Tracing Evolution with Genome Data

Genome data helps scientists trace how organisms are related over time. When two species share a common feature, it is often encoded by DNA sequences that have stayed conserved in both species. As genome sequencing improved in the late 20th century, researchers gained a better way to compare conserved domains across species ...

Linnaeus's traditional classification of organisms is called cladistics, which is based on the differences in organism's physical characteristics, and scientists have commonly constructed trees, called dendrograms, to give visual representations of these splits and groups.

However, with the advent of modern technology, comparing DNA has b...