Question

Which of the following is incorrect regarding the terminologies of phylogenetics?

(a) The connecting point where two adjacent branches join is called a node

(b) Node represents an inferred ancestor of extant taxa

(c) At the tips of the branches are long lost species or sequences

(d) The lines in the tree are called branches

This question was addressed to me in unit test.

I would like to ask this question from Phylogenetics Basics topic in chapter Molecular Phylogenetics of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

Right option is (c) At the tips of the branches are long lost species or sequences

The best I can explain: At the tips of the branches are present-day species or sequences known as taxa (the singular form is taxon) or operational taxonomic units. The bifurcating point at the very bottom of the tree is the root node, which represents the common ancestor of all members of the tree.