That was a brilliant explanation, thank you.

para- and mono-phyletic were indeed the problem words. I can tell they are related to phylum but “phylum” doesn’t mean much to me except to know that it’s a word for some grouping of species.

The other part where I was snagged is the significance of cladistics and the new/old classification methods. I knew both terms as “words for groups of species and hadn’t dug further.

Between the family tree example and the diagram — got it, thanks to you and your sibling reply.