Monophyly

Full definition of monophyly

Noun

1. (systematics) In cladistics, the condition of being monophyletic, of including all descendants from a given ancestral species.
• 2009 January 15, Martin D. Brazeau, “The braincase and jaws of a Devonian 'acanthodian' and modern gnathostome origins”, Nature Volume 457 No. 7227, doi:10.1038/nature07436: All of these studies have presupposed acanthodian monophyly and stereotyped acanthodian endoskeletal morphology on Acanthodes , the latest-occurring, and a highly apomorphic genus.

Antonyms

• paraphyly, polyphyly

Related terms

• monophyletic