Modern Classification

The most important difference between classification during the time of Linnaeus and current classification is that organisms are now grouped according to their

• fossil relationships.

• size relationships.

• ecological relationships.

• evolutionary relationships.

A diagram that shows evolutionary relationships among species is called a

• cladogram

• derived characters

• monophyletic

• phylogeny

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Lions and ocelots have retractable claws, but foxes do not. We can conclude that

• lions and foxes are more closely related than lions and ocelots.

• lions and ocelots are more closely related than lions and foxes.

• the unretractable fox claw is a derived characteristic.

• foxes are completely unrelated to lions or ocelots.

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A clade contains

• all organisms with similar appearances.

• organisms living within the same ecosystem.

• an ancestral species and all the organisms that came before it.

• an ancestral species and all its descendants.

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If two species have similar DNA sequences but different observable characteristics,

• they are not closely related.

• scientists need to re-examine the DNA evidence.

• the species are more closely related than their appearances imply.

• they could not have shared a recent common ancestor.

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A single common ancestor and all of its descendants is considered a...

• phylogenetic group

• monophyletic group

• taxon

• clade

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A group of species of species that includes a single common ancestor and all of descendants

• clade

• taxa

• monophyletic group

• phylogenetic group

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The splitting point on a cladogram is considered a...

• clade

• derived character

• root

• node

A trait that arose in the most recent common ancestor of a group and was passed on to its descendants

• clade

• cladogram

• derived characters

• node

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Why must scientific be carful about using the absence of traits?

• Distantly related groups can sometimes lose the same trait

• It doesn't give accurate DNA analysis

• Distantly related groups can sometimes gain the same trait

• Losing a trait tells use nothing about an organism

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