Character Matrix and Cladogram Construction of Insects

The key concept of phylogenetic systematics is that organisms evolved from similar ancestors and that branching patterns can be used to illustrate these relationships. The simplest definition of a character matrix is a table with the characters as columns and the terminal taxa as rows. Following that, each matrix cell is coded with the character state appropriate for each taxon-character combination. In order to recreate the evolutionary relationships between organisms, phylogenetic analysis uses the character state matrix as its foundation. Researchers can infer patterns of common ancestry and create phylogenetic trees or cladograms by analyzing the shared and distinctive feature states among taxa. In other words, "tree of life" can be formed to highlight the relationships between various organisms and to show when different organisms evolved (LibreTexts, 2022). The main objective of this study is to make a character data matrix and construct cladogram.