Deck 27: Phylogenies and the History of Life

Question 1

You have obtained the following data on genetic similarity among five species.The higher the number,the closer the relationship between the two species (so a species is related to itself 100%).What approach can you take to construct a phylogeny using these data?

A)Use phenetic analysis to cluster similar species.
B)Use cladistic analysis to infer the branching sequence.
C)Use parsimony to identify monophyletic groups.
D)Use cladistic analysis to cluster similar species.
E)None of the above answers is correct.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

For many years scientists believed that almost all animal lineages burst into being during the Cambrian era (just after the end of the Precambrian super eon).However,there have been many recent findings of animal-like fossils and "trace fossils" (fossils of an animal-like organisms movement)from the late Precambrian.Which of the following best explains why it took so long to realize there was animal-like life in the Precambrian?

A)There were no animals in the Precambrian.
B)Animals from the late Precambrian had soft bodies.
C)There were many hard-shelled animals in the Cambrian.
D)The global climate was such that there was poor fossilization in the Precambrian.
E)There were very few animals during this period.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following would be least likely in the fossil record?

A)burrowing species
B)marine-dwelling species
C)marsh-dwelling species
D)desert-dwelling species

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Figure 27.6

Applying the principle of parsimony to the trait "ability to fly," which of the two phylogenetic trees above is better?

A)Tree 1
B)Tree 2
C)Both trees are equally parsimonious.
D)Since the trees show different evolutionary relationships,you cannot determine which is more parsimonious.
E)Because Tree 2 correctly groups mammals,"ability to fly" is not a parsimonious trait to consider.

Question 5

Figure 27.5

In the phylogenetic trees above,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?

A)1 and 2
B)2 and 3
C)3 and 4
D)4 and 5
E)5 and 6

Question 6

Some beetles and flies have antler-like structures on their heads,much like male deer do.The existence of antlers in beetle,fly,and deer species with strong male-male competition is an example of _____.

A)analogy
B)a synapomorphy
C)homology
D)parsimony

Question 7

Which of the following organisms would be most likely to fossilize?

A)a rare worm
B)a common worm
C)a rare squirrel
D)a common squirrel

Question 8

The cladistic approach to estimating phylogenetic trees is most like the approach of which species concept?

A)morphospecies concept
B)biological species concept
C)phylogenetic species concept

Question 9

Figure 27.7

We know the streamlined bodies shown in Figure 27.7 are homoplasious.If the following groups also had streamlined bodies,which of the groupings would give the MOST support to this body type being homologous?

A)lizards and elephants
B)pterosaurs,dinosaurs,and birds
C)synapsids,monotremes,marsupials,rodents,and primates
D)lizards,pterosaurs,dinosaurs,birds,synapsids,monotremes,marsupials,rodents,and primates
E)elephants only

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true about a phylogeny,as represented by a phylogenetic tree?

A)Descendant groups (branches)from the same node do not necessarily share any derived characters.
B)A monophyletic group can be properly based on convergent features in addition to synapomorphies.
C)The ancestral group often has all the synapomorphies of the descendant species.
D)All of the above answers is correct.
E)None of the above answers is correct.

Question 11

Your professor wants you to construct a phylogenetic tree of orchids.She gives you tissue from seven orchid species and one lily.What is the most likely reason she gave you the lily?

A)to serve as an outgroup
B)to see if it's a cryptic orchid species
C)to see if the lily and the orchids show all the same shared derived characters (synapomorphies)
D)to see if you were paying attention
E)to demonstrate likely homoplasies

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of homoplasy?

A)fur in bears and seals
B)cell walls in plants and fungi
C)chlorophyll in flowering plants and algae
D)scales in snakes and lizards

Question 13

Which of the following statements best describes the rationale for applying the principle of parsimony in constructing phylogenetic trees?

A)Parsimony allows the researcher to "root" the tree.
B)Similarity due to common ancestry should be more common than similarity due to convergent evolution.
C)The molecular clock validates the principle of parsimony.
D)The outgroup roots the tree,allowing the principle of parsimony to be applied.
E)Parsimony differentiates between homologies and homoplasies.

Question 14

Which value(s)would be required to calculate how long ago the most recent ancestor of ungulates lived?

A)the number of base pairs that differ among species in a certain genetic sequence
B)the total number of base pairs in the genetic sequence examined
C)the age of a fossil ancestor for calibration
D)all of the above

Question 15

Which of the following would be useful in creating a phylogenetic tree of a taxon?

A)morphological data from fossil species
B)genetic sequences from living species
C)behavioral data from living species
D)all of the above
E)none of the above

Question 16

Which of the following could be seen in the Mesozoic,but not the Paleozoic?

A)gymnosperms
B)a diversity of mushrooms
C)lots of flowering plants
D)high levels of photosynthesis

Question 17

Given that phylogenies are based on shared derived characteristics,which of the following traits is useful in generating a phylogeny of species W,X,Y,and Z?

A)Trait 1
B)Trait 2
C)Trait 3
D)All of the above are useful traits.

Question 18

The phenetic approach to estimating phylogenetic trees is most like the approach of which species concept?

A)morphospecies concept
B)biological species concept
C)phylogenetic species concept

Question 19

Figure 27.1

Which of the following trees depicts the same relationship among species as shown above?

A)
B)
C)
D)None;the above trees all depict a different relationship among species.

Question 20

In plant communities today,leaf morphology is correlated with mean annual temperature,so paleobotanists use fossil leaf morphology to estimate the mean annual temperature of paleoclimates.However,the angiosperm fossil record contains an overabundance of samples fossilized near lakes or rivers where vines are especially common.Since vine leaves have a somewhat different association with temperature,use of data from vine-rich locations leads to mean average temperature estimates that are lower than actual recorded temperatures in modern plant communities.This potential bias in paleobotanical climate estimates is due to which type of bias in the fossil record? (R.J.Burnham,N.C.A.Pitman,K.R.Johnson,and P.Wilf.2001.Habitat-related error in estimating temperature from leaf margins in a humid tropical forest.American Journal of Botany 88:
1096-1102. )

A)taxonomic bias
B)temporal bias
C)habitat bias
D)abundance bias

Question 21

Why would gene duplication events,such as those seen in the Hox gene complex,set the stage for adaptive radiation?

A)There are more copies of genes,meaning speciation had occurred by polyploidy.
B)The original gene copy is the outgroup,and the new gene copies are the adaptive radiation.
C)Without duplicated genes,species would be vulnerable to extinction.
D)One copy of a gene can perform the original function while other copies are available to take on new functions.

Question 22

You get back into your time machine with your wacky professor and take off again.As your time machine lands,you see an unusual landscape before you.As you open the door you realize you cannot breathe.You quickly shut the door,realizing you are in the _____.

A)early Precambrian
B)late Precambrian
C)late Cenozoic
D)early Mesozoic

Question 23

You are the lucky student of a wacky professor who develops a time machine and he asks if you will test it with him.You get in and there's an immediate glitch-the date readout fails so that when you land you're not sure what era you're in.Your professor begins to panic,but you see something that tells you you're in the Cenozoic era.Which of the following could it be?

A)a rabbit eating a daisy
B)a water lily floating in a pond
C)masses of green ferns with dragonflies hovering above them
D)a bee pollinating a flower
E)many birds flying and roosting near the time machine

Question 24

The largest extinction,measured as a percentage of species that disappeared,occurred at the end of which geological period?

A)Permian
B)Cretaceous
C)Tertiary
D)Devonian
E)Silurian

Question 25

What is still lacking in the hypothesis of an asteroid impact as the cause of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction?

A)evidence for what caused such high species loss after the impact
B)evidence that an asteroid hit Earth at the time of the extinctions (65 million years ago)
C)a convincing explanation of why mammals radiated after the event
D)a convincing explanation of why some lineages survived while others vanished
E)none of the above

Question 26

Figure 27.9

What does the circled part of the phylogenetic tree above indicate?

A)an adaptive radiation
B)a mass extinction event
C)rapid speciation
D)an adaptive radiation and rapid speciation
E)an adaptive radiation,a mass extinction event,and rapid speciation

Question 27

Which of the following are typically responsible for island extinctions?

A)habitat destruction
B)overharvesting and introduction of nonnative predators and herbivores
C)earthquakes followed by tsunamis
D)increased CO₂ levels and global warming

Question 28

Which statement best describes why the Cambrian explosion was important?

A)because good fossils from this period are available to study
B)because there was an explosion in animal abundance
C)because there was an explosion in ecological diversity among animals
D)because plant and animal fossils were found together for the first time

Question 29

What is thought to be the significance of the duplication of homeotic genes?

A)Compared to fish,the increased number of genes made evolution of the tetrapod foot possible.
B)Compared to jellyfish,the increased number of genes made evolution of more complex body forms possible.

Question 30

How do mass extinctions differ from background extinctions?

A)Mass extinctions account for most species that have gone extinct in the history of life on Earth.
B)It is now recognized that mass extinctions but not background extinctions are generally caused by asteroid impacts.
C)During mass extinctions a large proportion of organisms that were alive at that time die out.
D)Background extinctions don't lead to great numbers of species lost.

Question 31

The Permian period ends with a massive extinction event and then rapid speciation occurs as new animal and plant forms come into being.The most likely explanation for this is _____.

A)adaptive radiation.
B)ecological opportunity
C)lack of competition
D)morphological innovation
E)all but one of the above

Question 32

Which of the following key adaptations is found in many animals from the Burgess Shale fauna but not found in the Doushantuo and Ediacaran faunas?

A)mouthparts
B)segmentation
C)burrow formation
D)multicellularity

Question 33

Which listing of geological periods is in the correct order,from oldest to most recent?

A)Cambrian,Devonian,Permian,Cretaceous
B)Devonian,Cambrian,Permian,Cretaceous
C)Cambrian,Permian,Devonian,Cretaceous
D)Permian,Cambrian,Cretaceous,Devonian

Question 34

Figure 27.9

A hypothetical island lies far from any other landmasses.There are many different types of plants,but only one animal a beetle that can fly or walk from plant to plant and feeds by chewing leaves.Given that the beetle is not exploiting all the resources on the island,which morphological change would be most likely to trigger an adaptive radiation of the beetles?

A)a change in wing shape that improves flight speed
B)an additional segment on a pair of legs
C)a mouthpart that can pierce fruits and seeds

Question 35

Figure 27.9

All of the following events can trigger an adaptive radiation except _____.

A)a vicariance event splitting the habitat
B)the evolution of a new morphological feature
C)the colonization of a new habitat
D)the extinction of competitors
E)gene duplication events

Question 36

Islands are well known for having many endemic species species that are unique to that location.What is a likely explanation for this pattern?

A)Colonizers encounter fewer competitors on an island,so they can diversify.
B)Islands are more complex habitats than continents are,so they have more niches for specialization.
C)Humans bring partly or fully domesticated species with them when they arrive on islands.
D)The type of organism that is a good colonizer has more than the average amount of genetic variability,so it's more likely to speciate.
E)Islands are often distant from mainlands and therefore island species cannot emigrate to other areas.

Question 37

Deletions in mice in the Hoxa3 gene,on the A cluster,result in abnormal formation of glands in the neck.Deletions in the homologous Hoxd3 gene,on the D cluster,result in abnormal formation of the neck skeleton.The protein-coding sequences of Hoxa3 and Hoxd3 are about 50% the same.Researchers inserted a functional copy of the coding sequence of Hoxd3 in place of the coding sequence of a nonfunctional Hoxa3.They left all promoters,enhancers,splicing signals,and processing signals of Hoxa3 in place.Normal neck gland development was restored.What can you conclude? (J.M.Greer,J.Puetz,K.R.Thomas,and M.R.Capecchi.2000.Maintenance of functional equivalence during paralogous Hox gene evolution.Nature 403:
661-65. )

A)The protein-coding sequence is most important in producing different functions.
B)Regulation of the genes is most important in producing different functions.
C)Either the protein-coding sequence or regulation of the genes is most important in producing different functions.

Question 38

Which of the following likely has the most Hox genes?

A)jellyfish
B)slugs
C)dolphins
D)bees