- A cladogram shows patterns of shared characteristics among species and groups them into clades based on shared ancestry. There are three types of clades: monophyletic, paraphyletic, and polyphyletic.
- When constructing phylogenetic trees, systematists apply principles of maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood to find the tree that requires the fewest evolutionary changes or is most likely given patterns of DNA change over time.
- Strongest phylogenetic hypotheses are supported by morphological, molecular, and fossil evidence from multiple sources.