A shared ancestral character that is common to a taxonomic group of organisms and does not provide information about phylogenetic relationships within the group. A shared derived character. An evolutionarily derived character that is found in the ancestor and its descendants that can be used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships. A group of organisms that are related through shared ancestry. The hypothesis that proposes that all available types of characters no matter how they were generated should be used in combination to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of organisms.
Species are a mosaic of both morphological and genetic characteristics.
Because they have the same evolutionary history they should show the same phylogenetic relationships and therefore should be combined into one data set to reconstruct a phylogeny and not used separately. In addition congruence tests used to produce a phylogenetic tree showing 'congruent' portions of multiple trees may introduce additional error and bias into a phylogenetic study of a group of organisms. Use of this material for private, academic or professional purposes is granted as long as the author is acknowledged and this web page is cited. This is a personal page published by the author. The ideas and information expressed on it have not been approved or authorised by Monash University either explicitly or impliedly.