Are Protists Paraphyletic? Facts You Should Know

In this article we are focusing on the topic entitled as “Are Protists Paraphyletic? Facts You Should Know”, laying down the facts and statements that support it.

Paraphyletic is defined as a group of organisms which are descendent of the same evolutionary ancestor or an ancestral group. Common examples of paraphyletic organisms are, Reptilia group including turtles, snakes, crocodiles, lizards and tuataras.

In phylogenic studies, all the organisms are grouped under taxa based on the ancestor and descendants and they are classified in the following groups such as, monophyletic, paraphyletic and polyphyletic groups. Some of the taxa contains relative organisms while other include unrelated organisms.

Types of Phylogenetic Groups

Phylogenetics is the study to resolve the evolutionary relationships between different group of organisms, their patterns from where they are descended and their common ancestor. The phylogenetic groups are depicted using diagrams which are known as phylogenetic tree or phylogeny.

Phylogenetic tree represents the relationship between the ancestor and the descendants. The common ancestor of the descendants is shown by the roots. Divergence is indicated using nodes which splits into branches. Phylogenetics groups has been classified into three types.

Paraphyletic Group

Paraphyletic is a taxon which contains a group of any size and rank of organisms which has been originated from the single ancestor but does not necessarily contain the descendants from this common ancestor. The species which is the ancestor of this group is also the common ancestor of other groups.

The examples of paraphyletic groups are; Reptilia which includes, turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodiles and dinosaur which are like reptiles, Protists group which includes, amoeba, euglena, paramecium, slime molds and plasmodium and Pisces group. This group is classified based on symplesiomorphy.

Monophyletic Group

A monophyletic group is also known as a Clade. A clade includes a taxon of an ancestor and all the descendants it has. In other words, the species of monophyletic group has a common ancestor and contains all the descendants coming from that common ancestor.

The phylogenetic tree classification of a monophyletic group is formed of a node and all the descendants are represented by the nodes and a terminal taxon. Examples of monophyletic group includes, mammals, birds, insects, angiosperms, etc.

Polyphyletic Group

A polyphyletic group can be described as a collection of organisms which comes from multiple ancestors regardless of the characteristic similarities. Examples of polyphyletic taxa include, algae, bipedal, mammals, flying vertebrates, trees marine mammals, etc.

Difference between Phylogenetic Groups

Why are protists paraphyletic?

Protists are known as single-celled organisms belonging to the kingdom Protista. Common protists include, amoebas, euglena, slime molds and plasmodium. Some of the protists are capable of doing photosynthesis such as, euglena, diatoms and dinoflagellates. Protists belong to the taxon Paraphyletic.

Characterization of protists in paraphyletic taxon is based on a common trait which is being unicellular and does not contain all the descendants coming from a common ancestor.

Are all protists paraphyletic?

Yes, all protists are paraphyletic. Protists are eukaryotic containing single cells. Protists are paraphyletic not monophyletic.

What groups are paraphyletic?

Paraphyletic is a group containing organisms belonging to a single ancestor and some descendants. Examples of paraphyletic group includes, Reptilia, Pisces and protists. Paraphyletic is a group of organisms which has been originated from the same ancestor but does not contain all the descendants coming from the common ancestor.

Paraphyletic group has been made based on the similarities of ancestors instead of derived similarities. Paraphyletic studies are done to understand the significant traits.

Conclusion

To conclude the article, we can say that protists has been classified into paraphyletic organisms which is one of the phylogenetic groups.

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