Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A system of classification based on the presumed phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of groups of organisms.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun systematics : An approach to biological systematics in which organisms are grouped based upon synapomorphies (shared derived characteristics) only, and not upon symplesiomorphies (shared ancestral characteristics).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a system of biological taxonomy based on the quantitative analysis of comparative data and used to reconstruct cladograms summarizing the (assumed) phylogenetic relations and evolutionary history of groups of organisms

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The term nested in cladistics is used precisely in the same sense as in nested hierarchy.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • The term nested in cladistics is used precisely in the same sense as in nested hierarchy.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • So cladistics is a reductive method, stripping a defined set of taxa, that have for sure one trait in common, of all distinguishing, autapomorphic traits to arrive at sets of plesiomorphic traits that are common to all taxa in the monophylitic clade.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • I said the way the word "nested" is used in cladistics is not the same way as it is used in nested hierarchy.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • The way "nested" is used in cladistics the only nesting is because someone put it there.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • I have already provided a reference that says cladistics is not the same as Linnean classification, yet you seem to conflate the two.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • It also appears that the word "nested" in cladistics isn't used how the rest of the world uses the word.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • I said the way the word "nested" is used in cladistics is not the same way as it is used in nested hierarchy.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

  • The basic idea behind cladistics is that members of a group share a common evolutionary history, and are "closely related," more so to members of the same group than to other organisms.

    About 'What Darwin Got Wrong' 2010

  • I imagine it's rather important in cladistics to be able to differentiate between homologous traits and analogous traits.

    A Disclaimer for Behe? 2009

Comments

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  • From American Heritage Science Dictionary: A system of classification based on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of groups of organisms, rather than purely on shared features.

    February 9, 2007

  • Cladistics is applied set theory searching for Russell's paradox.

    July 12, 2011