Introduction to Invertebrates

Ground plan (Bauplan) basic design

Phylogeny (a tree of life) it is an evolutionary history of a group; pattern of evolutionary or
kinship relationships.
Phylogenetic tree (cladogram) it is an actual depiction of evolutionary relationships.
Functional principles to view animal design in a framework
Natural system is the recognition of species and the arrangement of those species in a
hierarchic pattern of relationships.
Cladistics (phylogenetic systematics) the discovery and depiction of phylogeny.
Its goal is to discover and portray the kinship relationship among species.
Taxa one establishes a kinship relationship between two named groups by detecting a trait or
a character that is expressed in these taxa alone.
Synapomorphy (shared derived character) uniquely shared character
Sister taxa taxa united by one or more synapomorphies.
Autapomorphy (self-derived character) it is a synapomorphy observed in the descendants
actually originated in the ancestor as an evolutionary novelty.
Monophyletic taxon (=one origin) where a sister taxon constitute as the sole descendants of
that one immediate ancestor.
The ultimate goal of cladistics is to reconstruct a comprehensive tree of life based solely
on monophyletic taxa.
Symplesiomorphy shared ancestral trait
Paraphyletic taxon erroneous union based on a symplesiomorphy; contains some but not all
of the descendants of the stem species.
Polyphyletic taxon includes the descendants of more than one ancestor.
Homology common genetic inheritance
Homplasy (analogy) is the superficial similarity that arises from convergence.
Hierarchic structure means that species are nested in larger, more inclusive taxa which are
contained in still more inclusive groups.
Parsimony it is an especially important tool in computer-aided cladistics.
Nomen nominandum (=new name) new monophyletic taxon name.
Outgroup comparison the extension of the cladistics analysis beyond the taxa of immediate
interest.