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Biology vocabulary · Evolution and Classification

Common ancestor

Meaning in biology, with examples

/ˌkɑːmən ˈænsestər/nounCommon term

In biology, common ancestor means: An earlier species from which two or more later species have descended. The more recently two species shared a common ancestor, the more closely related they are.

In Turkish: ortak ata

How it is used

A key idea in evolution and phylogenetics. Scientists speak of the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) and say that species share or descend from a common ancestor. On a phylogenetic tree, each branching point represents a common ancestor.

Example sentences

  1. Humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor that lived several million years ago.

  2. Birds and crocodiles have a more recent common ancestor than birds and lizards do.

Common collocations

  • share a common ancestor
  • most recent common ancestor
  • descend from a common ancestor
  • last universal common ancestor
  • evolutionThe change in the inherited traits of populations over many generations. It explains how all living species descend from earlier forms of life.
  • phylogenetic treeA branching diagram that shows the evolutionary relationships among species or genes, based on how recently they shared a common ancestor.
  • speciesA group of similar organisms that can breed with each other and produce fertile offspring. It is the basic unit used to classify living things.
  • fossilThe preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived long ago, such as bones, shells, leaf prints or footprints, usually found in sedimentary rock.
  • taxonomyThe science of naming, describing and classifying organisms into groups based on their shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships.

More terms: Evolution and Classification

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