Word.ws English Dictionary

cladistics

UK/kləˈdɪs.tɪks/

cladistics noun: an approach to biological systematics in which organisms are grouped based upon synapomorphies (shared derived characteristics) only, and not upon symplesiomorphies (shared ancestral characteristics); a method of classifying organisms based on their evolutionary relationships instead of superficial characteristics.

Noun

cladistics (uncountable)

  1. (systematics) An approach to biological systematics in which organisms are grouped based upon synapomorphies (shared derived characteristics) only, and not upon symplesiomorphies (shared ancestral characteristics); a method of classifying organisms based on their evolutionary relationships instead of superficial characteristics.
    • Here we suggest emphasis on the techniques of cladistics (Eldredge and Cracraft 1980; Wiley 1981; Coddington 1988) because they provide a clear means of organizing phylogenetic information in branching diagrams.1991, Warren W. Burggren, William E. Bemis, “Physiological Evolution: Paradigms and Pitfalls”, in Matthew H. Nitecki, Doris V. Nitecki, editors, Evolutionary Innovations, page 210
    • The construction of branching patterns to map evolutionary change is called cladistics, and the devising of higher classifications (genus and up) to conform with the results of cladistics is called phylogenetic systematics.[…]Cladistics does allow us to judge which species are most likely to share...1992, Edward O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life, page 153

Origin of cladistics

From clade + -istic, from Ancient Greek κλάδος (kládos, “branch”).

Words formed from cladistics

Questions about cladistics

What does cladistics mean?
Cladistics means an approach to biological systematics in which organisms are grouped based upon synapomorphies (shared derived characteristics) only, and not upon symplesiomorphies (shared ancestral characteristics); a method of classifying organisms based on their evolutionary relationships instead of superficial characteristics.
What part of speech is cladistics?
Cladistics is a noun.
How do you pronounce cladistics?
Cladistics is pronounced /kləˈdɪs.tɪks/ (UK).

Words near cladistics in the dictionary

  1. cladistian
  2. cladistians
  3. cladistic
  4. cladistical
  5. cladistically
  6. cladistics
  7. cladists
  8. cladium
  9. cladly dressed
  10. clado-
  11. cladobranch

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cladistics (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “cladistics.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cladistics. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.