Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Chapter 26: Phylogeny and the Tree of Life
N/A
43
Biology
Undergraduate 1
01/25/2010

Additional Biology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Analogy
Definition
Similarity between two species that is due to convergent evolution rather than to descent from a common ancestor with the same trait.
Term
Animalia
Definition
The kingdom that consists of multicellular eukaryotes that ingest their food
Term
Archaea
Definition
One of two prokaryotic domains, the other being Bacteria
Term
archaean
Definition
Member of the prokaryotic domain Archaea
Term
binomial
Definition
The two-part latinized name of a species, consisting of the genus and specific epithet
Term
branch point
Definition
The representation on a phylogenetic tree of the divergence of two or more taxa from a common ancestor. Most are shown as dichotomies, in which a branch representing the ancestral lineage splits into two, one for each of the two descendant taxa
Term
carnivore
Definition
An animal that mainly eats other animals
Term
clade
Definition
A group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants
Term
cladistics
Definition
An approach to systematics in which organisms are placed into groups called clades based primarily on common descent
Term
class
Definition
In classification, the taxonomic category above the level of order
Term
Eukarya
Definition
The domain that includes all eukaryotic organisms
Term
family
Definition
In classification, the taxonomic category above genus
Term
genome
Definition
The genetic material of an organism or virus; the complete complement of an organism's or virus's genes along with its noncoding nucleic acid sequences
Term
genus
Definition
A taxonomic category above the species level, designated by the first word of a species' two-part scientific name
Term
homoplasy
Definition
Similar (analogous) structure or molecular sequence that has evolved independently in two species
Term
horizontal gene transfer
Definition
The transfer of genes from one genome to another through mechanisms such as transposable elements, plasmid exchange, viral activity, and perhaps fusions of different organisms
Term
ingroup
Definition
A species or group of species whose evolutionary relationships we seek to determine
Term
kingdom
Definition
A taxonomic category, the second broadest after domain
Term
maximum likelihood
Definition
As applied to systematics, a principle that states that when considering multiple phylogenetic hypotheses, one should take into account the hypothesis that reflects the most likely sequence of evolutionary events, given certain rules about how DNA changes over time
Term
maximum parsimony
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
molecular clock
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
molecular systematics
Definition
A scientific discipline that uses nucleic acids or other molecules in different species to infer evolutionary relationships
Term
monoplyletic
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
neutral theory
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
orthologous genes
Definition
Homologous genes that are found in different species because of speciation
Term
outgroup
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. One is selected so that its members are closely related to the group of species being studied, but not as closely related as any study-group members are to each other
Term
paralogous genes
Definition
Homologous genes that are found in the same genome as a result of gene duplication
Term
paraphyletic
Definition
Pertaining to a group of taxa that consists of a common ancestor and some, but not all, of its descendants
Term
PhyloCode
Definition
Systems of classification of organisms based on evolutionary relationships: only groups that include a common ancestor and all of its descendants are named
Term
phylogenetic bracketing
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
phylogenetic tree
Definition
A branching diagram that represents a hypothesis about the evolutionary history of a group of organisms
Term
phylogeny
Definition
The evolutionary history of a species or group of related species
Term
phylum
Definition
In classification, the taxonomic category above class
Term
Plantae
Definition
The kingdom that consists of multicellular eukaryotes that carry out photosynthesis
Term
polyphyletic
Definition
Pertaining to a group of taxa derived from two or more different ancestors
Term
polytomy
Definition
In a phylogenetic tree, a branch point from which more than two descendant taxa emerge. It indicates that the evolutionary relationships among the descendant taxa are not yet clear
Term
rooted
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
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
shared derived character
Definition
An evolutionary novelty that is unique to a particular clade
Term
sister taxa
Definition
Groups of organisms that share an immediate common ancestor and hence are each others' closest relatives
Term
systematics
Definition
A scientific discipline focused on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships
Term
taxon
Definition
A named taxonomic unit at any given level of classification
Term
taxonomy
Definition
A scientific discipline concerned with naming and classifying the diverse forms of life
Supporting users have an ad free experience!