paraphyletic

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[edit] English

From para- (“near”), Ancient Greek φῦλον (phulon, “tribe, race”), and -ic.

A phylogenetic tree demonstrating how traditional reptiles are a paraphyletic group.

paraphyletic (not comparable)

(systematics) Said of a defined group constrained within a clade without including all descendants of the most common ancestor.

Excluding some descendants of the most recent common ancestor