Evolutionary History and Relationships

What is another thing that the evolutionary tree shows?

• how a bacteria evolved into a human

• how monkeys got here

• where the mass extinctions happened

• how much time separates organisms

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According to the evolutionary tree, which group of organisms is most closely related to mammals?

• arthropods

• birds

• mollusks

• cnidaria

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Page 4: According to the evolutionary tree, which organism is most closely related to arthropods?

• body fish

• amphibians

• mollusks

• protists

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A longer branch on the evolutionary tree means....

• it took a shorter time to evolve

• it took a longer time to evolve

• they had to make it longer to fit all the animals in

• it is just for artistic purposes

You can create a phylogenetic tree by....

• counting the differences between organisms

• starting with a realistic-looking tree

• starting with a group of beetles

• by looking at the DNA of each organism

This fossil turtle and this living hawk both have a structure in their neck called the atlas bone. What best explains why both species have an atlas bone?

• The turtle and hawk are different species, so they must not share an ancestor population. They inherited their atlas bone structure from separate ancestor populations

• The turtle and hawk both share the same ancestor population that had an atlas bone. They inherited this structure from the ancestor population.

• It is impossible to say. Fossils are very old; therefore, we cannot make observations of the turtle’s ancestors, and we cannot explain its body structures.

• All species have their own specific body structures, so it is a coincidence that this turtle and hawk each happen to have the atlas bone structure.

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This ctenophore, this sea cucumber, and this cuttlefish have similarities and differences in their body structures. What does the information about these structures tell you about the ancestors of these species?

• All three species share an ancestor population, but the sea cucumber and the cuttlefish share a more recent ancestor population. This is why they share the intestine structure.

• None share an ancestor population because different species cannot share an ancestor population. It is a coincidence that these species have some of the same body structures.

• Sea cucumbers and cuttlefish share an ancestor population, but they must not share an ancestor with the ctenophore because ctenophores don’t have the intestine structure.

• We cannot make observations of ancestor populations from the past. It is impossible to explain ancestors with only the information about the body structures of different species.

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What does this diagram show?

• All three species share a common ancestor, but the African elephant and Sumatran tiger are more closely related to each other than they are to the Norway rat.

• All three species share a common ancestor, but the Sumatran tiger and Norway rat are more closely related to each other than they are to the African elephant.

• The Sumatran tiger, African elephant, and Norway rat are not related and come from separate lines of evolutionary history.

• All three species share a common ancestor and are equally related to each other.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

What does this diagram show?

• All three species share a common ancestor, but the bold jumping spider and common octopus are more closely related to each other than they are to the Bombay locust.

• All three species share a common ancestor, but the bold jumping spider and Bombay locust are more closely related to each other than they are to the common octopus.

• The three species are not related and come from separate lines of evolutionary history.

• All three species share a common ancestor and are equally related to one another.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

The diagram provided here is an evolutionary tree. It shows how groups of organisms are related through a shared evolutionary history. Which of the following provides the best evidence that can be used to create this diagram?

• The habitats in which the animals live

• Competition between organisms for resources

• Similarities and differences in body structures

• Observations of interactions in the wild

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