DC Biology Chapter 20: Phylogeny

1) The legless condition that is observed in several groups of extant reptiles is the result of

• A) their common ancestor having been legless.
• B) a shared adaptation to an arboreal (living in trees) lifestyle.
• C) several instances of the legless condition arising independently of each other.
• D) individual lizards adapting to a fossorial (living in burrows) lifestyle during their lifetimes.

2) The various taxonomic levels (namely, genera, classes, etc.) of the hierarchical classification system differ from each other on the basis of

• A) how widely the organisms assigned to each are distributed throughout the environment.
• B) their inclusiveness.
• C) the relative genome sizes of the organisms assigned to each.
• D) morphological characters that are applicable to all organisms.

Which of the following pairs are the best examples of homologous structures?

• A) bones in the bat wing and bones in the human forelimb
• B) owl wing and hornet wing
• C) bat wing and bird wing
• D) eyelessness in the Australian mole and eyelessness in the North American mole

The importance of computers and of computer software to modern cladistics is most closely linked to advances in

• A) light microscopy.
• B) radiometric dating.
• C) fossil discovery techniques.
• D) molecular genetics.

The common ancestors of birds and mammals were very early (stem) reptiles, which almost certainly possessed three-chambered hearts (two atria, one ventricle). Birds and mammals, however, are alike in having four-chambered hearts (two atria, two ventricles). The four-chambered hearts of birds and mammals are best described as

• A) structural homologies.
• B) vestiges.
• C) homoplasies.
• D) the result of shared ancestry.

When using a cladistic approach to systematics, which of the following is considered most important for classification?

• A) shared primitive characters
• B) analogous primitive characters
• C) shared derived characters
• D) the number of homoplasies

What kind of evidence has recently made it necessary to assign the prokaryotes to either of two different domains, rather than assigning all prokaryotes to the same kingdom?

• A) molecular
• B) behavioral
• C) nutritional
• D) anatomical

Members of which kingdom have cell walls and are all heterotrophic?

• A) Plantae
• B) Fungi
• C) Animalia
• D) Protista

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

• 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.

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

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