phylogeny
Americannoun
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the development or evolution of a particular group of organisms.
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the evolutionary history of a group of organisms, especially as depicted in a family tree.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of phylogeny
Explanation
Use the noun phylogeny to describe the branch of biology that focuses on evolution and the differences between species. You're most likely to come across the word phylogeny in a biology class. It's another term for "phylogenetics," the study of evolution, diversity, and the way different organisms and species are related to each other. The German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel was the first to use the word phylogeny, in 1866, and Darwin used it soon after. It combines the Greek phylos, "race," with geneia, "origin."
Vocabulary lists containing phylogeny
Evolutionary Biology - High School
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Evolutionary Biology - Middle School
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Evolutionary BIology - Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It describes a new genus and species, but places them in the phylogeny of tardigrades," Nelson told Salon.
From Salon • Sep. 1, 2024
Next, the team mapped out the branches of the phylogeny that featured living bioluminescent species.
From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2024
The results corroborated the systematic membership of Dermaptera to Polyneoptera and strongly supported the phylogeny within the order, which was inferred from the latest molecular phylogenetic analyses but was significantly different from the conventional understanding.
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2024
For botanists, phylogeny acts as a guide to discovering new plants that can be used to benefit people.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015
Because our knowledge of the skeleton in hylids is so incomplete, we are not attempting to place Smilisca in the general scheme of hylid phylogeny on the basis of skeletal characters.
From Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca by Duellman, William E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
