Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution

1. Analogy vs. Homology

   • homology: traits inherited by two different organisms from a common ancestor
   • analogy: similarity due to convergent evolution, not common ancestry

2. Systematics

   • Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time.

3. Taxon

   • ny group or rank in a biological classification into which related organisms are classified.

4. Cladogram

   • Clade
     • A clade or monophylum is a group consisting of an ancestor and all its descendants, a single "branch" on the "tree of life".

5. Parsimony

   • The parsimony principle is basic to all science and tells us to choose the simplest scientific explanation that fits the evidence. In terms of tree-building, that means that, all other things being equal, the best hypothesis is the one that requires the fewest evolutionary changes.

6. rRNA vs. mt DNA

   • Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA)[2] is the DNA located in mitochondria; cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is only a small portion of the DNA in a eukaryotic cell; most of the DNA can be found in the cell nucleus, and in plants, the chloroplast as well.

7. Monophyletic

   • A taxon (pl. taxa) is any group of organisms that is given a formal taxonomic name. Loosely, a monophyletic taxon is one that includes a group of organisms descended from a single ancestor , whereas a polyphyletic taxon is composed of unrelated organisms descended from more than one ancestor.