Gryphon

Gargoyle

Dragons

Werewolf

Wererat

All five taxa shown above share a common ancestor that first arose 700 mya. The ancestral trait shared among all groups is four limbs. The two “were” groups are more closely related to each other than to the other groups and together with gryphons have the share the homology, glowing eyes. Dragons and gargoyles have sharp raised spines down the center of their back while gargoyles and gryphons have claws that grow continuously through their lifetime.

Once you have drawn the phylogeny and added all of the bolded traits, add the following to the tree:

An arrow indicating time

Draw a circle around three of the taxa that together represent a monophyletic group.

Add your own synapomorphic trait (i.e., make one up) for this monophyletic group and draw it on the phylogeny.

Draw square boxes around what is likely the only example of homoplasy represented on the phylogeny.

Indicate the basal group if there is one. If a basal group is not present, add one to the tree and come up with a name for this lineage.