| Phylogenies are Based on Common Ancestries |
| 1. |
Distinguish between phylogeny and systematics. |
| 2. |
Describe the process of sedimentation and the formation of fossils. Explain which portions of organisms are most likely to fossilize. |
| 3. |
Explain why it is crucial to distinguish between homology and analogy before selecting characters to use in the reconstruction of phylogeny. |
| 4. |
Explain why bird and bat wings are homologous as vertebrate forelimbs but analogous as wings. |
| 5. |
Define molecular systematics. Explain some of the problems that systematists may face in carrying out molecular comparisons of nucleic acids. |
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Phylogenetic Systematics: Connecting Classification
with Evolutionary History |
| 6. |
Explain the following characteristics of the Linnaean system of classification:
a. binomial nomenclature
b. hierarchical classification |
| 7. |
List the major taxonomic categories from most to least inclusive. |
| 8. |
Define a clade. Distinguish between a monophyletic clade and paraphyletic and polyphyletic groupings of species. |
| 9. |
Distinguish between shared primitive characters and shared derived characters. |
| 10. |
Explain how shared derived characters can be used to construct a phylogenetic diagram. |
| 11. |
Explain how outgroup comparison can be used to distinguish between shared primitive characters and shared derived characters. |
| 12. |
Define an ingroup. |
| 13. |
Distinguish between a phylogram and an ultrameric tree. |
| 14. |
Discuss how systematists use the principles of maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood in reconstructing phylogenies. |
| 15. |
Explain why any phylogenetic diagram represents a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships among organisms. |
| 16. |
Distinguish between orthologous and paralogous genes. Explain how gene duplication has led to families of paralogous genes. |
| 17. |
Explain how molecular clocks are used to determine the approximate time of key evolutionary events. Explain how molecular clocks are calibrated in actual time. |
| 18. |
Describe some of the limitations of molecular clocks. |
| 19. |
Explain the neutral theory of evolutionary change. |
| 20. |
Explain how scientists determined the approximate time when HIV-1 M first infected humans. |
| 21. |
Describe the evidence that suggests there is a universal tree of life. |
