cladistics

[kluh-dis-tiks] /kləˈdɪs tɪks/
noun, Biology, (used with a plural verb)
1.
classification of organisms based on the branchings of descendant lineages from a common ancestor.
Origin
1965-70; cladist(ic) (see clad-, -istic) + -ics
Related forms
cladistic, adjective
cladistically, adverb
Examples from the web for cladistics
  • In cladistics, presumptions about particular courses of ancestry and descent are abandoned as unprovable or unknowable.
British Dictionary definitions for cladistics

cladistics

/kləˈdɪstɪks/
noun
1.
(functioning as sing) (biology) a method of grouping animals that makes use of lines of descent rather than structural similarities
Derived Forms
cladism (ˈklædɪzəm) noun
cladist (ˈklædɪst) noun
Word Origin
C20: New Latin, from Greek klādos branch, shoot
cladistics in Science
cladistics
  (klə-dĭs'tĭks)   
A system of classification based on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of groups of organisms, rather than purely on shared features. Many modern taxonomists prefer cladistics to the traditional hierarchies of Linnean classification systems. Compare Linnean.
cladistics in Culture
cladistics [(kluh-dis-tiks)]

A method of taxonomic classification that groups organisms according to their lines of evolutionary descent. All descendants of a given organism are called a clade.