Question

HELP ASAP!! 5 MINS MAX- The diagram below shows the branching tree diagram for humans. The text box below it shows the set of derived shared characteristics for the branching tree.

A slanting, horizontal line is shown. On the extreme left, there is a label that says Common Ancestor. Along the slanting, horizontal line there are five dots labeled from left to right as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. There is one vertical line between each of the consecutive five dots. The lines are labeled from left to right as Perch, Frog, Pigeon, Rats, and Human. A text box below the branching tree diagram is labeled Derived Shared Characteristics. In the box it says from left to right, Terrestrial during all stages, Jaws, Walking on two legs, Mammary glands and hair, and Four limbs.

Look at the possible derived shared characteristics, shown in the text box. Think about where these should be placed along the branching tree diagram. Where in the branching tree would you most likely write jaws? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Jaws would most likely be written between dot 1 and dot 2 on the branching tree diagram. This is because the derived shared characteristic of jaws would have evolved after the common ancestor and before the perch, frog, pigeon, and other species evolved. Since jaws are not present in the common ancestor, but are present in species such as perch and frog, it is most likely that jaws evolved after the common ancestor and before the perch and frog split from the branching tree.