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Phylogenetic Trees & Cladograms

Cladograms and phylogenetic trees are visual representations of evolutionary relationships among species, with cladograms illustrating probable divergence from common ancestors and phylogenetic trees displaying evolutionary change over time. While both diagrams show lineage relationships, phylogenetic trees are based on proven data and can indicate the amount of change, whereas cladograms represent hypotheses that can evolve with new evidence. Molecular data is generally more reliable than morphological traits for constructing these diagrams, and advancements in technology aid in creating more accurate cladograms.

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Debby Yiapp
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4 views

Phylogenetic Trees & Cladograms

Cladograms and phylogenetic trees are visual representations of evolutionary relationships among species, with cladograms illustrating probable divergence from common ancestors and phylogenetic trees displaying evolutionary change over time. While both diagrams show lineage relationships, phylogenetic trees are based on proven data and can indicate the amount of change, whereas cladograms represent hypotheses that can evolve with new evidence. Molecular data is generally more reliable than morphological traits for constructing these diagrams, and advancements in technology aid in creating more accurate cladograms.

Uploaded by

Debby Yiapp
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Phylogenetic Trees & Cladograms

Example of Cladograms
●​ Evolutionary relationships between species can be represented visually using a diagram called a
cladogram
●​ Cladograms are evolutionary trees that show probable order of divergence from ancestral species
and therefore probable relationships between species
●​ Analysis of a cladogram can provide several pieces of information
●​ The point at which two branches separate is known as a node, and represents common ancestor
species
○​ A node immediately adjacent to a pair of clades indicates that these two clades share a recent
common ancestor
○​ This shows that the two clades are more closely related to each other than they are to any
other clade in the cladogram
○​ If several nodes need to be traced back before two clades can be joined, this indicates a more
distant relationship between two clades
Example of Phylogenetic Trees
Phylogenetic Tree
●​ A phylogenetic tree looks rather similar to a cladogram, with some subtle but important differences
●​ Sometimes, the terms are used interchangeably despite the differences in meaning
●​ The layout of each diagram is similar
○​ With a branching structure
○​ Though phylogenetic trees display branches whose lengths indicate the amount of
evolutionary change between organisms
●​ Phylogenetic trees are thought to be an account of proven scientific fact, whereas cladograms
represent hypotheses about ancestry relationships between species that are as yet not fully
accepted
○​ Phylogenetic trees show data that is calibrated against other data sources such as the fossil
record or the molecular clock (see below)
●​ However, there is no overall consensus in the scientific community about the differences between
cladograms and phylogenetic trees
○​ Therefore, the two terms are often used interchangeably to refer to a branched diagram that
shows ancestral relationships
Phylogenetic Tree Example

Interpretation of Phylogenetic Trees & Cladograms


●​ Phylogenetic trees and cladograms both show evolutionary relationships among lineages
●​ Phylogenetic trees and cladograms both show relationships between lineages, but phylogenetic
trees show the amount of change over time calibrated by fossils or a molecular clock
●​ Traits that are either gained or lost during evolution can be used to construct phylogenetic trees
and cladograms
○​ Shared characters are present in more than one lineage
○​ Shared, derived characters indicate common ancestry and are informative for the construction
of phylogenetic trees and cladograms
○​ The most remote group in the diagram represents the lineage that is least closely related to
the remainder of the organisms in the phylogenetic tree or cladogram
●​ Molecular data (from DNA or protein sequences, for example) typically provide more accurate and
reliable evidence than morphological traits in the construction of phylogenetic trees or cladograms
●​ Both types of diagram can be used to illustrate the extent to which speciation has occurred (next
topic)
●​ Both types of diagram represent hypotheses that are constantly being revised as new evidence
emerges from research and scientific debate
●​ Cladograms sometimes show numbers along the branches; these indicate the number of base or
amino acid changes that have occurred between one node and the next or between a node and
an emerging clade or species
●​ The constant rate at which mutations accumulate means that these numbers can be used as a
molecular clock to calculate how much time has passed
●​ Some cladograms have a time scale to show how many millions have years have passed
●​ Computers use the information from sequence data to build the most likely cladogram
○​ This is done using the principle of parsimony which states that the simplest explanation is
preferred
■​ The computer builds the shortest possible cladogram with the smallest number of divergence
events to fit the available data
●​ Cladograms provide the most likely estimate of the evolutionary progress of organisms
○​ The reliability of a cladogram may vary depending on the amount of sequence data used to
construct it
■​ A cladogram based on the sequencing of one gene will be less reliable than a cladogram based
on the sequencing of several genes
○​ Cladograms are subject to change when new sequence data becomes available

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