Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis

Dragons are a staple of fantasy literature, and various aspects of the creatures (most notably their anatomy) have been explored scientifically across different forms of media. Their distinct anatomical characteristics and the variations therein among the recognized “species” of dragons make the tax...

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Main Author: Cruz, Ronald Allan L
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Published: Archīum Ateneo 2017
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Online Access:https://archium.ateneo.edu/biology-faculty-pubs/52
https://bioone.org/journals/The-American-Biology-Teacher/volume-79/issue-7/abt.2017.79.7.544/Here-Be-Dragons--Using-Dragons-as-Models-for-Phylogenetic/10.1525/abt.2017.79.7.544.short
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spelling ph-ateneo-arc.biology-faculty-pubs-10542020-06-16T07:20:13Z Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis Cruz, Ronald Allan L Dragons are a staple of fantasy literature, and various aspects of the creatures (most notably their anatomy) have been explored scientifically across different forms of media. Their distinct anatomical characteristics and the variations therein among the recognized “species” of dragons make the taxa appropriate models for basic phylogenetic analysis in an undergraduate general biology or systematics class. The wyvern, an obviously more primitive, distant cousin of the “true” dragons, is also an appropriate outgroup for these estimations of shared evolutionary history. Separating metallic from chromatic dragons, the generated tree shows relationships among the species that are consistent with their separation in the Dungeons & Dragons games according to alignment, scale color, and religion, three characters that are not used in the analysis. Manual construction of a character matrix and cladogram of dragons followed by repetition of this process via conventional computer software allows the students to track their progress not only in terms of understanding such concepts as choice of character states and parsimony but also in terms of the applicability of said software. 2017-09-01T07:00:00Z text https://archium.ateneo.edu/biology-faculty-pubs/52 https://bioone.org/journals/The-American-Biology-Teacher/volume-79/issue-7/abt.2017.79.7.544/Here-Be-Dragons--Using-Dragons-as-Models-for-Phylogenetic/10.1525/abt.2017.79.7.544.short Biology Faculty Publications Archīum Ateneo characters dragons evolution parsimony phylogeny systematics Biology Evolution Science and Mathematics Education
institution Ateneo De Manila University
building Ateneo De Manila University Library
country Philippines
collection archium.Ateneo Institutional Repository
topic characters
dragons
evolution
parsimony
phylogeny
systematics
Biology
Evolution
Science and Mathematics Education
spellingShingle characters
dragons
evolution
parsimony
phylogeny
systematics
Biology
Evolution
Science and Mathematics Education
Cruz, Ronald Allan L
Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis
description Dragons are a staple of fantasy literature, and various aspects of the creatures (most notably their anatomy) have been explored scientifically across different forms of media. Their distinct anatomical characteristics and the variations therein among the recognized “species” of dragons make the taxa appropriate models for basic phylogenetic analysis in an undergraduate general biology or systematics class. The wyvern, an obviously more primitive, distant cousin of the “true” dragons, is also an appropriate outgroup for these estimations of shared evolutionary history. Separating metallic from chromatic dragons, the generated tree shows relationships among the species that are consistent with their separation in the Dungeons & Dragons games according to alignment, scale color, and religion, three characters that are not used in the analysis. Manual construction of a character matrix and cladogram of dragons followed by repetition of this process via conventional computer software allows the students to track their progress not only in terms of understanding such concepts as choice of character states and parsimony but also in terms of the applicability of said software.
format text
author Cruz, Ronald Allan L
author_facet Cruz, Ronald Allan L
author_sort Cruz, Ronald Allan L
title Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis
title_short Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis
title_full Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis
title_fullStr Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Here Be Dragons: Using Dragons as Models for Phylogenetic Analysis
title_sort here be dragons: using dragons as models for phylogenetic analysis
publisher Archīum Ateneo
publishDate 2017
url https://archium.ateneo.edu/biology-faculty-pubs/52
https://bioone.org/journals/The-American-Biology-Teacher/volume-79/issue-7/abt.2017.79.7.544/Here-Be-Dragons--Using-Dragons-as-Models-for-Phylogenetic/10.1525/abt.2017.79.7.544.short
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