polytomy

Examples of polytomy in the following topics:

• Phylogenetic Trees

  • A branch with more than two lineages is called a polytomy and serves to illustrate where scientists have not definitively determined all of the relationships.
  • It is important to note that although sister taxa and polytomy do share an ancestor, it does not mean that the groups of organisms split or evolved from each other.
  • A branch with more than two lineages is a polytomy.