"Systematics underpins all of biology. Cladistics is a method of systematic classification that aims to reconstruct genealogies based on common ancestry, thus revealing the phylogenetic relationships between taxa. Its applications vary from linguistic analysis to the study of conservation and biodiversity, and it has become a method of choice for comparative studies in all fields of biology." "For all students interested in the systematic relationships among organisms, this book provides an integrated, state-of-the-art account of the techniques and methods of modern cladistics, and how to put them into practice."--Jacket.