Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Phylogeny01:23

Phylogeny

Phylogeny is concerned with the evolutionary diversification of organisms or groups of organisms. A group of organisms with a name is called a taxon (singular). Taxa (plural) can span different levels of the evolutionary hierarchy. For instance, the group containing all birds is a taxon (comprising the class Aves), and the group of all species of daisies (the genus Bellis) is a taxon. Phylogenies can likewise include just one genus (i.e., depict species relationships) or span an entire...
Phylogenetic Trees03:21

Phylogenetic Trees

Phylogenetic trees come in many forms. It matters in which sequence the organisms are arranged from the bottom to the top of the tree, but the branches can rotate at their nodes without altering the information. The lines connecting individual nodes can be straight, angled, or even curved.The length of the branches can depict time or the relative amount of change among organisms. For instance, the branch length might indicate the number of amino acid changes in the sequence that underlies the...
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes02:40

The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes

The “tree of life” describes the evolution of life and the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The root of the tree is the common ancestor to all life on Earth. All other species radiate from this point, much like the branches of a tree. The numerous tips of these branches on the tree of life represent every living, or extant, species. Extinct species, which are species that no longer exist, can be found towards the center of the tree. Currently, these organisms, both extant and...
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
Phylogenetic Trees03:21

Phylogenetic Trees

Phylogenetic trees come in many forms. It matters in which sequence the organisms are arranged from the bottom to the top of the tree, but the branches can rotate at their nodes without altering the information. The lines connecting individual nodes can be straight, angled, or even curved.The length of the branches can depict time or the relative amount of change among organisms. For instance, the branch length might indicate the number of amino acid changes in the sequence that underlies the...
Microbial Phylogeny01:28

Microbial Phylogeny

Understanding the evolutionary relationships among microorganisms is fundamental to microbial ecology and taxonomy. Phylogenetic trees are essential tools for inferring these relationships, relying primarily on comparative analyses of molecular sequences such as DNA, RNA, or proteins. In microbial studies, these trees typically depict the evolutionary paths of diverse bacterial and archaeal species by mapping genetic differences accumulated over time.Phylogenetic trees are composed of tips,...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Analysing diversification through time.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2011
Same author

Absolute measures of the completeness of the fossil record.

Nature·2001
Same author

Rates of speciation in the fossil record.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2001
Same author

Competitive displacement among post-Paleozoic cyclostome and cheilostome bryozoans.

Paleobiology·2001
Same author

Effects of sampling standardization on estimates of Phanerozoic marine diversification.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2001
Same author

Evolutionary and preservational constraints on origins of biologic groups: divergence times of eutherian mammals.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·1999

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2026

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
12:00

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts

Published on: February 6, 2014

Numerical experiments with model monophyletic and paraphyletic taxa.

J J Sepkoski1, D C Kendrick

  • 1Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.

Paleobiology
|January 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary

Paraphyletic taxa can accurately reflect species diversity and extinction patterns, even during mass extinctions. Monophyletic groups (clades) perform better, but paraphyletic taxa may be more informative under poor fossil sampling.

Keywords:
NASA Discipline ExobiologyNon-NASA Center

More Related Videos

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
08:57

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Published on: August 14, 2018

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles
10:23

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles

Published on: July 11, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 11, 2026

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
12:00

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts

Published on: February 6, 2014

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
08:57

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Published on: August 14, 2018

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles
10:23

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles

Published on: July 11, 2025

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Paleontology
  • Systematics

Background:

  • Monophyletic groups (clades) are increasingly favored in systematics.
  • The utility of paraphyletic taxa in capturing evolutionary history is debated.
  • Understanding diversity and extinction patterns requires accurate representation of lineages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the accuracy of paraphyletic taxa versus monophyletic groups (clades) in representing species diversity and extinction patterns.
  • To evaluate the impact of different diversification rates and mass extinction events.
  • To assess the influence of paleontological sampling on the perceived accuracy of these taxonomic groups.

Main Methods:

  • Monte Carlo simulations were used to model phylogenies as stochastic trees.
  • Paraphyletic taxa were defined by randomly selecting progenitors and including all their descendants not in other taxa.
  • Modeled taxa were analyzed to identify clades and dissect paraphyletic groups into monophyletic subgroups.

Main Results:

  • Paraphyletic groups adequately captured lineage information across various diversification and extinction scenarios.
  • Strictly monophyletic groups showed slightly better performance, particularly during mass extinctions.
  • Under low paleontological sampling, clade veracity decreased, and paraphyletic taxa often retained more lineage information.

Conclusions:

  • Paraphyletic taxa are not merely "taxonomic noise" and can be informative for evolutionary studies.
  • Traditional paleontological taxa (genera, families) may remain valuable for diversity and evolution studies in the fossil record.
  • The choice between paraphyletic and monophyletic groups may depend on sampling completeness and research focus.