Reference no: EM132565330

To create evolutionary trees, evolutionary biologist often examine various structures to determine which structures are inherited from a common ancestor and which ones are derived (newly appeared during the evolutionary history).

1) You are provided with the following organisms: human, monkey, chimpanzee, wolf, lizard, bird, tuna fish, snail.

2) The following are characteristics found among some or all of the organisms: No tail, bipedal, backbone, four limbs, hair, opposable thumb, mobile, feathers.

3) To organize these using an evolutionary tree, begin by making yourself a table to help you sort the listed organisms based on the traits they have or do not have. Place the organisms in rows and the traits in columns, then for organism, put a check mark for a trait the organism has and an X for a trait not found in that organism. The fewer traits an organism has, the more similar the organism is to the common ancestor. A trait shared by all is considered inherited from a common ancestor, a trait not shared is considered "derived" or arising after for example, due to mutations.

4) The traits are usually placed at the bottom section of the tree, for example, trait K will be one shared by all the organisms and therefore inherited from the common ancestor. Organisms are placed on the top of the tree. For this first part, match the letters (A - H) at the top of the tree with the correct organism.

Match the letters (A- H) with numbers below:

1.Snail
2.Tuna fish
3.Lizard
4.Bird
5.Wolf
6.Monkey
7.Chimpanzee
8.Human