Question

The table shows the distribution of traits (A-E) in six extant species (1-6). A "0" indicates the ancestral condition. A "1" is the derived condition. How would you construct a cladogram using these data?

Answer 1

The order in the cladogram is the following:

4 > 5 > 3 (taxon 3 share a node with taxon 5)

>6 >1 (taxon 1 share a node with taxon 6)

>2

Explanation:

In this example, taxon 4 is the most basal in the group and taxon 2 is the terminal taxon (i.e., the most recent). Each taxon is a branch of the cladogram tree.

A cladogram is a cladistic tree that exhibits relationships among groups of organisms. A cladogram may have an evolutionary meaning, and therefore evolutionary relationships may be inferred by using this tree. The values 1 and 0 are states of the character and they are used to infer associations in the cladogram. Each branch in the cladogram is referred to as clade, which includes a common ancestor with all its descendants.