Review Questions
4. What is used to determine phylogeny?
- mutations
- DNA
- evolutionary history
- organisms on earth
5. What do scientists in the field of systematics accomplish?
- discover new fossil sites
- organize and classify organisms
- name new species
- communicate among field biologists
6. Which statement about the taxonomic classification system is correct?
- There are more domains than kingdoms.
- Kingdoms are the top category of classification.
- Classes are divisions of orders.
- Subspecies are the most specific category of classification.
7. On a phylogenetic tree, which term refers to lineages that diverged from the same place?
- sister taxa
- basal taxa
- rooted taxa
- dichotomous taxa
8. Which statement about analogies is correct?
- They occur only as errors.
- They are synonymous with homologous traits.
- They are derived by similar environmental constraints.
- They are a form of mutation.
9. What do scientists use to apply cladistics?
- homologous traits
- homoplasies
- analogous traits
- monophyletic groups
10. What is true about organisms that are a part of the same clade?
- They all share the same basic characteristics.
- They evolved from a shared ancestor.
- They usually fall into the same classification taxa.
- They have identical phylogenies.
11. Why do scientists apply the concept of maximum parsimony?
- to decipher accurate phylogenies
- to eliminate analogous traits
- to identify mutations in DNA codes
- to locate homoplasies
12. The transfer of genes by a mechanism not involving reproduction is called:
- meiosis
- web of life
- horizontal gene transfer
- gene fusion
13. Particles that transfer genetic material from one species to another, especially in marine prokaryotes:
- horizontal gene transfer
- lateral gene transfer
- genome fusion device
- gene transfer agents
14. What does the trunk of the classic phylogenetic tree represent?
- single common ancestor
- pool of ancestral organisms
- new species
- old species
15. Which phylogenetic model proposes that all three domains of life evolved from a pool of primitive prokaryotes?
- tree of life
- web of life
- ring of life
- network model