Morphological or molecular characters shared by members of a clade are called .
A) common ancestors
B) paraphyletic groups
C) monophyletic groups
D) synaptomorphies
E) homoplasmies

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Synapomorphies are shared derived characters or traits that are found in two or more taxa and are present in their most recent common ancestor but not in more distant ancestors. This makes them useful for inferring evolutionary relationships within a clade.

Morphological or Molecular Characters Shared by Members of a Clade