ancestry. Cladistics, on the other hand, is a method used within phylogenetics to classify organisms based on shared derived characteristics.


How can convergent evolution mislead taxonomists?

Convergent evolution can mislead taxonomists because similar traits can evolve independently in different species facing similar ecological pressures, leading to the mistaken classification of species as closely related when they are not. This can result in incorrect grouping of species and underestimation of the true diversity within a taxonomic group.