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What is a cladogram and what is not?
Author(s) -
Brower Andrew V.Z.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
cladistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.323
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1096-0031
pISSN - 0748-3007
DOI - 10.1111/cla.12144
Subject(s) - cladogram , synapomorphy , representation (politics) , biology , cladistics , taxon , plea , evolutionary biology , paleontology , phylogenetics , genetics , law , clade , political science , politics , gene
The origins and meanings of “cladogram” are reviewed. Traditionally, “cladogram” has been defined as a graphical representation of an empirical hypothesis of relationships among taxa, based on evidence from synapomorphies alone. Disturbingly, numerous recent authors treat “cladogram” as synonymous with “dendrogram” and do not appreciate the particular methodological connotations of the former term. This is lamented.