- a branch in a Cladogram , which is a diagram in the form of a tree resulting from a cladistic analysis.
- a Monophyletic group of organisms, ''i.e.'' a group of Organisms which share a common ancestor and which includes the ancestor and all the descendents of that ancestor.
Strictly speaking, a clade is a scientific hypothesis of evolutionary relationships among the organisms included in the analysis, based on the data considered in a cladistic analysis. Therefore, it will depend upon the data used to produce it; a particular clade may be supported or disproved by a subsequent analysis using different data.
If a clade proves robust in different analyses using different kinds of data, it may be translated to .
The PhyloCode is an attempt at a ''Code'' that would allow clades to get a formal name.
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