> Phylogenetic families are based on the degree of shared ancestry, not the presence or absence of any given trait.
What about the rhyme “Sedges have edges, rushes are round, and grasses are hollow right down to the ground?” You’re telling me scientists are now saying that DNA testing is more accurate than just using the rhyme?
It is not about DNA vs phenotypes. The issue is that biologists are more interested in building an universal classification, a single tree of life for all species, than they are in building single-phenotype-based classifications that dont nest particularly well.
For example, if you looked at just the ability to fly, you would group birds and bats on a same group. But that would be wrong because bats are clearly more closely related to flightless mammals than they are to birds. This becomes obvious if you account for more characteristics of the animal (presence of fur, bone shape, pregnancy, etc) or if you examine the DNA.
What about the rhyme “Sedges have edges, rushes are round, and grasses are hollow right down to the ground?” You’re telling me scientists are now saying that DNA testing is more accurate than just using the rhyme?