Phylogenies are Based on Common Ancestries

1.

Distinguish between phylogeny and systematics.

2.

Describe the process of sedimentation and the formation of fossils. Explain which portions of organisms are most likely to fossilize.

3.

Explain why it is crucial to distinguish between homology and analogy before selecting characters to use in the reconstruction of phylogeny.

4.

Explain why bird and bat wings are homologous as vertebrate forelimbs but analogous as wings.

5.

Define molecular systematics. Explain some of the problems that systematists may face in carrying out molecular comparisons of nucleic acids.

Phylogenetic Systematics: Connecting Classification
with Evolutionary History

6.

Explain the following characteristics of the Linnaean system of classification:
a. binomial nomenclature
b. hierarchical classification

7.

List the major taxonomic categories from most to least inclusive.

8.

Define a clade. Distinguish between a monophyletic clade and paraphyletic and polyphyletic groupings of species.

9.

Distinguish between shared primitive characters and shared derived characters.

10.

Explain how shared derived characters can be used to construct a phylogenetic diagram.

11.

Explain how outgroup comparison can be used to distinguish between shared primitive characters and shared derived characters.

12.

Define an ingroup.

13.

Distinguish between a phylogram and an ultrameric tree.

14.

Discuss how systematists use the principles of maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood in reconstructing phylogenies.

15.

Explain why any phylogenetic diagram represents a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships among organisms.

16.

Distinguish between orthologous and paralogous genes. Explain how gene duplication has led to families of paralogous genes.

17.

Explain how molecular clocks are used to determine the approximate time of key evolutionary events. Explain how molecular clocks are calibrated in actual time.

18.

Describe some of the limitations of molecular clocks.

19.

Explain the neutral theory of evolutionary change.

20.

Explain how scientists determined the approximate time when HIV-1 M first infected humans.

21.

Describe the evidence that suggests there is a universal tree of life.