LECTURE PRESENTATIONS

For CAMPBELL BIOLOGY, NINTH EDITION

Jane B. Reece, Lisa A. Urry, Michael L. Cain, Steven A. Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, Robert B. Jackson

Chapter 26

Phylogeny and the Tree of Life

Lectures by
Erin Barley
Kathleen Fitzpatrick

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Overview: Investigating the Tree of Life
• Legless lizards have evolved independently in
several different groups

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.1
 • Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of a species
or group of related species
• The discipline of systematics classifies organisms
and determines their evolutionary relationships
• Systematists use fossil, molecular, and genetic
data to infer evolutionary relationships

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.2
Figure 26.2a
Figure 26.2b
Figure 26.2c
Concept 26.1: Phylogenies show evolutionary
relationships
• Taxonomy is the ordered division and naming of
organisms

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Binomial Nomenclature
• In the 18th century, Carolus Linnaeus published a
system of taxonomy based on resemblances
• Two key features of his system remain useful
today: two-part names for species and hierarchical
classification

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

 • The two-part scientific name of a species is called
a binomial
• The first part of the name is the genus
• The second part, called the specific epithet, is
unique for each species within the genus
• The first letter of the genus is capitalized, and the
entire species name is italicized
• Both parts together name the species (not the
specific epithet alone)

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Hierarchical Classification
• Linnaeus introduced a system for grouping
species in increasingly broad categories
• The taxonomic groups from broad to narrow are
domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family,
genus, and species
• A taxonomic unit at any level of hierarchy is called
a taxon
• The broader taxa are not comparable between
lineages
– For example, an order of snails has less genetic
diversity than an order of mammals
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Figure 26.3

Species:
Panthera pardus
Genus:
Panthera
Family:
Felidae
Order:
Carnivora

Class:
Mammalia

Phylum:
Chordata

Domain: Kingdom:
Bacteria Animalia Domain:
Archaea
Domain:
Eukarya
Linking Classification and Phylogeny
• Systematists depict evolutionary relationships in
branching phylogenetic trees

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.4
Order Family Genus Species

Panthera
Felidae
Panthera
pardus
(leopard)

Taxidea
Carnivora

Taxidea

Mustelidae
taxus
(American
badger)

Lutra
Lutra lutra
(European
otter)

Canis
latrans
Canidae

Canis

(coyote)

Canis
lupus
(gray wolf)
• A phylogenetic tree represents a
hypothesis about evolutionary
relationships
• Each branch point represents the
divergence of two species

• Sister taxa are groups that share an

immediate common ancestor

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

 • A rooted tree includes a branch to represent the last
common ancestor of all taxa in the tree

• A basal taxon lineage that evolved early and remains

unbranched.

• A polytomy is a branch from which more than two

groups emerge

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.5

Branch point:
where lineages diverge Taxon A

Taxon B
Sister
taxa
Taxon C

Taxon D

Taxon E
ANCESTRAL
LINEAGE
Taxon F
Basal
Taxon G taxon
This branch point This branch point forms a
represents the polytomy: an unresolved
common ancestor of pattern of divergence.
taxa A–G.
What We Can and Cannot Learn from
Phylogenetic Trees
• Phylogenetic trees show patterns of descent, not
phenotypic similarity
• Phylogenetic trees do not indicate when species
evolved or how much change occurred in a
lineage
• It should not be assumed that a taxon evolved
from the taxon next to it

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Phylogenies are inferred from
morphological and molecular data
• To infer phylogenies, systematists gather
information about morphologies, genes, and
biochemistry of living organisms

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Morphological and Molecular Homologies
• Phenotypic and genetic similarities due to shared
ancestry are called homologies
• Organisms with similar morphologies or DNA
sequences are likely to be more closely related
than organisms with different structures or
sequences

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Sorting Homology from Analogy
• When constructing a phylogeny, systematists
need to distinguish whether a similarity is the
result of homology or analogy
• Homology is similarity due to shared ancestry
• Analogy is similarity due to convergent evolution

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

 • Convergent evolution occurs when similar
environmental pressures and natural selection
produce similar (analogous) adaptations in
organisms from different evolutionary lineages

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.7
 • Bat and bird wings are homologous as forelimbs,
but analogous as functional wings
• Analogous structures or molecular sequences that
evolved independently are also called
homoplasies
• Homology can be distinguished from analogy by
comparing fossil evidence and the degree of
complexity
• The more complex two similar structures are, the
more likely it is that they are homologous

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Evaluating Molecular Homologies
• Systematists use computer programs and
mathematical tools when analyzing comparable
DNA segments from different organisms

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Shared characters are used to construct
phylogenetic trees
• Once homologous characters have been
identified, they can be used to infer a phylogeny

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Cladistics
• Cladistics groups organisms by common descent
• (A method of classifying organism into groups
based on their evolutionary relationships.)

• A clade is a group of species that includes an

ancestral species and all its descendants

• Clades can be nested in larger clades, but not all

groupings of organisms qualify as clades

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.10

(a) Monophyletic group (clade) (b) Paraphyletic group (c) Polyphyletic group

A A A

B Group  B B
Group 
C C C

D D D

E E Group  E

F F F

G G G
 • A valid clade is monophyletic, signifying that it
consists of the ancestor species and all its
descendants.
• A single common ancestor and all of its
descendants.

• Greek – monos – alone – phulon – species

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.10a

(a) Monophyletic group (clade)

B Group 

G
 • A paraphyletic grouping consists of an ancestral species and some, but not all, of the
descendants.
• For example, reptiles are considered a paraphyletic group because they include lizards,
snakes, and turtles, but exclude birds, even though birds share the same ancestors as
reptiles.
• Para – Beside or – almost

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.10b

(b) Paraphyletic group

E Group 

G
 • A polyphyletic grouping consists of various species with different ancestors.
• It's like putting together distant relatives from different families just because they look or behave similarly,
even though they don’t share a close family tree. For example, grouping bats and birds together because
they can fly is polyphyletic, as their ability to fly evolved independently, and they do not share a common
flying ancestor.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 26.10c

(c) Polyphyletic group

B
Group 
C

G
Figure 26.11

TAXA Lancelet
(outgroup) (outgroup)

Lamprey
Lancelet

Leopard
Lamprey

Turtle
Bass

Frog
Vertebral
column 0 1 1 1 1 1 Bass
(backbone) Vertebral
Hinged jaws 0 column
CHARACTERS

0 1 1 1 1
Frog
Four walking Hinged jaws
0 0 0 1 1 1
legs
Turtle
Four walking legs
Amnion 0 0 0 0 1 1

Amnion
Hair 0 0 0 0 0 1 Leopard
Hair

(a) Character table (b) Phylogenetic tree

From Two Kingdoms to Three Domains
• Early taxonomists classified all species as either
plants or animals
• Later, five kingdoms were recognized: Monera
(prokaryotes), Protista, Plantae, Fungi, and
Animalia
• More recently, the three-domain system has been
adopted: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya
• The three-domain system is supported by data
from many sequenced genomes

Animation: Classification Schemes

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Figure 26.21

Eukarya
Land plants Dinoflagellates
Green algae Forams
Ciliates Diatoms
Red algae

Amoebas
Cellular slime molds
Euglena
Trypanosomes
Animals
Leishmania
Fungi

Sulfolobus Green
nonsulfur bacteria
Thermophiles (Mitochondrion)

Spirochetes
Halophiles Chlamydia
COMMON
ANCESTOR Green
OF ALL sulfur bacteria
LIFE
Methanobacterium Bacteria
Cyanobacteria
Archaea (Plastids, including
chloroplasts)
Figure 26.21a

Green
nonsulfur bacteria
(Mitochondrion)

Spirochetes
Chlamydia
COMMON
ANCESTOR Green
OF ALL sulfur bacteria
LIFE
Bacteria
Cyanobacteria
(Plastids, including
chloroplasts)
Figure 26.21b

Sulfolobus

Thermophiles

Halophiles

Methanobacterium

Archaea
Figure 26.21c

Eukarya

Land plants Dinoflagellates

Green algae Forams
Ciliates Diatoms
Red algae

Amoebas
Cellular slime molds
Euglena
Trypanosomes
Animals
Leishmania
Fungi
Figure 26.UN01

A B D

B D C

C C B

D A A
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 26.UN02

Branch point Taxon A

Most recent Taxon B

common Sister taxa
ancestor Taxon C

Taxon D

Taxon E

Polytomy Taxon F

Taxon G Basal taxon

Figure 26.UN03

Monophyletic group Polyphyletic group

A A A

B B B

C C C

D D D

E E E

F F F

G G G

Paraphyletic group
Figure 26.UN04

Salamander

Lizard

Goat

Human
Figure 26.UN05
Figure 26.UN06
Figure 26.UN07
Figure 26.UN08
Figure 26.UN09
Figure 26.UN10