Chapter 24, Problem 14TYK

Summary Introduction

To explain:

The traditional evolutionary systematists found that the birds are not included in the reptilia class of vertebrates, despite the fact that this taxon is paraphyletic. The disadvantages of defining paraphyletic taxa in the classification.

Introduction:

A paraphyletic group consist of species that are not descendants of common ancestor. The taxon is divided into three groups, namely monophyletic group, polyphyletic group, and paraphyletic group. The monophyletic group includes the ancestor that is common to all of its descendants and in a polyphyletic group, a common ancestor is not shared among the descendants.