Table 2 Students’ approaches used when tree reading

 Common ancestry^a

19

21

78

 Monophyletic groupings^a

–

8

30

 Implied apomorphies

–

5

19

 Rotate branches

–

8

30

 Nodal emphasis

15

1

4

 Main branch

41

2

7

 Unidirectional reading

7

1

4

 Proximity of tips

37

1

4

 Physical measurements

7

0

–

 Ecology of organisms

15

0

–

 Clade comparison^a

19

21

78

 Physical branching patterns

41

2

7

 Branch length comparisons

11

1

4

 Patterns in tip proximity

11

2

7

 Style of representation

26

2

7