In evolutionary biology, a group of organisms descended from a single common ancestor, including that ancestor and all its descendants.
From Greek 'klados' (branch), coined in modern biological taxonomy in the 1950s. The term reflects the tree-like branching pattern of evolution.
Clade revolutionized how we think about relationships between organisms—instead of asking 'are these similar?' scientists now ask 'do they share a common ancestor?' It completely changed how we organize life's diversity!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.