Rethinking Tree-Thinking: Cladograms, Ancestors & Evidence

Autor(es)

Brower, Andrew V. Z.

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER; v. 78, n. 5, p. 380-384, MAY 2016.
• Citações Web of Science: 1

Resumo

I offer comments on two recent articles in The American Biology Teacher by Davenport and colleagues addressing the interpretation and construction of phylogenetic trees. The ``tree-thinking{''} literature suggests that students need to acquire a clear understanding of the meaning of phylogenetic tree diagrams. To this end, I provide clarifications of terminology and address the problematical status of ``ancestors.{''} Cladograms are not genealogies viewed from a distance, but empirical hypotheses of relationship based on the distribution of shared derived character states. I describe an exercise employed in an introductory systematics course that emphasizes the empirical activities of character delimitation and formation of groups based on those characters. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 12/50260-6 - Estruturação e evolução da biota amazônica e seu ambiente: uma abordagem integrativa
• Beneficiário: Lúcia Garcez Lohmann
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático