Question

1. If you were to build a phylogenetic tree of living animals, which of the following derived characters would appear first?

A. deuterostome development

B. true tissues

C. protostome development

D. bilateral symmetry

2. Birds and mammals are endotherms. They maintain body temperature by producing heat through metabolism. Endothermy is energetically expensive for an organism, yet endotherms have become the dominant group of tetrapods. What is a major evolutionary advantage of endothermy?

A. Endothermy allows greater independence from water.

B. Endothermy decreases the amount of time an animal spends hunting or foraging.

C. Endothermy widened the range of habitats available and increased speciation.

D. Endothermy allows more body resources to be used for growth and reproduction.

3. Which derived characteristic would MOST likely explain the results from the genome analysis?

Comparison of Lignin-Associated Genes Across Photosynthetic Organisms In a study comparing the genomes of photosynthetic organisms, scientists identified genes specific to the synthesis of lignin. The resulting data are presented in the table. Organism Approximate number of genes Group associated with an enzyme unique to lignin biosynthesis Diatoms Green algae 0 Bryophytes Lycophytes 38 Monocots 55 Dicots Phaeodactylum Volvox A moss Spike moss Rice Poplar tree 12 53

A. appearance of vascular tissue

B. appearance of pollen

C. appearance of monocots and dicots

D. appearance of flowers

AND

The genome of a pine, a gymnosperm, is analyzed for the number of genes specific for the biosynthesis of lignin. Based on the results presented in the table, which is the estimated number of genes that should be expected from the analysis?

A. between 0 and 9

B. between 10 and 29

C. between 30 and 59

D. more than 60

4. Which of the following statements is the MOST compelling argument that fungi are more closely related to animals than plants?

A. Plants have chloroplasts whereas fungi and animals cells do not.

B. Plants fix carbon dioxide from the air; fungi and animals use pre-existing organic molecules.

C. The DNA sequences of ribosomal RNA of fungi share more homology with ribosomal RNA from animals than plants.

D. Both animal and fungal cells are eukaryotic.

Answer 1

2. The correct answer is option A i.e. endothermy allows greater independence from water. This is because endothermy decreases the dependency of species on surrounding environment as they are able to maintain their temperature over a wide range of habitats.

3. The correct answer is option A i.e. appearance of vascular tissue. this can be seen as the vascular plants are having larger number of genes associated with lignin biosynthesis.

4. The correct answer is option C i.e. between 30 to 59.

5. The correct answer is option B i.e. plants fix carbon dioxide from the air; fungi and animals use pre-existing organic molecules. Also, animals and fungi have chitin on common. So they both are dependent on the plants for their carbon source.