In the Phylogeny Shown, Which of the Following Hypotheses Provides

Multiple Choice

In the phylogeny shown, which of the following hypotheses provides the most parsimonious explanation for the distribution of beak ("bill") color among the five species of magpie? The yellow-billed magpie has a yellow beak and the rest have black beaks.

A) There is no way to infer ancestral beak color using the phylogenies shown.
B) The ancestral state was yellow-billed.
C) The ancestral state was black-billed.
D) The ancestral state was most likely neither yellow nor black but rather some intermediate color of beak.