Phylogenetic Tree Quiz

What is a phylogenetic tree?

• A specific type of evolution

• A diagram that shows the adaptations a species acquired

• An illustration that shows all the different species that live in an ecosystem

• A diagram that shows evolutionary relationships between different species

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

What does the root of a phylogenetic tree represent?

• A common characteristic shared by all species in the tree

• A common ancestor to all species in the tree

• A common ancestor to only some species in the tree

• The extinction of a species

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-3

The length of a line in a phylogenetic tree represents:

• how long the species has existed

• how large the species is

• how well adapted the species is

• how likely the species will survive in the future

According to the phylogenetic tree, which species is most closely related to A? Explain.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Draw a circle around the most recent common ancestor to C and E on the phylogenetic tree.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Which numbered location on the phylogenetic tree identifies characteristics shared by Species B, C, and D?

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Unit 8

A cladogram of 5 species is shown.

Looking at the labels in the diagram, highlight the area with the words that identifies what 2 traits the ancestral species most likely had.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

All the animals to the right of the hagfish would have the common characteristic of —

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Match the following

• Bottleneck Effect

• 
• directional selection

• 
• Disruptive Selection

• 
• Founder Effect

• 
• Stabilizing selection

• 

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Match the following terms to their definitions

• Charles Darwin

• Another scientist who independently proposed natural selection as a mechanism for evolution

• Fossils

• The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring

• Alfred Russell Wallace

• An inherited characteristic that improves an individual's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

• Natural Selection

• The preserved remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past

• Adaptation

• The scientist most closely associated with the theory of evolution by natural selection

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

NGSS.MS-LS1-4