Monophyly

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Phylogenetic tree, the blue (left) and red (right) groups represent monophyletic groups, the green group
(centre) being paraphyletic.

Cladogram of the primates, showing amonophyletic group (the simians, in yellow), aparaphyletic group (the
prosimians, in blue, including the red patch), and a polyphyletic group(the night-active primates,
the lorises and the tarsiers, in red)
Phylogenetic groups: A monophyletic taxon contains a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Diagram:
in yellow, the group of "reptiles and birds" A paraphyletic taxon contains its most recent common ancestor, but
does not contain all the descendants of that ancestor. Diagram: in cyan, the reptiles A polyphyletic taxon does
not contain the most recent common ancestor of all its members. Diagram: in red, the group of all warm-
blooded animals ispolyphyletic.

In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon (group of organisms) which forms
a clade, meaning that it consists of an ancestral species and all its descendants. The term is
synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly. Monophyletic groups are typically characterized
by shared derived characteristics (synapomorphies).
Monophyly is contrasted with paraphyly and polyphyly, as shown in the second diagram.
A paraphyletic group consists of all of the descendants of a common ancestor minus one or more
monophyletic groups. Thus, a paraphyletic group is 'nearly' monophyletic (hence the prefix 'para',
meaning 'near' or 'alongside'.) Apolyphyletic group is characterized by convergent features or habits
(for example, night-active primates, fruit trees, aquatic insects); the features by which the group is
differentiated from others are not inherited from a common ancestor.
These definitions have taken some time to be accepted. When the cladistic school of thought
became mainstream in the 1960s, several alternative definitions were in use. Indeed, taxonomists
sometimes used terms without defining them, leading to confusion in the early literature, [1] a
confusion which persists.
See also: Crown group

Contents
[hide]

1 Definitions

2 See also

3 References

4 External links

Definitions[edit]
On the broadest scale, definitions fall into two groups.

Willi Hennig (1966:148) defined monophyly as groups based on

synapomorphy (in contrast to paraphyletic groups, based on
symplesiomorphy, and polyphyletic groups, based on convergence).
Some authors have sought to define monophyly to include
paraphyly as any two or more groups sharing a common ancestor.[2]
[3][4]
However, this broader definition encompasses both
monophyletic and paraphyletic groups as defined above. Therefore,
most scientists today restrict the term "monophyletic" to refer to
groups consisting of all the descendants of one (hypothetical)
common ancestor.[1] However, when considering taxonomic groups
such as genera and species, the most appropriate nature of their
 common ancestor is unclear. Assuming that it would be one
individual or mating pair is unrealistic for sexually reproducing
species, which are by definition interbreeding populations.[5]

Monophyly and associated terms are restricted to discussions of

taxa, and are not necessarily accurate when used to describe what
Hennig called tokogenetic relationshipsnow referred to as
genealogies. Some argue that using a broader definition, such as a
species and all its descendants, does not really work to define a
genus.[5] According to D. M. Stamos, a satisfactory cladistic
definition of a species or genus is impossible because many
species (and even genera) may form by "budding" from an existing
species, leaving the parent species paraphyletic; or the species or
genera may be the result of hybrid speciation.[6]

See also[edit]
Glossary of scientific naming

Clade

Paraphyly

Polyphyly

Crown group

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b Hennig, Willi; Davis, D. (Translator); Zangerl, R.
(Translator) (1999) [1966]. Phylogenetic Systematics(Illinois Reissue
ed.). Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. pp. 7277. ISBN 0-
252-06814-9.

2. Jump up^ Colless, Donald H. (March 1972). "Monophyly".Systematic

Zoology (Society of Systematic Biologists)21 (1): 126
128. doi:10.2307/2412266.JSTOR 2412266.

3. Jump up^ Envall, Mats (2008). "On the difference between mono-,
holo-, and paraphyletic groups: a consistent distinction of process and
pattern". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 94:
217. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.00984.x.

4. Jump up^ Ashlock, Peter D. (March 1971). "Monophyly and

Associated Terms". Systematic Zoology (Society of Systematic
Biologists) 20 (1): 6369.doi:10.2307/2412223. JSTOR 2412223.

5. ^ Jump up to:a b Simpson, George (1961). Principles of Animal

Taxonomy. New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN 0-231-02427-
4.
 6. Jump up^ Stamos, D.N. (2003). The species problem : biological
species, ontology, and the metaphysics of biology. Lanham, Md. [u.a.]:
Lexington Books. pp. 261268. ISBN 0739105035.

External links[edit]
Abbey, Darren (19942006). "Graphical explanation of basic
phylogenetic terms". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 15
January 2010.

Carr, Steven M. (2002). "Concepts of monophyly, polyphyly &

paraphyly". Memorial University. Retrieved 15 January 2010.

Hyvnen, Jaako (2005). "Monophyly, consensus, compromise" (pdf).

University of Helsinki. Retrieved 15 January 2010.

[hide]
V

Topics in phylogenetics

Computational phylogenetics

Molecular phylogenetics
Relevant fields
Cladistics

Evolutionary taxonomy

Phylogenetic tree

Phylogenetic network

Basic concepts Long branch attraction

Clade vs Grade

Ghost lineage

Inference methods Maximum parsimony

Probabilistic methods

Maximum likelihood

Bayesian inference

Distance-matrix methods

Neighbor-joining

UPGMA

Least squares
 Three-taxon analysis

PhyloCode

DNA barcoding

Molecular phylogenetics

Phylogenetic comparative methods

Current topics Phylogenetic network

Phylogenetic niche conservatism

Phylogenetics software

Phylogenomics

Phylogeography

Symplesiomorphy

Apomorphy
Group traits
Synapomorphy

Autapomorphy

Monophyly

Group types Paraphyly

Polyphyly

List of evolutionary biology topics

Evolutionary biology
Categories:
Phylogenetics

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