Cladograms and Dichotomous Keys

species of butterflies

In this topic, you examined how to read diagrams known as cladograms, which analyze shared evolutionary traits among related species. Cladograms help to show the evolutionary relationships among related species, especially when observable physical traits are not always obvious. You also explored how to create a dichotomous key, which helps one to identify a species based on the organism's unique physical characteristics.