1. Taxonomy and Systematics
Exercise 2
Taxonomy and Systematics

2. In this laboratory, you were introduced to the discipline of biological phylogenetic systematics, that is, the classification of living organisms into distinct groups. You began the exercise by learning about biological naming and classification. You then learned how biologists attempt to illustrate the evolutionary relationships among the organisms they study. You studied the process of creating a cladogram of selected vertebrates and then produced your own cladogram of real plants. Finally, you created a cladogram of hypothetical figures based on their physical appearance and comparing it to one based on hypothetical amino acid sequences. For an in-depth discussion of phylogeny, cladistics and tree-building, visit the University of California - Berkeley Museum of Paleontology web site: The Phylogeny Wing - The Tree Room -