FISH FAMILY TREES - An introduction to Cladograms

Imagine your family tree. Think of your generation (people born around the same time that you were born). What's the most recent common ancestor that you share with your sister? That's right, your mom and dad! If we were to draw this in the form of a cladogram, it would look like this:

Now, let's step back a little bit. What's the closest common ancestor you share with your cousin?

Imagine going further and further back in time. As you move back hundreds of thousands of years, this tree would show more broad relationships - between not just all the people who are your ancestors, but between people and primates, mammals, and animals. Each point where a cladogram separates into branches represents a time when 2 species shared a common ancestor.

Think you've got it? Try putting the following animals into one of the cladograms below: