Ancestral versus derived

Before continuing we must correct some common misconceptions about the

meanings of "ancestral" and "derived". They do not mean that an ancestral
species is primitive or has primitive characters. When the form (or state) of a
character changes in the course of evolution (e.g. a reduction in the number of
toes from 4 to 3, the initial condition is deemed ancestral and the new condition
is considered derived. Now if evolution proceeds further (e.g. reduction in
number of toes to 2 then the original derived condition becomes ancestral to the
new character state. Hence the character state "3 toes" is ancestral relative to
the character state "2 toes", but it is derived relative to the state "4 toes". It is
crucial that you recognize that a given species invariably has a mixture of both
ancestral (shared with its ancestor) and derived (not shared with its ancestor)
character states.

Derived trait
For the sake of precision, the term "derived" is preferred to "advanced," a term
which may inaccurately imply superiority. Simplicity is often secondarily derived.
For example, the absence of mitochondria in the anaerobic protist Entamoeba
histolytica is a result of their secondary loss, and when considered in the context
of eukaryotes as a whole, is a derived trait. Likewise, the primitive character
state for birds (i.e. the state possessed by their last common ancestor) is flight,
which was secondarily lost by penguins and dodos.

Whether or not a trait is considered derived depends on the group in question.

For example, among the (crown group) tetrapods, having five fingers is the
primitive trait - as their last common ancestor bore a five-digit hand.[citation
needed] However, amongst the vertebrates, five fingers is a derived trait, as the
last common ancestor to the vertebrates did not even bear fingers.[citation
needed]

Comparisons with other shared traits

A synapomorphy should not be confused with other types of shared traits:
A synapomorphy is a shared trait found among two or more taxa and inferred to
have occurred in their most recent common ancestor, whose ancestor in turn did
not possess the trait. An example is the dipteran halteres, the uniquely modified
hind wings found in all families of winged flies. No other group of insects
possesses similar structures (in place of hind wingsinsects in the order
Strepsiptera have convergently-evolved halteres in place of fore wings).
However, the fact that the trait is found only in Diptera, to the exclusion of all
other groups, is not essential in identifying the trait as a synapomorphy; rather,
this fact makes its determination easier.
A symplesiomorphy is a shared trait found among two or more taxa, but which is
also found in taxa that are related only through a more remote common ancestor
(symplesiomorphy characterizes a paraphyletic group). An example of this is the
five toes seen on the hind legs of rats and apes. This character-state originated
very early in Tetrapoda and occurs in other tetrapod groups, e.g. in salamanders,
lizards and lemurs. There is thus no indication that the group formed of rats and
apes is a clade to the exclusion of these other groups; indeed, although rats and
apes are much more closely related to each other than they are to salamanders
or lizards (as they are both mammals of the clade Euarchontoglires), apes are
even more closely related lemurs than they are to rats (both apes and lemurs are
primates, a clade within Euarchontoglires). From this example, it is evident that a
symplesiomorphy is a synapomorphy for a group of greater generality
(Tetrapoda, in this instance).
A homoplasy is a shared trait found among different taxa but inferred to have
been independently derived and not to have occurred in their common ancestor
(i.e., a trait considered to be "the same" emerged in different taxa independently
of each other). An example of this is homeothermy in birds and mammals. This
trait is a derived character-state (in relation to poikilothermy, the character-state
inferred to have been that of the last common ancestor of both groups), which
therefore is hypothesized to have evolved independently in these two groups (or
at least in the larger clades to which these groups belong).[citation needed]
Homoplasy can only be discovered by incongruence of the homoplastic character
states with respect to the weight of other evidence in a phylogenetic analysis.

Symplesiomorphy
Cladistics (from Greek , klados, i.e. "branch") is an approach to biological
classification in which organisms are grouped together based on whether or not
they have one or more shared unique characteristics that come from the group's
last common ancestor and are not present in more distant ancestors. Therefore,

members of the same group are thought to share a common history and are
considered to be more closely related
In cladistics, a symplesiomorphy or symplesiomorphic character is an ancestral
trait shared by two or more taxa. A plesiomorphy refers to the ancestral trait on
its own, usually in reference to another, more derived trait. A symplesiomorphic
trait is also shared with other taxa that have an earlier last common ancestor
with the taxa under consideration. They are therefore not an indication that the
taxa be considered more closely related to each other than to the more distant
taxa, as all share the more primitive trait. A close phylogenetic relationship
(meaning that the taxa form a certain clade to the exclusion of certain other
taxa) can only be shown by the discovery of synapomorphies: shared traits that
have originated with the last common ancestor of the taxa considered, or at
least in the branch, not including the taxa to be excluded, leading to it.
The concept of the symplesiomorphy shows the danger of grouping species
together purely on the basis of morphologic or genetic similarity without
distinguishing primitive from derived traits. This phenetic method of analysis was
common before cladistics became popular in the 1980s. Since a plesiomorphic
character inherited from a common ancestor can appear anywhere in a
phylogenetic tree, its presence cannot reveal anything about the relationships
within that tree.
A famous example is the trait of breathing via gills in bony fish and cartilaginous
fish. Bony fish are more closely related to terrestrial vertebrates, which evolved
out of a clade of bony fishes that breathe through their skin or lungs, than they
are to the sharks, rays, and the other cartilaginous fish. Their kind of gill
respiration is shared by the "fishes" because it was present in their common
ancestor and lost in the other living vertebrates. But based on this shared trait,
we cannot infer that bony fish are more closely related to sharks and rays than
they are to terrestrial vertebrates.
The term "symplesiomorphy" was first introduced in 1950 by German
entomologist Willi Hennig, who is widely regarded as the father of modern
cladistics.

HOMOLOGY
In biology, a HOMOLOGY is a characteristic shared by two species (or other taxa
-- a taxon is the generic term for a classification group such as a Kingdom, a
Phylum, etc.) that is similar because of common ancestry.
1. Morphological homology - species (correctly) placed in the same
taxonomic category show anatomical similarities.
2. Ontogenetic homology - species placed in the same taxonomic category
show developmental (embryonic) similarities.
3. Molecular homology - species placed in the same taxonomic category
show similarities in DNA and RNA and in their proteins.
MORPHOLOGICAL HOMOLOGY
A structure found in two (or more) different species, but derived from a common
ancestral structure is said to be HOMOLOGOUS in those species. The structure
may or may not be used for the same function in the species in which it occurs.

A classic example of HOMOLOGY is seen in the skeletal components of

vertebrates...

In contrast, a structure that serves the same function in two species, but is NOT
derived from a common ancestral structure is said to be ANALOGOUS. Examples
of Analogous structures:
1. Wings of bat, bird (though the BONES are homologous!), insect

2.
3.
4.
5.

Camera eye of the vertebrate and the cephalopod (squid & octopus):
Walking limbs of insects and vertebrates
Cranium of vertebrates and exoskeletal head shield of insects
Fusiform shape of fish and cetaceans (whales & dolphins)

Evolution can be considered a process of "remodeling" a population over the

course of many generations, with the driving force being natural selection factors
that favor one form over another in specific environments.

Vestigial structures have marginal, if any use to the organims in which they
occur. These are some of the most interesting examples of homology.
1. Pelvic elements in pythonid snakes and cetaceans
2. Appendix in humans
3. Coccyx in great apes

Primitive and Derived Characters

A PRIMITIVE character is one that is relatively unchanged from its original,
ancestral form. (Also called a PLESIOMORPHY)
A DERIVED character is one that is relatively modified from its original, ancestral
form. (Also called an APOMORPHY)
Note that these are COMPARATIVE terms. You can't call something "primitive" or
"derived" without comparing it to something else.
Biosystematists often use the existence of shared characters in related taxa to
help reveal their common ancestry.
1. A SYMPLESIOMORPHY is a shared, primitive character
2. A SYNAPOMORPHY is a shared, derived character
The more recently two species diverged from a common ancestor, the more
shared, derived characters they will share.
In determining recency of common descent, symplesiomorphies are generally
not informative, but synapomorphies are.
Using shared derived characters
Our goal is to find evidence that will help us group organisms into less and less
inclusive clades. Specifically, we are interested in shared derived characters. A
shared character is one that two lineages have in common, and a derived
character is one that evolved in the lineage
leading up to a clade and that sets members of
that clade apart from other individuals.
Shared derived characters can be used to group
organisms into clades. For example, amphibians,
turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodiles, birds and
mammals all have, or historically had, four limbs.
If you look at a modern snake you might not see
obvious limbs, but fossils show that ancient
snakes did have limbs, and some modern snakes
actually do retain rudimentary limbs. Four limbs is
a shared derived character inherited from a
common ancestor that helps set apart this
particular clade of vertebrates.
However, the presence of four limbs is not useful for determining
relationships within the clade in green above, since all lineages in the clade have
that character. To determine the relationships in that clade, we would need to
examine other characters that vary across the lineages in the clade.

What's the difference between ancestral and derived?

Derived is when a trait shows up that was NOT present in a common

ancestor.
Ancestral/primitive characters WERE present in a common ancestor.
These terms are relative because it's when you're comparing 2+
species/populations
This is usually used in a sense of ancestral vs. derived traits. An ancestral
trait or primitive one is a trait that was retained by a species from its
ancestor. A derived trait is one that has evolved. Both of these terms must
be used relative to a classification group. E.G. Among primates, the
relatively shortened and straight spine of a gorilla is a derived trait (it was
not present in the common ancestor of all primates). However, the
shortened spine of a gorilla is ancestral to apes (it is present in all apes
and in the common ancestor of apes).
These are special terms that refer to particular anatomical or behavioural
traits when comparing two or more organisms. Derived traits evolved in
one species after it branched off from others. Ancestral traits are those
that two species share because of common ancestry. All birds have wings
because their common ancestor did. They are ancestral traits. But bats'
wings are not ancestral to birds' wings- they evolved separately. They are
derived traits. But bats and birds both have, say, backbones because their
common ancestor had a backbone. Backbones in birds and bats are
ancestral traits.

References
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapomorphy
http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/106/106F05_4print.html
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IICTreebuilding.shtml
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080202220146AAGuzsa