What is the Difference Between Rooted and Unrooted Phylogenetic Tree?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚The main difference between rooted and unrooted phylogenetic trees lies in the representation of the common ancestor and the direction of evolutionary relationships.
- Rooted Phylogenetic Trees:
- Have a node (root) at the base, representing the common ancestor that connects all interest groups.
- Show the ancestry relationship and the evolutionary path.
- Indicate the direction of evolutionary time.
- Allow determining the ancestor-descendant relationship between groups.
- Unrooted Phylogenetic Trees:
- Do not have a pre-determined root, and therefore, do not induce a hierarchy.
- Only show the relationships between organisms without depicting the common ancestor that all the groups share.
- Do not specify an evolutionary relationship.
- Do not allow talking about ancestor-descendant relationships.
In summary, rooted phylogenetic trees show the ancestry relationship and evolutionary path between organisms, while unrooted phylogenetic trees only show the relationships between organisms without indicating the common ancestor or evolutionary paths.
On this pageWhat is the Difference Between Rooted and Unrooted Phylogenetic Tree? Comparative Table: Rooted vs Unrooted Phylogenetic Tree
Comparative Table: Rooted vs Unrooted Phylogenetic Tree
Here is a table comparing the differences between rooted and unrooted phylogenetic trees:
Feature | Rooted Phylogenetic Tree | Unrooted Phylogenetic Tree |
---|---|---|
Definition | A phylogenetic tree that shows ancestry relationships and has a node (root) representing the common ancestor of all interest groups | A phylogenetic tree that only shows the relationships between organisms without indicating the common ancestor or the direction of evolution |
Node | Has a node (root) | Does not have a node |
Direction of Evolution | Has a direction to indicate the evolutionary time | Does not specify an evolutionary relationship |
Ancestor-Descendant Relationship | Allows determining the ancestor-descendant relationship between groups | Does not allow talking about ancestor-descendant relationships |
Research Purpose | Used when research questions involve ancestral relationships and relationships to a recent common ancestor | Used when research questions do not involve ancestral relationships or when there is no distantly related group (sequence) for comparison |
Tree Structure | Directed tree, starting from a unique node known as the recent common ancestor | Undirected, does not show the origin of evolution of the groups of interest |
Both rooted and unrooted phylogenetic trees describe relationships among organisms, but they differ in their representation of ancestral relationships, evolutionary direction, and the presence or absence of a root.
Read more:
- Cladogram vs Phylogenetic Tree
- Taxonomy vs Phylogeny
- Ontogeny vs Phylogeny
- Anagenesis vs Cladogenesis
- Stem vs Root
- Artificial Natural vs Phylogenetic System of Classification
- Phenetics vs Cladistics
- Monophyletic Paraphyletic vs Polyphyletic
- Roots vs Zeroes
- Taproot vs Adventitious Root
- Root vs Shoot Apical Meristem
- Cladogram vs Dichotomous Key
- Tap Root vs Fibrous Root
- Graph vs Tree
- Root Hair vs Stem Hair
- Sapling vs Seedling
- Prop Root vs Stilt Root
- Dicot vs Monocot Roots
- Taxonomy vs Systematics