Final answer:
Amphibians are more closely related to primates than to sharks, as amphibians and primates are both part of the amniote group, which diverged later in the evolutionary timeline compared to the early branching off of sharks.
Step-by-step explanation:
Amphibians are more closely related to primates than to sharks. Through the study of evolutionary biology, we have established that amphibians evolved about 365 million years ago from a lobe-finned fish ancestor. As they transitioned from life in water to life on land, amphibians developed important evolutionary adaptations that would eventually lead to the emergence of amniotes, animals capable of reproducing on land, which include reptiles, birds, and mammals. Primates are mammals, thus they are part of the amniote group.
According to the evolutionary tree, sharks branched off first from the common ancestor of these vertebraes, followed by lancelets, then amphibians (like frogs, toads, and salamanders), and later the amniotes, which includes primates. Therefore, amphibians are closer relatives to primates than to sharks.
While all amphibians share common features such as moist skin without scales and being carnivores, their evolutionary path diverged from those of sharks early on, bringing them into greater genetic and anatomical kinship with land vertebrates, including primates.