A Simple Flowchart for Distinguishing Mono-, Para-, and Polyphyletic Groups in Cladograms

Undergraduate biology education introduces students to cladistics and tree-thinking, which is essential to understanding evolution. Groups of organisms can be highlighted within a cladogram to represent meaningful evolutionary units or spurious relationships, and distinguishing between these groupings is an important learning goal. Students often struggle with the abstract ideas of monophyletic, paraphyletic, and polyphyletic groups, and benefit from any tricks to help them understand the underlying concepts. A simple flowchart can help students recognize the difference between mono-, para-, and polyphyletic groups, easing the path toward deeper evolutionary thinking.