As you move on to the Missions, be sure to watch the short video on each session

Question

As you move on to the Missions, be sure to watch the short video on each session-they contain helpful information to aid you in completing the phylogenetic trees! Complete Mission 1: Training Trees a. Are all traits important for constructing a phylogenetic tree? (yes/no) b. Is a fungus more closely related to an animal or to a plant? ______ c. What three things do a kingsnake and a dog have in common? d. Is a banana more closely related to a lemon or an onion? ______ Complete Mission 2: Fossils: Rocking the Earth a. Do birds have anything in common with dinosaurs? (yes/no) b. What is the first trait that helped aquatic species evolve into creatures that live on land? ______ c. Which species in this exercise did not have tail flukes? ______ Complete Mission 3: DNA Spells Evolution a. The DNA sequence of the West Indian Ocean coelacanth is closest to which species? ______ b. In 2013, scientists found that coelacanths are not the closest relative of four-footed amphibians and other animals. Which species is? _______ c. You built a tree using only DNA information. Why was examining DNA better than considering physical traits? Complete Missions 4, 5, and 6 on your own before moving on to Part 2.

Explanation / Answer

2. a. All traits are important.

Phylogenetic trees represent hypotheses about the evolutionary relationships among a group of organisms. A phylogenetic tree may be built using morphological (body shape), biochemical, behavioral, or molecular features of species or other groups. In building a tree, we organize species into nested groups based on shared derived traits (traits different from those of the group's ancestor).

b. Fungi and animals are more closely related to one another than either group is to plants. This has been determined through molecular phylogenetic analyses. Fungal cells are organized into tube-like filaments called hyphae. Hyphae are surrounded by a cell wall, and grow from the tips. Fungi are multicellular eukaryotes.

c. Similarities between kingsnake and dog :

i) They both have backbone that protects a nerve cord that runs the length of the body.

ii) They breaths in air with the help of lung.

iii) They originated from labyrinthodonts.

d. Banana is closely related to an onion. The banana and onion produce 3 petals on the flowers and use photosynthesis.

3. a. Yes. Because there is strong scientific consensus, that birds are a group of theropod dinosaurs that evolved during the Mesozoic Era. The fossil of Archaeopteryx, generally accepted as being the oldest known bird, is an important link between birds and other coelurosaurs that has helped to illuminate the evolutionary history (phylogeny) of the group. This connecting link proves that bird originates from dinosaurs.

b. Evolving lung is the first trait that help aquatic species evolve into creatures that live on land.

4. a. Primitive lungfih                                                        

b. lungfish

c. Examining DNA better than considering physical traits because due to following reasons :

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