phylogeny

American  

[fahy-loj-uh-nee] / faɪˈlɒdʒ ə ni /

Also phylogenesis

noun

1. the development or evolution of a particular group of organisms.

2. the evolutionary history of a group of organisms, especially as depicted in a family tree.

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phylogeny British  

/ ˌfaɪləʊˈdʒɛnɪsɪs, ˌfaɪləʊdʒɪˈnɛtɪk, ˌfaɪləʊˈdʒɛnɪk, faɪˈlɒdʒɪnɪ /

noun

1. biology the sequence of events involved in the evolution of a species, genus, etc Compare ontogeny

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phylogeny Scientific  

/ fī-lŏj′ə-nē /

1. The evolutionary development and history of a species or higher taxonomic grouping of organisms.

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Other Word Forms

• phylogenetic adjective
• phylogenetical adjective
• phylogenetically adverb
• phylogenic adjective
• phylogenist noun

Etymology

Origin of phylogeny

First recorded in 1865–70; phylo- + -geny

Example Sentences

They report that many glands that were located in close physical proximity in the uterine wall displayed distant phylogeny.

From Nature

“There is no way you can make that claim just from the phylogeny alone.”

From Science Magazine

One critical piece of information used in the study was a conifer phylogeny—that is, a genetic history of when the various conifer families, genera and species diverged from one another.

From Scientific American

Proteins that persisted in tooth enamel for nearly 1.8 million years helped to clarify the phylogeny of an ancient rhinoceros found in Dmanisi, Georgia.Credit:

From Nature

Protistologists have used peculiarities of hemimastigotes’ structure to infer their close relatives, but their guesses were “‘shotgunned’ all over the phylogeny,” Simpson said.

From Scientific American