Use the Table to Answer the Question What Conclusion Can Best Be Drawn from the Data in Hox

question 18

Multiple Choice

Use the table to answer the question.
Proposed Number of Hox Genes in Various Extant and Extinct Animals
$$\begin{array} { | c | c | c | c | } \begin{array} { c } \hline \text { Last } \\\text { Common } \\\text { Ancestor } \\ { of Bilateria }\end{array} & \begin{array} { c } \hline \\\text { Last Common } \\\text { Ancestor of Insects } \\\text { and Vertebrates }\end{array} & \begin{array} { c } \hline\\\\\text { Ancestral } \\\text { Vertebrates }\end{array} & \text { Mammals } \\\hline 4 & 7 & 14 & 38-40 \\\hline\end{array}$$
What conclusion can best be drawn from the data in the table?

• A) Land animals have more Hox genes than do those that live in water.
• B) All bilaterian phyla have had the same degree of expansion in their numbers of Hox genes.
• C) The expansion in number of Hox genes throughout vertebrate evolution cannot be explained merely by three duplications of the ancestral vertebrate Hox cluster.
• D) Extant insects all have seven Hox genes.

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Definitions:

Willingness To Join

The degree of eagerness or readiness of an individual to become part of a group, organization, or cause.

Social Comparison Theory

A theory that suggests individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others.

Esteem Needs

Refers to a higher level in Maslow's hierarchy, involving the need for self-esteem, confidence, respect from others, and recognition.

Evolutionary Pressures

Forces in the environment that influence the survival and reproduction of species, guiding the process of natural selection.