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

See Examples For:

cladogram

Phylogenetic trees and cladogram can represent traits, such as the number of heart chambers in animals, which are derived or lost due to evolution.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

The positions of various characters in the cladogram reflect the order in which those characteristics arose.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2018

The forks in this cladogram show the order in which various groups branched off from the tetrapod lineage.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2018

We’re talking about moving an animal something like two, three or four nodes on the cladogram – not a big deal at all.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 20, 2015

Highly simplified 'consensus' cladogram for Iguania, with fossil taxa not shown.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 1, 2013