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Terminology of phylogenetic trees. This is a bifurcating tree. The vertical lines, called branches, represent a lineage, and nodes are where they diverge, representing a speciation event from a common ancestor. The trunk at the base of the tree, is actually called the root. The root node represents the most recent common ancestor of all of the taxa represented on the tree. Time is also represented, proceeding from the oldest at the bottom to the most recent at the top. What this particular tree tells us is that taxon A and taxon B are more closely related to each other than either taxon is to taxon C.
Reading phylogenetic trees: A quick review (Adapted from evolution.berkeley.edu) â¢ A phylogeny, or species/evolutionary tree, represents the evolutionary relationships among a set of organisms or groups of organisms, called taxa (singular: taxon) that are believed to have a common ancestor.ypes of Biological trees â¢ Taxonomy trees, like the one hosted at NCBI, are hierarchies; thus classification is determined by position or rank within the hierarchy. It goes from kingdom to species.â¢ Phylogenetic trees represent evolutionary relationships, or genealogy, among species.