Reference no: EM133482997

Problem: Ecology Biodiversity and Evolution Biology

Using your own words and ideas, discuss each of the following. You can cite outside material if needed, but your response should be primarily your own thinking and writing. You may not submit text composed or modified by any computer program. Refer to the course handout and the departmental statement on citation and be sure to provide a reference as needed for ideas and wording obtained from another source. Tests will be routinely screened for plagiarism. Exam responses will be graded for content, understanding, composition, spelling, and usage. Tests will be open book/open notes, but the emphasis should be on expressing your own understanding and ideas, rather than just looking up the correct answer. The instructor will be looking for your own thinking and knowledge of the topic. The depth of the response should be commensurate with the number of points assigned. I recommend that you type your responses directly into this Word document and submit the saved .docx file. If you use a Mac, do NOT submit a ".pages" file or other formats specific to a Mac. I am not able to open .pages files, so I would be unable to grade your test.

A. Examine the butterflies in the photograph. (You should be able to enlarge the photograph to get a better look.) Consider that there is variation both within and between species. It is possible that all of these butterflies belong to one highly variable species. At the other extreme, it is possible (but probably unlikely) that each butterfly is a different species. The reality probably lies somewhere in between. Consider what you know about species, species concepts, population thinking, and species boundaries. Formulate a hypothesis regarding the number of species and the species boundaries (i.e., which groups of individuals belong to the same species) in these butterflies. Then tell how you would test your hypothesis.

B. Discuss the different kinds of fossils and how they are formed.

C. The accompanying data file contains hypothetical 30 bases of nucleotide data for seven hypothetical species identified by color (the colors are arbitrary and don't provide any clues to phylogeny). Use the DNA data to construct a maximum parsimony tree. For each node of the ingroup, note on the tree the number of synapomorphies supporting that node. (10 points) You can submit your tree in a separate file or included in your exam, as you wish.

D. How many nucleotide positions have homoplasies? Give the number(s) of any nucleotide positions with homoplasies.