plesiomorphy example

Plesiomorphy – An ancestral character state. This is any trait that was inherited from the ancestor of a group. For example, reptiles are exothermic, they do not maintain a constant internal body temperature. They have this characteristic because the ancestor of all reptiles was exothermic.

1. What is a Plesiomorphic trait?
2. What is an example of a Synapomorphy?
3. What is Apomorphy and Plesiomorphy?
4. What's a Synapomorphic trait?
5. What is an ancestral trait?
6. Can a character be both an Apomorphy and Plesiomorphy?
7. What is a Cladistics?
8. What's a homology?
9. What do you call a shared ancestral character in a cladistic analysis?
10. What is the difference between Apomorphy and Synapomorphy?
11. What taxa means?

What is a Plesiomorphic trait?

plesiomorphy (ancestral trait) An evolutionary trait that is homologous within a particular group of organisms but is not unique to members of that group (compare apomorphy) and therefore cannot be used as a diagnostic or defining character for the group.

What is an example of a Synapomorphy?

Examples of Synapomorphy

The Monotremes, such as the platypus, still lay eggs but they feed their young milk which they excrete from glands. While their other features might make them seem more like birds or reptiles, milk production is a clear synapomorphy with the other mammals.

What is Apomorphy and Plesiomorphy?

The term apomorphy means a specialized or derived character state; plesiomorphy refers to a primitive or ancestral trait. An same as autapomorphy is a derived trait that is unique to one group, while a same as synapomorphy is a derived trait shared by two or more groups.

What's a Synapomorphic trait?

A synapomorphic trait is shared by some taxa but not others because the former inherited it from a common ancestor that acquired the trait after its lineage separated from the lineages going to the other taxa.

What is an ancestral trait?

an evolutionary trait that is homologous within groups of organisms (see homology) that are all descended from a common ancestor in which the trait first evolved.

Can a character be both an Apomorphy and Plesiomorphy?

Can a character be both an apomorphy and a plesiomorphy? Explain your answer. YES, IT DEPENDS ON THE TAXON OR GROUP OF TAXA BEING REFERRED TO. 5.

What is a Cladistics?

: a system of biological taxonomy that defines taxa uniquely by shared characteristics not found in ancestral groups and uses inferred evolutionary relationships to arrange taxa in a branching hierarchy such that all members of a given taxon have the same ancestors.

What's a homology?

Homology, in biology, similarity of the structure, physiology, or development of different species of organisms based upon their descent from a common evolutionary ancestor. ... A 19th-century British biologist, Sir Richard Owen, was the first to define both homology and analogy in precise terms.

What do you call a shared ancestral character in a cladistic analysis?

Homologous characters are the fundamental basis of cladistics. In cladistics we look for characters that we can hypothesis are shared because they were inherited from a common ancestor.

What is the difference between Apomorphy and Synapomorphy?

An apomorphy is a character that is different from the form found in an ancestor, i.e., an innovation, that sets the clade apart from other clades. A synapomorphy is a shared apomorphy that distinguishes a clade from other organisms.

What taxa means?

Taxon, plural Taxa, any unit used in the science of biological classification, or taxonomy. Taxa are arranged in a hierarchy from kingdom to subspecies, a given taxon ordinarily including several taxa of lower rank.