Question 1

Which of the following statements is accurate with regard to a phylogeny, as represented by a phylogenetic tree?

Accepted Answer

A)  Descendant groups (branches) from the same node likely share many derived characters. 
B)  A monophyletic group can be properly based on convergent features. 
C)  The ancestral group often has all the derived characters of the descendant species. 
D)  Shared ancestral characters are excellent traits to use in developing a phylogeny. 
A)  Descendant groups (branches) from the same node likely share many derived characters. 
B)  A monophyletic group can be properly based on convergent features. 
C)  The ancestral group often has all the derived characters of the descendant species. 
D)  Shared ancestral characters are excellent traits to use in developing a phylogeny.

Question 2

Imagine that you discovered the following information:

Accepted Answer

A)  Eukaryotes share a more recent common ancestor with bacteria than with archaea. 
B)  Bacteria are the only one of the three groups that lacks a nucleus. 
C)  Archaea are more similar to bacteria than to eukaryotes. 
D)  Eukaryotes are more similar to archaea than to bacteria. 
A)  Eukaryotes share a more recent common ancestor with bacteria than with archaea. 
B)  Bacteria are the only one of the three groups that lacks a nucleus. 
C)  Archaea are more similar to bacteria than to eukaryotes. 
D)  Eukaryotes are more similar to archaea than to bacteria.

Question 3

Use the following figure and description to answer the question.
 
Humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans are members of a clade called the great apes, which shared a common ancestor about 15 million years ago. Gibbons and siamangs comprise a clade called the lesser apes. Tree-branch lengths indicate elapsed time.
Assuming chimps and gorillas are humans' closest relatives, removing humans from the great ape clade and placing them in a different clade has the effect of making the phylogenetic tree of the great apes ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  polyphyletic 
B)  paraphyletic 
C)  monophyletic 
D)  into a new order 
A)  polyphyletic 
B)  paraphyletic 
C)  monophyletic 
D)  into a new order

Question 4

Molecular clocks are more reliable when ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  the surrounding pH is close to 7.0 
B)  most mutations of highly conserved DNA sequences should have no functional effect 
C)  the DNA codes for amino acid sequences whose side groups (or R groups) have a neutral pH 
D)  a significant proportion of mutations are not acted upon by natural selection 
A)  the surrounding pH is close to 7.0 
B)  most mutations of highly conserved DNA sequences should have no functional effect 
C)  the DNA codes for amino acid sequences whose side groups (or R groups) have a neutral pH 
D)  a significant proportion of mutations are not acted upon by natural selection

Question 5

Which of the following statements about horizontal gene transfer is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A)  Horizontal gene transfer was quite common in the early stages of evolution of life on Earth. 
B)  Horizontal gene transfer among organisms does not occur today. 
C)  Horizontal gene transfer moves only genes that play a role in metabolism. 
D)  Horizontal gene transfer occurs only among closely related organisms. 
A)  Horizontal gene transfer was quite common in the early stages of evolution of life on Earth. 
B)  Horizontal gene transfer among organisms does not occur today. 
C)  Horizontal gene transfer moves only genes that play a role in metabolism. 
D)  Horizontal gene transfer occurs only among closely related organisms.

Question 6

If you were using cladistics to build a phylogenetic tree of cats, which of the following would be the best outgroup?

Accepted Answer

A)  wolf 
B)  domestic cat 
C)  lion 
D)  leopard 
A)  wolf 
B)  domestic cat 
C)  lion 
D)  leopard

Question 7

Concerning growth in genome size over evolutionary time, which of these is least associated with the others?

Accepted Answer

A)  orthologous genes 
B)  gene duplications 
C)  paralogous genes 
D)  gene families 
A)  orthologous genes 
B)  gene duplications 
C)  paralogous genes 
D)  gene families

Question 8

If you were using cladistics to build a phylogenetic tree of cats, which of the following would be the best outgroup?

Accepted Answer

A)  lion 
B)  domestic cat 
C)  wolf 
D)  leopard 
A)  lion 
B)  domestic cat 
C)  wolf 
D)  leopard

Question 9

If organisms A, B, and C belong to the same class but to different orders and if organisms C, D, and E belong to the same order but to different families, which of the following pairs of organisms would be expected to show the greatest degree of structural homology?

Accepted Answer

A)  A and D 
B)  B and D 
C)  B and C 
D)  D and E 
A)  A and D 
B)  B and D 
C)  B and C 
D)  D and E

Question 10

A phylogenetic tree is shown for the three domains of life (Eukarya, Archaea, and Bacteria). The tree branches in two directions from the first point, labeled Common ancestor of all life. One branch leads in the direction of Eukarya and Archaea, and the other branch leads to Bacteria. The branch leading to Eukarya and Archaea divide, one branch leading to each domain. The branch leading to Eukarya divides into four branches. One leads to Euglenozoans, and the other three lead to branching points. The first leads to Forams in one direction, and another branching point in the other that leads to Diatoms and Ciliates. The second branching point leads to Red algae in one direction, and a branching point that leads to green algae and land plants in the other direction. The third branching point leads to amoebas in one direction, and a branching point that leads to fungi and animals in the other direction. Land plants, Fungi and Animals are all highlighted.
Examine the figure. If you were a graduate student trying to develop a thesis project that would resolve polytomies, which of the following groups would you study?

Accepted Answer

A)  animals and fungi 
B)  euglenozoans, euryarcheotes, and gram-positive bacteria 
C)  forams, red algae, and amoebas 
D)  red algae, green algae, and cyanobacteria 
A)  animals and fungi 
B)  euglenozoans, euryarcheotes, and gram-positive bacteria 
C)  forams, red algae, and amoebas 
D)  red algae, green algae, and cyanobacteria

Question 11

In the phylogenetic trees, numbers represent species, and the same species are shown in both trees. Which two species are represented as sister species in Tree 2 but are not shown as sister species in Tree 1?

Accepted Answer

A)  1 and 2 
B)  2 and 3 
C)  3 and 4 
D)  4 and 5 
A)  1 and 2 
B)  2 and 3 
C)  3 and 4 
D)  4 and 5

Question 12

In a comparison of birds and mammals, having four limbs is ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  a shared ancestral character 
B)  a shared derived character 
C)  a character useful for distinguishing birds from mammals 
D)  an example of analogy rather than homology 
A)  a shared ancestral character 
B)  a shared derived character 
C)  a character useful for distinguishing birds from mammals 
D)  an example of analogy rather than homology

Question 13

The following question refers to the following phylogenetic trees.

Which tree depicts the closest relationship between zygomycetes and chytrids?

Accepted Answer

A)  I 
B)  II 
C)  III 
D)  IV 
A)  I 
B)  II 
C)  III 
D)  IV

Question 14

To apply parsimony to constructing a phylogenetic tree,

Accepted Answer

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. 
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.

Question 15

The following phylogeny shows six living species (a-f) and five ancestral (now extinct) species (#1-5). If the phylogeny had been developed on the basis of similarities in bone structure, which of the following predictions would you make in terms of the structure of a particular enzyme?

Accepted Answer

A)  The enzymes of species b and f are very similar. 
B)  The enzymes of species b and c are more similar to ancestor #4 than to ancestor 2 
C)  The enzymes of species a and b are the same as that of ancestor #2. 
D)  The enzyme of species c is very similar to that of species d. 
A)  The enzymes of species b and f are very similar. 
B)  The enzymes of species b and c are more similar to ancestor #4 than to ancestor 2 
C)  The enzymes of species a and b are the same as that of ancestor #2. 
D)  The enzyme of species c is very similar to that of species d.

Exam 26: Phylogeny and the Tree of Life

Which of the following statements is accurate with regard to a phylogeny, as represented by a phylogenetic tree?

Imagine that you discovered the following information:

Molecular clocks are more reliable when ________.

Which of the following statements about horizontal gene transfer is accurate?

If you were using cladistics to build a phylogenetic tree of cats, which of the following would be the best outgroup?

Concerning growth in genome size over evolutionary time, which of these is least associated with the others?

If you were using cladistics to build a phylogenetic tree of cats, which of the following would be the best outgroup?

If organisms A, B, and C belong to the same class but to different orders and if organisms C, D, and E belong to the same order but to different families, which of the following pairs of organisms would be expected to show the greatest degree of structural homology?

In the phylogenetic trees, numbers represent species, and the same species are shown in both trees. Which two species are represented as sister species in Tree 2 but are not shown as sister species in Tree 1?

In a comparison of birds and mammals, having four limbs is ________.

The following question refers to the following phylogenetic trees. Which tree depicts the closest relationship between zygomycetes and chytrids?

To apply parsimony to constructing a phylogenetic tree,

The following phylogeny shows six living species (a-f) and five ancestral (now extinct) species (#1-5). If the phylogeny had been developed on the basis of similarities in bone structure, which of the following predictions would you make in terms of the structure of a particular enzyme?

Evolution, the Themes of Biology, and Scientific Inquiry

The Chemical Context of Life

Water and Life

Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life

The Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules

A Tour of the Cell

Membrane Structure and Function

An Introduction to Metabolism

Cellular Respiration and Fermentation

Photosynthesis

Cell Communication

The Cell Cycle

Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles

Mendel and the Gene Idea

The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance

The Molecular Basis of Inheritance

Gene Expression: From Gene to Protein

Regulation of Gene Expression

Viruses

DNA Tools and Biotechnology

Genomes and Their Evolution

Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life

The Evolution of Populations

The Origin of Species

The History of Life on Earth

Bacteria and Archaea

Protists

Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land

Plant Diversity II: The Evolution of Seed Plants

Fungi

An Overview of Animal Diversity

An Introduction to Invertebrates

The Origin and Evolution of Vertebrates

Vascular Plant Structure, Growth, and Development

Resource Acquisition and Transport in Vascular Plants

Soil and Plant Nutrition

Angiosperm Reproduction and Biotechnology

Plant Responses to Internal and External Signals

Basic Principles of Animal Form and Function

Animal Nutrition

Circulation and Gas Exchange

The Immune System

Osmoregulation and Excretion

Hormones and the Endocrine System

Animal Reproduction

Animal Development

Neurons, Synapses, and Signaling

Nervous Systems

Sensory and Motor Mechanisms

Animal Behavior

An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere

Population Ecology

Community Ecology

Ecosystems and Restoration Ecology

Conservation Biology and Global Change

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