Taxonomy and Systematics: Pre-Activity Questions

1. A phylogeny reflects
A. similarities in morphology.
B. shared evolutionary histories.
C. similarities in ecology.
D. Both a and b are correct.
2. Which are used by systematists to construct hypotheses?

A. DNA sequences

B. Morphology

C. Fossils

D. All of these are correct.

3. Shared derived characters are known as

A. apamorphies.
B. autapomorphies.
C. synapamorphies.
D. homologies.
4. The tips of the branches on a cladogram are known as
A. nodes.
B. character states.
C. terminal nodes.
D. derived characters
Taxonomy and Systematics: Post-Activity Questions

1. To apply parsimony to constructing a phylogenetic tree:

A. Choose the tree that assumes all evolutionary changes are equally probable
B. Choose the tree in which the branch points are based on as many shared derived characters as
possible
C. Choose the tree that represents the fewest evolutionary changes, in either DNA sequences or
morphology
D. Choose the tree with the fewest branch points

2. Based on the tree below, which statement is not correct:

A. The salamander lineage is more advanced than the other linages

B. Salamanders are a sister group to the group containing lizards, goats, and humans
C. Salamanders are as closely related to goats as to humans
D. Goats and humans are sister groups

3. If you were using cladistics to build a phylogenetic tree of cats, which of the following would be the
best outgroup:
A. wolf
B. domestic cat
C. frog
D. leopard

4. In a cladistics analysis, a systematist groups together organism that share:

A. derived homologous traits
B. derived homoplasious traits
C. ancestral homologous traits
D. ancestral homoplasious traits

5. A monophyletic taxon is one that contains:

A. an ancestor and all of its descendants
B. an ancestor and some of its descendants
C. organisms from different evolutionary lineages
D. organisms that resemble each other because they live in similar environments