Monophyletic

Monophyletic - This term is used in biology to describe a group of organisms that have a common ancestor and all its descendants. Such groups can be formed either by individual species or by larger taxa such as families, orders or classes.

It is important to note that a monophyletic taxon is a natural group, that is, one that is based on real relationships between organisms, and not just on similarities in external characters. This distinguishes monophyletic taxa from polyphyletic taxa, which group organisms based on similarities in appearance but do not share a common ancestor.

For example, all birds have a common ancestor who was a bird. Therefore, the group including all birds is monophyletic. On the other hand, the group "reptiles" is not monophyletic, since it includes reptiles and birds, which have different ancestors.

Monophyletic taxa are of great importance in taxonomy because they reflect the natural relationships between organisms and allow living things to be more accurately classified. They can also be used to study evolutionary processes and the history of life on Earth.

In conclusion, a monophyletic taxon is a natural group of organisms that shares a common ancestor and all its descendants. Such groups are important in taxonomy and evolutionary biology because they reflect natural relationships between organisms and help refine their classification.



Monophyly in biology
Monophyly is one of the basic concepts of phylogenetics, which states that all species belonging to the same genus share a common ancestor. This means that species that share a common ancestor can be divided into monophyletic groups. Phylogeny is the process of evolution that leads to the emergence of new species. Monophyly is one of the main concepts used in phylogeny.

Monophyletic group
In biology, monophyly is used to refer to a group of organisms descended from a common ancestor and sharing a common ancestry. For example, all birds are monophyletic because they descended from a common ancestor - dinosaurs. On the other hand, mammals are not a monophyletic group, as some species are descended from dinosaurs and some from fish.

Use of the term
The term "monophyletic" is used in various fields of biology, including genetics, evolutionary biology, paleontology, and others. For example, in genetics, a monophyletic group means a group of organisms that share a common ancestor at the gene level. In paleontology, a monophyletic group is used to refer to groups of organisms that share a common ancestor at the fossil level.

Polyphyly
A polyphyletic group is a group of organisms that are descended from different ancestors. For example, birds and mammals are a polyphyletic group because birds evolved from dinosaurs and mammals evolved from fish and reptiles.



Monophyly (monophyly, Greek) – the presence of a group of ancestors and descendants, as well as a common ancestor (progenitor), that is, a monophyletic tree (taxa). The name comes from the Greek word for "one". In particular, when describing groups of organisms.

It can be compared with the term “polyphyly”; these are relative relationships between species or other taxonomic units. For example, human ancestors are not the direct ancestors of animals, since humans are not related to the pedigree of the latter