Clade

From Palaeos

CLADISTICS

Apomorphy | Clade | Cladistic controversies | Cladistics made simple | Cladistic methodology | The cladistic revolution | Cladistic taxonomy | Cladogram | Fundamental concepts of Cladistics | Plesiomorphy | PhyloCode | Synapomorphy | Links | References

Clade

[edit] Introduction

A "natural group" or phylogenetically defined group of organisms. A clade is usually defined as a particular organism "and all of its descendants." This apparantly innocuous concept, introduced to systematics by Willi Hennig, has completely changed the way systematics is done and has fundamentally altered the way we view evolutionary change. To understand why, see Cladograms.

[edit] Credits

ATW