Phylogeny

Phylogeny is the study of evolutionary relationships between organisms and is a fundamental part of evolutionary biology. Used to infer evolutionary relationships, phylogeny is based on the comparison of characteristics such as morphology, genetics, and other data, allowing scientists to identify shared evolutionary history of species and higher taxa. By providing a more precise understanding of species' relationships, phylogeny can be used to address important questions in conservation biology, biomedicine, agriculture, and other areas. Phylogenetic trees depict how closely related two species are and are used to accurately classify species in their respective trees.