Autapomorphy, Synapomorphy, Homoplasy Explained

An autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to the focal taxon (which may be a species, family or in general any clade). In phylogenetics, an apomorphy is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form. A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have evolved in their most recent common ancestor. In cladistics, synapomorphy implies homology. Homoplasy is the development of organs or other bodily structures within different species, which resemble each other and have the same functions, but did not have a common ancestral origin. These organs arise via convergent evolution and are thus analogous, not homologous to each other. #MolecularClock #GeneCkock #evolutionaryClock #PrincipleOfParsimony #phylogenicTree #outgroups #ingroup #Homology #Homoplasy #cladogram #Phylogram #domain #kingdom #phylum #Class #genus #ScientificNames #taxonomicHierarchy #species #phyliogeneticTree #Evolution #speciation #diagram #branchingInAPhylogeneticTree #Genetics #bilology #taxonomy #populationGenetics #hawaiiIslands #founderEffect #geneticDrift #bioinformatics #outapomorphy #synapomorphy