Biology Test Questions

BIO 108 Take Home Chapter 26 Test Due: March 5, 2013 This test contains 11 questions, each worth 10 points. The highest possible score is 110%. 1. In your life, you probably have had before compared organisms and categorized them according to their common and distinct characteristic features. Through educational settings, you probably also have gained insights into similarities and differences between species. On the second page of this test, arrange the following species into your own phylogenetic tree diagram you believe based on their shared characteristics. (a) Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) (b) Ectoedemia castaneae (moth) (c) Hyla cinerea (tree frog) (d) Rattus rattus (rat) (e) Danio rerio (zebrafish) (f) Homo sapiens (human) (g) Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) (h) Lumbricus terrestris (earthworm) (i) Sus scrofa (pig) (j) Bos taurus (cattle) (k) Mus musculus (mouse) List the shared characteristics (you may want to review chapters 33 and 34 for identifiable shared characteristics among the listed species) and your reasons for arranging the phylogenetic tree as you did. For example, if three species are more closely similar to each other based on anatomy than others in a group, then you may draw a phylogenetic tree like the one below (Fig. 1; letters are used only for the example) on the second page of this test.

Figure 1. X, Y, and Z represent branching points (of unknown ancestral species, not the listed present organisms) in the evolution of the life history of the present organisms A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

1a. Draw your own phylogenetic tree here (related to problem #1 on the preceding page)

1b. List your reasoning for the tree’s arrangement based on their shared characteristics in the table below: Species (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) Their shared characteristics relative to other organisms

2. Explain in your own words the difference between a phylogenetic tree and a taxonomic classification. Also explain the difference