Imagine That You Are Chatting with One of Your Friends

Multiple Choice

Imagine that you are chatting with one of your friends. He states that reptiles are obviously a monophyletic group, as this group contains all of the organisms (outside of fish) that possess scales. This statement is:

A) as monophyletic groups are based solely on the morphological characteristics of their included species.
B) true, as the reptile group includes all of the organisms derived from a common ancestor on the phylogenetic tree.
C) false, as reptiles are a polyphyletic group, much like birds and bats.
D) false, as reptiles are a paraphyletic group; this group does not include birds, even though birds share a common ancestor with reptiles.