Lineage (evolution)

An evolutionary lineage is a temporal series of populations, organisms, cells, or genes connected by a continuous line of descent from ancestor to descendant.

molecular systematics

.

Phylogenetic representation of lineages

rRNA

genes

Lineages are typically visualized as subsets of a

cluster

individuals by similarity.

Just as a map is a scaled approximation of true

evolutionary relationships. For example, in a full tree of life, the entire clade of animals can be collapsed to a single branch of the tree. However, this is merely a limitation of rendering space. In theory, a true and complete tree for all living organisms or for any DNA

sequence could be generated.

References

^ The University of California, Berkeley resource on understanding evolution defines a lineage as "A continuous line of descent; a series of organisms, populations, cells, or genes connected by ancestor/descendant relationships." Understanding Evolution, Glossary of Terms
^ The Oxford English Dictionary defines biological lineage as "a sequence of species each of which is considered to have evolved from its predecessor."OED definition of lineage

External links

[1] The University of California, Berkeley resource on understanding evolution defines a lineage as "A continuous line of descent; a series of organisms, populations, cells, or genes connected by ancestor/descendant relationships." Understanding Evolution, Glossary of Terms

[2] The Oxford English Dictionary defines biological lineage as "a sequence of species each of which is considered to have evolved from its predecessor."OED definition of lineage

v t e Phylogenetics
Relevant fields	Computational phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics Cladistics Taxonomy Evolutionary taxonomy Systematics	Evolutionary biology portal
Basic concepts	Phylogenesis Cladogenesis Phylogenetic tree Cladogram Phylogenetic network Long branch attraction Clade vs Grade Lineage Ghost lineage Ghost population
Inference methods	Maximum parsimony Phylogenetic reconciliation Probabilistic methods Maximum likelihood Bayesian inference Distance-matrix methods Neighbor-joining UPGMA Least squares Three-taxon analysis
Current topics	PhyloCode DNA barcoding Molecular phylogenetics Phylogenetic comparative methods Phylogenetic niche conservatism Phylogenetic signal Phylogenetics software Phylogenomics Phylogeography
Group traits	Primitive Plesiomorphy Symplesiomorphy Derived Apomorphy Synapomorphy Autapomorphy
Group types	Monophyly Paraphyly Polyphyly
Nomenclature	Phylogenetic nomenclature Crown group Sister group Basal Supertree
Category Commons

Phylogenetic representation of lineages

See also

References

External links