Question

Your friend studies the evolution of beetles, and shows you this phylogeny he reconstructed to depict their evolution based on antennal segments. You (politely) tell him that his phylogeny is INCORRECT. What explanation do you give your friend describes why the above phylogeny is INCORRECT? A. You should group all of the species together and find the average number of segments to determine the ancestral state B. You should not group the species with five segments together because having 5 segments is the ancestral character state. C. All of the species should be grouped together because five segments and six segments are close enough. D. You should group the species with six segments together because six segments is the ancestral state.

Answer 1

The phylogeny has not been provided. It has been attached.

Answer:

B. You should not group the species with five segments together because having 5 segments is the ancestral character state.

Step-by-step explanation:

A phylogeny tree helps us to track evolution in a species. It is made on basis of some characteristics. As we move further in a tree, new branches come which are different for that characteristic or have developed a new characteristic altogether.

Here, the person constructed the phylogeny tree of beetles based on the characteristic of antennal segments. He took the common ancestor as having five antennal segments. When the tree branched from here into two separate groups we expect to find something new or different in them from the ancestral trait. However, one of the groups still has 5 antennal segments like the ancestral group. This group can not be considered an evolved separate group and should have been included in the ancestral group itself. Hence, the phylogeny is incorrect.