BIO112 - Chapter 23: Understanding Diversity: Systematics

a, b, c,

Why are scientific names and the classification of organisms important? Select all that apply.

a) They allow biologists to organize their knowledge.

b) They allow cross-language communication.

c) They allow more precise identification of organisms.

d) They are permanent.

b - plantae

Which of the following is a taxon? Select all that apply.

a) Class

b) Plantae

c) Species

c - phylum

Which of the following is the most inclusive taxonomic rank?

a) Class

b) Order

c) Phylum

d) Family

fungi, protists, plants, animals

Which of the following were included in the domain Eukarya? Select all that apply.

Fungi

Protists

Plants

Archaea

Animals

clade; node

In a cladogram, a (clade, branch, node) is a group of organisms that share a common ancestor, a (clade, branch, node) represents a most recent common ancestor, and the branches from the node represent the splitting of new groups from a common ancestor.

vertical gene transfer; horizontal gene transfer

In (vertical gene transfer, horizontal gene transfer) genes are transmitted from parent to offspring, whereas in (vertical gene transfer, horizontal gene transfer) genes are exchanged from one individual to another in the same generation.

heritability; vertical gene transfer

(vertical gene transfer, heritability, inheritance) is the ability of a trait to be passed down, and (vertical gene transfer, heritability, inheritance) is the actual passing down from parent to offspring.

a - homoplasy, c - reversal, d - convergent evolution

Which of the following complicate the use of shared characteristics as a taxonomic criterion? Select all that apply.

a) Homoplasy

b) Homology

c) Reversal

d) Convergent evolution

c - shared ancestral characteristics

Among the following, which suggests a more distant common ancestor?

a) Synapomorphies

b) Shared derived characters

c) Shared ancestral characters

a, b, c

Molecular systematics involves analysis of which of the following? Select all that apply.

a) Nucleotide sequences in DNA

b) Amino acid sequences in protein

c) Nucleotide sequences in RNA

d) Physical characteristics

b - paraphyletic

Which of the following groups includes some but not all descendants of a common ancestor?

a) Monophyletic

b) Paraphyletic

c) Polyphyletic

earlier

An outgroup is a group that emerged (earlier, at the same time, later) than any of the other taxa being investigated.

b - parsimony

Which of the following is a term for choosing the simplest explanation to interpret the data?

a) Monophyletic

b) Parsimony

c) Systematics

b - monophyletic

Modern systematists agree that taxa must be which of the following?

a) Polyphyletic

b) Monophyletic

c) Paraphyletic

b, e

Which of the following features are always important when interpreting a cladogram? Select all that apply.

a) The left-to-right order of the taxa

b) Branching back to the most recent common ancestor

c) The overall shape of the cladogram

d) The size of the branches

e) The branching relationships