How To Make A Cladogram
1. Determine the sequence of amino acids
Species 1: Ala-Gly-Val-Thr-Thr-Ala-Gly-Ala-Gly-Thr Species 2: Gly-Val-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Gly-Thr Species 3: Ala-Gly-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ala-Gly-Ala-Gly-Thr Species 4: Ala-Thr-Gly-Val-Val-Ala-Gly-Ala-Gly-Thr
2. Calculate the percentage of similarity in the amino acids between species.
Species 1--Species 2: 50% Species 1--Species 3: 70% Species 1--Species 4: 60% Species 2--Species 3: 50% Species 2--Species 4: 50% Species 3--Species 4: 60%
3. Construct a cladogram.
The length of the hoizontal lines corresponds to the percent similarity values. Each branch point, or node, in the cladogram represents an ancestor common to all species beyond that node. Each node is defined bvy a similarity in amino acids present in all species beyond that branch point.