Biology · Glossary

What is The tree of kinship?

Also known as: tree of kinship

Definition 44.6 Primary & Middle School Biology · Chapter 44 — Classification and Kinship

Kinship is drawn as a tree: branch points stand for common ancestors, and each attribute appears once, at the branch where it arose — every species beyond that fork inherits it. The nested boxes and the tree carry the same information: a box is a branch with all its twigs.

A pocket tree of kinship. Each colored dot is an attribute appearing once; every branch beyond it inherits. Cat and whale share the newest fork — the closest cousins drawn here.
A pocket tree of kinship. Each colored dot is an attribute appearing once; every branch beyond it inherits. Cat and whale share the newest fork — the closest cousins drawn here.
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