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12
GENERAL BIOLOGY 2
Semester II – Week 7
The Phylogenetic
Classification

CONTEXTUALIZED LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS

SCHOOLS DIVISION OF PUERTO PRINCESA CITY
General Biology 2 – Grade 12
Contextualized Learning Activity Sheets (CLAS)
Semester II - Week 7: The Phylogenetic Classification
First Edition, 2020

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 Lesson 1
The Phylogenetic Classification

MELC: Describe species diversity and cladistics, including the types of evidence and
procedures that can be used to establish evolutionary relationships.
STEM_BIO11/12IIIhj-16

Objectives:
1. Describe the concept of phylogenetic classification
2. Explain cladistics as a method for phylogenetic classification
3. Draw a phylogenetic tree

Let’s Try
Directions: Let us try to activate your prior knowledge about this topic by answering the
following questions. Choose and write only the letter of the best answer on the line before
the number.
_____1. What is a group of organisms that includes an ancestor and all its descendants
called?
A. clade C. cladogram
B. cladistics D. phylogenetic tree
_____2. Which of the following refers to the evolutionary history of a group of related
organisms?
A. clade C. phylogenetic tree
B. cladistics D. phylogeny
_____3. What is referred to as a method of comparing traits in related species to determine
ancestor-descendant relationships?
A. clade C. cladogram
B. cladistics D. phylogeny
_____4. Which of the following is a visual representation of the classification of species into
clades based on their evolutionary relationships?
A. cladistics C. phylogenetic tree
B. cladogram D. phylogeny
_____5. Which of the following branches of biology studies the naming, describing and
classifying organisms?
A. Anthropology C. Phylogeny
B. Paleontology D. Taxonomy
_____6. Which of the following branches of biology studies the evolutionary history of a
group of related organisms?
A. Anthropology C. Phylogeny
B. Paleontology D. Taxonomy

1
_____7. Who is the German biologist who discovered and developed the phylogenetic
systematics?
A. Anton van Leeuwenhoek C. Charles Darwin
B. Carolus Linnaeus D. Willi Hennig

_____8. Which of the following is not a clade?

A. The first cell on Earth, and all its descendants
B. A currently living monkey species and all its descendants
C. A group of trees that all have flowers of the same color
D. A group of apparently different cells that, upon genetic testing, are found
to be related
_____9. Which factor can be used in constructing cladograms?
A. Age or colors of the organisms
B. DNA structures of an organism
C. Morphological features
D. Structural features or molecular evidence

_____10. Based on the phylogenetic tree,

which two organisms are least closely
related?
A. Baboon and Human
B. Chimpanzee and Human
C. Chimpanzee and Rhesus Monkey
D. Human and Rhesus Monkey

Let’s Explore and Discover

Unlocking Word Difficulties

Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of group of related organisms. It is represented
by a phylogenetic tree that shows how species are related to each other through
common ancestors.
The most common method of incorporating information into phylogenetic trees is
called cladistics.
Evolutionary relationships between organisms can be determined by cladistic
analysis.

There are more than a million kinds of organisms known

to live on Earth today and new species continue to be
discovered. Can you still recall the reasons why there is a
need to classify organisms? Yes, you are right! It would be
difficult to find information about a certain organism if
organisms were not in proper order. In biology, Taxonomy
is the scientific study and systematic way of classifying and
naming organisms. Taxonomy helps us easily find biological
information.

2
 Our system of taxonomy is based on phylogeny. That is, we classify organisms together
because they have a common evolutionary ancestor. In most cases, we cannot determine
ancestry directly because the fossil record is poor for most organisms. Instead, we rely on
shared, homologous features, and we say that organisms that share many features are
closely related. Organisms that share many features probably had a relatively recent
common ancestor.

For example,
chimpanzees and
humans share about
98% of their DNA
because the common
ancestor of chimps and
humans lived only
about 6 million years
ago.

(Source: Robert J. Kosinski, “An Introduction to Phylogenetic Analysis,” Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching
27 2016: 57-106, accessed February 1, 2021, https://www.ableweb.org/biologylabs/wp-
content/uploads/volumes/vol-27/05_Kosinski.pdf)

What is Phylogenetic Systematics?

Phylogenetics is the
study of known or hypothesized
evolutionary relationships based
on the phylogeny (lineage) of
grouped organisms. It shows that
closely related species share a
common ancestor. A phylogeny is
usually represented by a tree
diagram called a phylogenetic
tree. Modern biologists still use
phylogenetic trees to represent
how taxa (groups of organisms)
evolved in a specific order as life
diversified and branched out from
a common ancestor. The tips of the
branches represent genetically
related species.
Figure 1. Phylogenetic Tree: This phylogenetic tree shows how species 1, 2, and 3 are related to one another
through common ancestors. The branching points represent common ancestors. A common ancestor is the last
ancestor species that two descendant species shared before they took different evolutionary paths. In the tree,
species 1 and 2 shared a more recent common ancestor than with species 3. Therefore, species 1 and 2 are
more closely related than species 3.
(Source: CK-12 Foundation, Phylogenetic Tree, accessed February 1, 2021 Free Royalty,
https://www.ck12.org/section/phylogenetic-classification/.)

3
Examples of a phylogenetic tree.

Figure 2. The evolutionary relationships of wolf, dog, and fox (L), Reptiles and birds (R), accessed February 1,
2021, https://www.ck12.org/section/phylogenetic-classification/

What is Cladistics?
Cladistics analyzes how organisms are related, based on traits of ancestor and
descendent species. Cladistics was developed in the 1950s by a scientist named Willi
Hennig, a German biologist who is considered the founder of phylogenetic systematics. One
way of classifying organisms that show phylogeny is by using the clade. A clade is a group
of organisms that includes an ancestor and all its descendants. Clades are based on
cladistics. Clades are represented by cladograms.

A cladogram is a diagram that shows evolutionary relationships within one or more clades.
Constructed cladograms all typically share certain key features:
Root The initial ancestor common to all organisms within the cladogram (incoming line
shows it originates from a larger clade)
Nodes Each node corresponds to a hypothetical common ancestor that speciated to give
rise to two (or more) daughter taxa
Outgroup The most distantly related species in the cladogram which functions as a point of
comparison and reference group
Clades A common ancestor and all its descendants (i.e., a node and all its connected
branches)

Small clades include as few as two species and their common ancestor. The larger clades
can include many more species and their common ancestors. Cladistics is now accepted as
the best method available for phylogenetic analysis, for it provides an explicit and testable
hypothesis of organismal relationships.

4
 Cladograms may be constructed using the following types of evidence and procedures
that can be used to establish evolutionary relationships.
1. Using structural
evidence
a. Use
characteristics
that are
developmentally
fixed (i.e., innate)
and not
influenced by
environmental
pressures.

b. Sequentially order
organisms according to
shared characteristics

(Source: Creator, Cladograms, accessed February 2, 2021, https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-

level/topic-5-evolution-and-biodi/54-cladistics/cladograms.html, copyright info.)

2. Using molecular evidence Comparing a

gene or protein common to a range of
selected organisms.

Consider
Similarity with the
Organism Human DNA example in the
(percent) table. The table
Chimpanzee 98 shows how
Mouse 85 similar the DNA
Chicken 60 of several
Fruit Fly 44
animal species
is to human
DNA. Based on
these data, which organism do you think
shared the most recent common ancestor Cladogram of Humans and
with humans? Apes. This cladogram is based on
DNA comparisons. It shows how
humans are related to apes by
descent from common ancestors.

Source: Robert J. Kosinski, “An Introduction to Phylogenetic Analysis,” Tested Studies for Laboratory
Teaching 27 2016: 57-106, February 1, 2021, https://www.ableweb.org/biologylabs/wp-
content/uploads/volumes/vol-27/05_Kosinski.pdf)

5
 Let’s Practice
I See Your True Color
ACTIVITY 1 Directions: Identify the following statements whether they are
true or false. Color the box yellow if the statement is true, or
green if it is false.

1. A clade is a group of organisms that

includes an ancestor and all its
descendants.
2. Both cladograms and phylogenetic
trees show the relationship between
organisms.
3. Cladograms came first before phylogenetics.
4. Phylogenetic trees compare changes in
organisms over evolutionary time.
5. Cladistics is a system that is based
on genetic connections between species.

Directions: Use the following cladogram to answer the questions

ACTIVITY 2 below. Write your answer on the provided lines.

(Source: Unknown Author, Cladogram, accessed February 2, 2021

https://www.mrgscience.com/topic-54-cladistics.html, CC BY-SA.)

1. What trait separates lampreys from tuna on this cladogram? _______________

2. What separates a salamander from a turtle? _______________
3. Which organism is most related to the leopard? _______________
4. Which organism’s DNA will differ the most from the leopard? Why?
_________________________________________________________________

6
 Let’s Do More

ACTIVITY 1
Directions: The following data shows four amino acids found across three species.
Make a phylogenetic tree that best represents the information in the chart? Write your
answer in the available space opposite the diagram.

Directions: Study the diagram below and answer the following

ACTIVITY 2
questions. Write your answer in the space provided.

Based on the phylogenetic tree above, which species are most closely related?

Why? _______________________________________________________________________

2
 Let’s Sum It Up
Answer the following questions.
Direction:

1. Explain how morphological structures, developmental characteristics, and DNA

relatedness are used in the classification of living things?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

2. Draw a cladogram or phylogenetic tree that displays the order of evolution of the
six kingdoms. Explain the reasoning for your interpretation.

Let’s Assess
Directions: Let us see how well you learned the lesson by answering the following
questions. Choose and write only the letter of the best answer on the line
provided before the number.
_____1. Which of the following branches of biology studies the evolutionary history of a
group of related organisms.?
A. Anthropology C. Phylogeny
B. Paleontology D. Taxonomy
_____2. Who is the German biologist who discovered and developed the phylogenetic
systematics?
A. Anton van Leeuwenhoek C. Charles Darwin
B. Carolus Linnaeus D. Willi Hennig

3
_____3. Which of the following is not a clade?
A. The first cell on Earth, and all its descendants.
B. A currently living monkey species and all its descendants.
C. A group of trees that all have flowers of the same color.
D. A group of apparently different cells that, upon genetic testing, are found to be
related.
_____4. Which factors can be used in constructing cladograms?
A. Age or colors of the organisms.
B. DNA structures of an organism.
C. Morphological features.
D. Structural features or molecular evidence.

____5. Based on the phylogenetic tree,

which two organisms are least closely
related?
A. Baboon and Human
B. Chimpanzee and Human
C. Chimpanzee and Rhesus Monkey
D. Human and Rhesus Monkey

_____6. What is a group of organisms that includes an ancestor and all its descendants
called?
A. clade C. cladogram
B. cladistics D. phylogenetic tree
_____7. Which of the following refers to the evolutionary history of a group of related
organisms?
A. clade C. phylogenetic tree
B. cladistics D. phylogeny
_____8. What is referred to as a method of comparing traits in related species to determine
ancestor-descendant relationships?
A. clade C. cladogram
B. cladistics D. phylogeny
_____9. Which of the following is a visual representation of the classification of species into
clades based on their evolutionary relationships.
A. cladistics C. phylogenetic tree
B. cladogram D. phylogeny
_____10. Which of the following branches of biology studies the naming, describing and
classifying organisms?
A. Anthropology C. Phylogeny
B. Paleontology D. Taxonomy

I hope you enjoyed and learned something new!

4
 Answer Key

Let’s Practice Let’s Do More

Activity 1 Activity 2
1. True 1. jaws Activity 1 Activity 2
2. True 2. amniotic egg Species I and II
3. False 3. turtle
4. True 4. The lancelet’s DNA. It is Species I and II
5. True the organism with least have the most
recent convergence
traits in common and is in
and share the most
the outgroup lines.
recent common
ancestor.
___________________
___________________
Let’s Sum It Up – Answers vary. ________

Let’s Try Let’s Assess

1. A 2. D 3. B 4. B 5. D 1. C 2. D 3. C 4. D 5. D
6. C 7. D 8. C 9. D 10. D 6. A 7. D 8. B 9. B 10. D

References
Website:
Robert J. Kosinski, “An Introduction to Phylogenetic Analysis,” Tested Studies for Laboratory
Teaching 27 2016: 57-106, Accessed February 1, 2021,
https://www.ableweb.org/biologylabs/wp-content/uploads/volumes/vol-
27/05_Kosinski.pdf)

https://www.ck12.org/biology/phylogeny-and-cladistics/lesson/Phylogenetic-Classification-
BIO/?referrer=concept_details

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-evolution/hs-phylogeny/e/hs-
phylogeny

5
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