Cladograms and Evolutionary Relationships

What is a distinguishing characteristic between a honeybee and a bee fly?

• They have different diets.

• Honeybees have four wings, while bee flies have two.

• Bee flies are larger than honeybees.

• Honeybees live in colonies, while bee flies are solitary.

What is the primary purpose of a cladogram in biology?

• To illustrate the geographical distribution of species.

• To predict future evolutionary changes in organisms.

• To represent a hypothesis of evolutionary relationships among organisms.

• To categorize organisms based on their physical size.

Which of the following animals does not possess a notochord?

• Frog

• Sea Bunny

• Lancelet

• Shark

Among the chordates listed, which one is considered an invertebrate because it lacks vertebrae?

• Frog

• Lancelet

• Shark

• Maned Wolf

What is the purpose of an outgroup in a cladogram?

• To show the most evolved organism.

• To represent an organism that shares all the derived characteristics.

• To serve as a reference point that is less closely related to the other organisms.

• To indicate an organism that has lost all its ancestral traits.

What does a shared derived character, like lungs in a frog and a maned wolf, indicate on a cladogram?

• The frog evolved directly from the maned wolf.

• The trait is present in all organisms on the cladogram.

• The frog and maned wolf share a common ancestor that had lungs.

• The trait developed independently in both the frog and the maned wolf.

What type of evidence can be used to build a more accurate cladogram?

• Only physical appearance of organisms.

• Molecular evidence like DNA or amino acid sequences.

• The geographic location where organisms are found.

• Personal opinions about which organisms are more "advanced."

Which statement about reading cladograms is true?

• Organisms positioned higher on the cladogram are more evolved.

• The physical closeness of two organisms on the cladogram indicates how closely related they are.

• Cladograms can be rearranged by rotating branches at a node without changing the evolutionary relationships.

• The length of the branches always represents the amount of time passed since divergence.