What are phylogenetic trees and cladograms?

PHYLOGENETIC TREE A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or 'tree' , showing the inferred evolutionary relationships amongst various biological species. The taxa joined joined together in the tree are implied to have descended from a common ancestor. The tips of the tree can be living organisms or fossils and represent the end or the present in an evolutionary lineage. Phylogenetic analyses have become central to understanding biodiversity, evolution ,ecology and genomes.

CLADOGRAMS Cladograms are diagrams used in cladistics to show a line of organisms and how closely related they are to each other. Traditionally , cladograms are largely based on morphological characters. DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational phylogenetics are now very commonly used in the generation of cladograms.

Both cladograms and phylogenetic trees are diagrams used in evolutionary biology to show the relationships between organisms. Cladograms show the relationships between organisms based on shared derived characteristics, also known as synapomorphies. Cladograms focus on identifying and analyzing specific traits or characteristics that are shared among different groups of organisms to determine their evolutionary relatedness. Each branch in a phylogenetic tree represents a lineage or species.