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Another super interesting fact that never occurred to me is that trees are not a taxonomic grouping of their own. Rather a broad set of characteristics that hav
by tootie 4y ago
Another super interesting fact that never occurred to me is that trees are not a taxonomic grouping of their own. Rather a broad set of characteristics that have separately evolved into a convergent set of traits. So, it's unnecessary to say Aspens are not like other trees because they aren't actually related to other trees. The MCRA of all trees would not remotely be a tree.
- pimlottc 4y agoMRCA = Most recent common ancestor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor
- astrange 4y agoNeither are fish; whales are more related to salmon than sharks are. (So are we.) And yet everyone complains when you say whales are fish.
- tootie 4y agoFish are ancient and sharks in particular. Obviously the record will never be entirely complete but it's possible that sharks have been on Earth longer than plants have been on land.
- adammarples 4y agoPalm trees are closer to grass than tree