After watching that intro video, answer the questions on your worksheet. A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or "tree" showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species based upon similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics.
The root of the tree represents the ancestral lineage, and the tips of the branches represent the descendants of that ancestor. As you move from the root to the tips, you are moving forward in time. When a lineage splits (speciation), it is represented as branching on a phylogenty |