Evolution Lab free essay sample

Did the construction of the phylogenetic tree based on the 14 living Caminalcules change the way you would group Caminalcules species in your taxonomic classification (chart)? What does this suggest about classification based on strictly of similarity versus evolutionary relationship? The phylogenetic tree was more of an evolutionary tree. It showed the evolution of the organisms and their ancestors or traits that they branched off of. The chart however just simply organizes and separates the organisms in similarity. The tree did not change the chart, the chart see similarities with structures between the modern day organisms and the tree shows their evolutionary linage. The tree reflected our taxonomic classification. 2. Did your phylogenetic tree based on the 14 living Caminalcules differ from the phylogenetic tree based all Caminalcules, both living and fossil? Which do you have more confidence in? What do fossils add to our understanding of Caminalcules evolution in terms of rates and direction of evolutionary change? The two trees were fairly different. We will write a custom essay sample on Evolution Lab or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page That is due to the more amount of information that was provided via the fossils. The tree with all the caminialcules clearly showed when a characteristic dies off and a characteristic moves on. We are more confident in the tree with both living and fossil because it allowed us to see where the traits of the organisms died off or moved on. The fossils showed us that when a key trait stays in an organism it lets us to predict the direction of the evolutionary change when looking at modern day organisms. 3. Identify the most recent ancestor of any two species. (e. g. pecies 5 is the most recent ancestor of species 2 and species 4) species 75 is the most recent ancestor of species 4 and 3 4. You will notice that some lineages branched many times and are represented by many living species. Provide an example from your phylogenic tree of this rapid diversification. Species 43 branched off to 8 different modern day species. 5. Some lineages (e. g. the descendants of species 58) changed very little over time. A good example of this would be â€Å"living fossils† like the horseshoe crab or cockroach. Provide an example from your phylogenic tree of evolutionary stasis. Discuss the ecological conditions that might result in this sort of long-term evolutionary stasis. An example of evolutionary stability would be species 13, the species survived more than 13 million years and now is a â€Å"living fossil†. The ability for the species to reproduce and survive in an area means a there is no need for the species to evolve. Unchanging ecological conditions results in this long term stasis. 6. Some Caminalcules went extinct without leaving descendents. In the real world, what characteristic of a species (not of their enivornment) might increase the probability of a species going extinct? The ecological conditions might have changed quickly and the species was not able to adapt to those conditions, which eventually lead the species to go extinct. 7. Find two examples of convergent evolution among the Caminalcules. This means finding cases where two or more species have a similar characteristic that evolved independently in each lineage. The wings of bats, birds and bees is an example of convergence since the three groups did not inherit the characteristic from their common ancestor. Write your answers in complete sentences (e. g. Species x and y both have   but their most recent common ancestor, z, did not†). The claws of species 3 and 12 (their most recent common ancestor, species 46, did not have claws) The wings of 61 and 51 and of 19 and 20. 8. Describe two examples of vestigial structures that you can find among the Caminalcules. These are structures that have been reduced to the point that they are virtually useless. Ear muscles and the tail bones are ex amples of vestigial structures in humans. Explain how vestigial structures provide clues about a species? evolutionary past. Illustrate your argument with vestigial structures found in humans or other real species. The reduced tail of species 3 and the reduced number of digit or finger of species 35 and 66. Vestigial structures provide a lot of clues, since it is a trait that has been carried on for generations, it can be linked back to their ancestors when looking at fossils. A human vestigial structure can be the 6th finger, which is a dominant trait, but due to natural selection it is rarely seen. The male nipple is another example of a virtually useless organ or structure.