Background Information o

f Trees
Modisto Cabanesas, II
Reporter
 How to reconstruct an
evolutionary tree

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E CT
IVE
How to reconstruct an evol
utionary tree

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 Cladistics is a method of hypothesizing rel
ationships among organisms.

Reconstructing tre The basis of a cladistic analysis is data on

es: Cladistics the characters, or traits, of the organisms.

These characters could be anatomical an
d physiological characteristics, behaviors,
or genetic sequences.
 1. Change in characteristics occurs in lineages over time.

It is only when characteristics change that we are able to reco

gnize different lineages or groups. We call the "original" state
of the characteristic plesiomorphic and the "changed" state 
apomorphic.
2. Any group of organisms is related by descent from a com
mon ancestor.

This assumption is supported by many lines of evidence and

essentially means that all life on Earth today is related and sh
ares a common ancestor.
3. There is a bifurcating, or branching, pattern of li
neage-splitting.

This assumption suggests that when a lineage split

s, it divides into exactly two groups.
Reconstructing tr
A cladistic analysis typically requ
ees: ires steps. Though they may see
m simple, each step actually req
uires a great deal of background
Step-by-step meth knowledge and work.
od
 Step 1. Choose the taxa.

These taxa will be the tips of your tree and mu

st themselves be clades.
 Step 2. Determine the characters and character states

Examine each taxon to determine the character states. It is imp

ortant to select characters that seem to be homologies. Analog
ies, are not useful for reconstructing phylogenies.
 Step 3. Determine the polarity of characters 

Figure out the order of evolution for each character. In some si

tuations, it is reasonable to assume that the character states in
the outgroup are the ancestral states for the taxa of interest. In
other situations, paleontologists may have fossil evidence that i
ndicates the probable ancestral state of the character.
Step 4. Group taxa by synapomorphies, not by symplesio
morphies.

Synapomorphies are derived or "changed" character stat

es shared by two taxa. Symplesiomorphies are original ch
aracter states shared by two taxa.
Step 5. Work out conflicts that arise by some clearl
y stated method.
 Step 6. Build your tree 

1. All taxa go on the endpoints of the tree, never at nodes.

2. All nodes must have a list of synapomorphies, which are
common to all taxa above the node (unless the character i
s later modified).
3. All synapomorphies appear on the tree only once unless
the character state was derived separately by evolutionary
parallelism.
 You have made a phylogeny!

To be confident about your hypothesis, you must scrutinize your data by asking questions like:
1. Could a supposed synapomorphy be the result of convergent evolution?
2. Do your characters make sense from an evolutionary perspective?
3. Should you consider other characters?
4. Should you consider additional taxa?
Reconstructing trees: Another example
 O BJ
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How evolution
ary trees are u

IVE
sed

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 1 Make predictions about fossils

2 Learn evolution of complex features

Trees are us 3

ed to
Make predictions about poorly-studied species

4 Learn about the order of evolution

5 Learn about the evolution of diversity

Using trees to make predictions about fossils

Case 1: The whale's ankle

Using trees to learn about the evolution of co
mplex features

Case 2: The striped cichlid

Using trees to make predictions about poorly-
studied species

Case 3: A new drug

Pacific Yew European Yew
Using trees to learn about the order of evoluti
on

Case 4: The spider's web

Using trees to learn about the evolution of div
ersity: The beetles' diet
REFERENCES

Avise, J. C. Evolutionary Pathways in Nature: A Phylogenet

ic Approach (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK,
2006)

Baum, D. A., DeWitt Smith, S., & Donovan, S. S. The tree t

hinking challenge. Science 310, 979–980 (2005)

Baum, D. A., & Offner, S. Phylogenies and tree thinking. A

merican Biology Teacher 70, 222–229 (2008)