Phylogenetic

Phylogenetics is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among individuals or groups of organisms. These relationships are discovered through phylogenetic inference methods that evaluate observed heritable traits.

History

The term "phylogenetics" comes from the Greek words "phyle/phylon" meaning "tribe/race" and "genetikos" meaning "relative to birth". The concept of phylogenetics was first introduced by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, but the practice of classifying organisms has been around since Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century.

Methodology

Phylogenetics uses various types of analytical methods to perform a comparative analysis of certain characteristics in different species. These characteristics can be morphological such as the number of limbs, or genetic like DNA sequences.

Phylogenetic Trees

A phylogenetic tree is a branching diagram or "tree" showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species based upon similarities and differences in their physical and/or genetic characteristics.

Applications

Phylogenetics is used in the field of epidemiology to investigate outbreaks and track the spread of disease. It is also used in conservation biology to help identify species that may be at risk of extinction.

See Also

• Cladistics
• Computational phylogenetics
• Molecular phylogenetics

References

Phylogenetic Resources
Need Help Finding a Doctor? Need help finding a doctor or specialist anywhere in the world? Explore our world directory. WikiMD's DocFinder can assist you in locating millions of physicians.	Medical Knowledge Access the latest research - Most recent articles Ongoing trials.

Translate to: East Asian 中文, 日本, 한국어, South Asian हिन्दी, Urdu, বাংলা, తెలుగు, தமிழ், ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, မြန်မာဘာသာ, European español, Deutsch, français, русский, português do Brasil, Italian, polski