Plant Biology 111
Sample Exercise on Phylogeny Reconstruction


The maples and box elder are in the genus Acer in the family Sapindaceae. Given the following information about four species of Acer, what can you hypothesize about their phylogeny? Use this information only. Illustrate your answer with a cladogram (a tree diagram showing taxa and features).

1) Acer is known to be a clade, based on a shared, derived feature not found in the rest of the family (a fruit composed of two winged half-fruits that split apart and disperse separately).

2) Box elder and paperbark maple have compound leaves (i.e., the leaf is divided into separate leaflike units called leaflets); red maple and Norway maple have lobed leaves.

3) Box elder lacks petals, while red maple, Norway maple, and paperbark maple all have petals.

4) Most other genera of Sapindaceae, including those that are most closely related to Acer, have petals and compound leaves.

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