polyphyletic

(adjective)

having multiple ancestral sources; referring to a taxon that does not contain the most recent common ancestor of its members

Related Terms

Examples of polyphyletic in the following topics:

  • Deuteromycota: The Imperfect Fungi

    • Phylum Deuteromycota is a polyphyletic group of asexually-reproducing fungi that do not display a sexual phase; they are known as imperfect.
    • Deuteromycota is a polyphyletic group where many species are more closely related to organisms in other phyla than to each other; hence it cannot be called a true phylum and must, instead, be given the name form phylum.

  • Superphylum Ecdysozoa

    • This grouping scheme is widely accepted, although some zoologists still hold to the original view that Panarthropoda should be classified with Annelida in a group called the Articulata, and that Ecdysozoa are polyphyletic.

  • Firmicutes

    • On phylogenetic trees, the first two groups show up as paraphyletic or polyphyletic, as do their main genera, Clostridium and Bacillus.

  • Diversity of Angiosperms

    • Monocots include grasses and lilies while eudicots or dicots form a polyphyletic group.