Cladistics

- "Cladistics is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ('clades') based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry."

- "Organisms are categorized in groups ('clades') based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry."

- "The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics (synapomorphies) that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors."

- "Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade."

- "Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade."

- "If the terms worms or fishes were used within a strict cladistic framework, these terms would include humans."

- "Upon finding that the group is paraphyletic this way, either such excluded groups should be granted to the clade, or the group should be abolished."

- "Branches down to the divergence to the next significant (e.g. extant) sister are considered stem-groupings of the clade."

- "Adding a group to a tree also adds an additional (named) clade, and a new level on that branch."

- "Specifically, also extinct groups are always put on a side-branch, not distinguishing whether an actual ancestor of other groupings was found."

- "The techniques and nomenclature of cladistics have been applied to disciplines other than biology."

- "Cladistics findings are posing a difficulty for taxonomy, where the rank and (genus-)naming of established groupings may turn out to be inconsistent."

- "Cladistics is now the most commonly used method to classify organisms."

- "Organisms are categorized in groups ('clades')..."

- "The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics (synapomorphies)..."

- "A clade can only be rejected if some groupings were explicitly excluded."

- "Either such excluded groups should be granted to the clade, or the group should be abolished."

- "In principle, each level stands on its own, to be assigned a unique name."

- "Radiation results in the generation of new subclades by bifurcation..."

- "In practice, sexual hybridization may blur very closely related groupings."