Review Questions

What is a phylogeny a description of?

1. mutations
2. DNA
3. evolutionary history
4. organisms on Earth

What do scientists in the field of systematics accomplish?

1. discover new fossil sites
2. organize and classify organisms
3. name new species
4. communicate between field biologists

Which statement about the taxonomic classification system is correct?

1. There are more domains than kingdoms.
2. Kingdoms are the top category of classification.
3. A phylum may be represented in more than one kingdom.
4. Species are the most specific category of classification.

Which best describes the relationship between chimpanzees and humans?

1. chimpanzees evolved from humans
2. humans evolved from chimpanzees
3. chimpanzees and humans evolved from a common ancestor
4. chimpanzees and humans belong to the same species

Which best describes a branch point in a phylogenetic tree?

1. a hypothesis
2. new lineage
3. hybridization
4. a mating

Which statement about analogies is correct?

1. They occur only as errors.
2. They are synonymous with homologous traits.
3. They are derived by response to similar environmental pressures.
4. They are a form of mutation.

What kind of trait is important to cladistics?

1. shared derived traits
2. shared ancestral traits
3. analogous traits
4. parsimonious traits

What is true about organisms that are a part of the same clade?

1. They all share the same basic characteristics.
2. They evolved from a shared ancestor.
3. They all are on the same tree.
4. They have identical phylogenies.

Which assumption of cladistics is stated incorrectly?

1. Living things are related by descent from a common ancestor.
2. Speciation can produce one, two, or three new species.
3. Traits change from one state to another.
4. The polarity of a character state change can be determined.

A monophyletic group is a ________.

1. phylogenetic tree
2. shared derived trait
3. character state
4. clade