Concept
Version 7
Created by Boundless
Phylogenetic Trees
Rooted phylogenetic trees
The root of a phylogenetic tree indicates that an ancestral lineage gave rise to all organisms on the tree. A branch point indicates where two lineages diverged. A lineage that evolved early and remains unbranched is a basal taxon. When two lineages stem from the same branch point, they are sister taxa. A branch with more than two lineages is a polytomy.
Source
Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources:
"OpenStax College, Organizing Life on Earth. October 16, 2013."
http://cnx.org/content/m44588/latest/Figure_20_01_02.jpg
OpenStax CNX
CC BY 3.0.