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Why is taxonomy important? Remember! Science changes all the time – nothing is concrete! • Unknown species are being discovered! • New fossils are being uncovered! How would these new discoveries affect our classification systems? Cladograms/Phylogenetic Trees • Diagrams showing evolutionary relationships between species – Like a family tree of species constructed using morphology & DNA evidence Cladograms • Important features of cladograms are: – Derived Characteristics: recently evolved characteristics of organisms being compared – Ancestral Characteristics: shared characteristics of all the organisms being compared Ancestral Characteristics: vertebrae Derived Characteristics: hair, amniotic egg, etc. According to this cladogram, who are rabbits most closely related to? A. B. C. D. Crocodiles Amphibians Primates Birds Which organisms are birds the least related to? A. B. C. D. Crocodiles Ray-finned Fish Sharks Primates Sharks!