phylogenetic
adj.relating to the evolutionary history and relationships between different species. Scientists use this to understand how living things are connected through their shared ancestors.
adj.relating to the evolutionary development and classification of species based on their common ancestry. Often used in biological contexts to describe the branching patterns of a family tree.
“The researchers studied the phylogenetic relationships between the two birds.”
“By comparing the DNA of various species, scientists can map out the phylogenetic tree to see how they evolved over millions of years.”
“The discovery of the fossil provided critical evidence for the phylogenetic link between marine reptiles and the first land-dwelling mammals.”
“Using phylogenetic comparative methods, the researchers estimated how frequently eusociality evolved among insects with different genetic systems.”
“Then, they used the gold standard of phylogenetic analysis, a method called targeted sequence capture, which identifies and sequences hundreds of genes of interest from an organism.”
From phylo- + genetic, from German phylogenetisch, coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, from Phylogenese + -isch.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.