cladogram

American  

[klad-uh-gram, kley-duh-] / ˈklæd əˌgræm, ˈkleɪ də- /

noun

Biology.

1. a branching diagram depicting the successive points of species divergence from common ancestral lines without regard to the degree of deviation.

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cladogram British  

/ ˈkleɪdəʊˌɡræm /

noun

1. biology a treelike diagram illustrating the development of a clade See clade

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cladogram Scientific  

/ klăd′ə-grăm′,klā′də- /

1. A branching treelike diagram used to illustrate evolutionary (phylogenetic) relationships among organisms. Each node, or point of divergence, has two branching lines of descendance, indicating evolutionary divergence from a common ancestor. The endpoints of the tree represent individual species, and any node together with its descendant branches and subbranches constitutes a clade.

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Etymology

Origin of cladogram

First recorded in 1965–70; clado- + -gram ¹

Example Sentences

The features of animal body plans provide information for building the Animal Cladogram, which shows current hypotheses of relationships among clades.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

The Chordate Cladogram presents current hypotheses about evolutionary relationships among chordate groups.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

The Invertebrate Cladogram shows current hypotheses about evolutionary relationships among major living invertebrate groups, and indicates the order in which important features evolved.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018