Chapter 16: Reconstructing and using phylogenies

Question 1

What is the most important concept of evolution?

Answer 1

All of life is related through a common ancestor

Question 2

Phylogenetic tree

Answer 2

A graphic representation of a hypothesis of the evolutionary relationship amongst organisms.

Question 3

Node of a phylogenetic tree

Answer 3

A branching point of a common ancestor

Question 4

Phylogeny

Answer 4

Is the evolutionary history of a kind of organism

Question 5

Lineage

Answer 5

Is a series of ancestors and descendant population

Question 6

Clade

Answer 6

a unit of organisms

Question 7

Monophyletic group

Answer 7

is a group of closely related organism descended from a common ancestor

Question 8

Sister taxa

Answer 8

are closest relatives (ex: chimps and humans)

Question 9

Systematics

Answer 9

The study and classification of biodiversity

Question 10

Shared trait

Answer 10

any features shared by 2 or more closely related taxa due to ancestry

Question 11

Symplesiomorphy (ancestral trait)

Answer 11

Traits shared in common with ancestors

Question 12

Synapomorphy (derived trait)

Answer 12

Traits in descendants, but not in ancestors

Question 13

Convergent Evolution

Answer 13

When two species independently evolve similar solutions to an evolutionary problem.

Question 14

Analogous traits

Answer 14

Similar traits in different organisms that have different anatomies (Ex: bat wing vs bird wing)

Question 15

Evolutionary Reversal

Answer 15

when a character revert from a derived state back to an ancestral state

Question 16

outgroup

Answer 16

a species or a group that is closely related to the ingroup but is known to be phylogenetically outside it.

Question 17

Ingroup

Answer 17

A group of organisms of primary interest

Question 18

Parsimony

Answer 18

States that the simplest explanation is sometimes the best and easiest. It helps select the best possible trait

Question 19

Evolutionary relationships can be revealed through studies of what?

Answer 19

1. Morphology
2. Development
3. Fossil record (Paleontology)
4. Behavioral traits
5. Molecular traits such as DNA and protein sequences

Question 20

Morphology

Answer 20

The study of the form (shape and size) and structure of animals and plants

Question 21

Development

Answer 21

Similarities in developmental patterns may reveal evolutionary relationships.

Question 22

Paleontology

Answer 22

Fossils show us where and when organisms lived in the past and give us an idea of what they looked like and Provide important evidence that helps us distinguish ancestral from derived traits

Question 23

Molecular Data

Answer 23

All heritable variation is encoded in DNA: nuclear, mitochondrial, chloroplast. This provides an enormous dataset from which to choose

Question 24

Behavior

Answer 24

Some behavioral traits are culturally transmitted and others are genetically inherited. (used for frog calls)

Question 25

Homologous traits

Answer 25

is when a shared trait is due to a common ancestor passing the trait on to two or more lineage

Question 26

Homoplasy

Answer 26

is a shared character between two or more animals that did not arise from a common ancestor

Question 27

What is the difference between homologous and homoplasy?

Answer 27

A homoplasy is the opposite of a homology, where a common ancestor provided the genes that gave rise to the trait in two or more animals

Question 28

Node

Answer 28

Is a branching point of a common ancestor