- If the Figure Is an Accurate Depiction of Relatedness

question 56

Multiple Choice

- If the figure is an accurate depiction of relatedness, then which of the following should be an accurate statement?

• A) If all species depicted here make up a taxon, this taxon is monophyletic.
• B) The species present at position 4 is ancestral to species E, but not species D.
• C) Species C is more closely related to species B than D is to B
• D) The species present at position 3 is ancestral to C, D, and E.

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Definitions:

Actinistia

A subclass of mostly extinct fish, with the modern coelacanths being the only living representatives, characterized by lobed fins.

Coelacanth

A rare order of fish that was thought to be extinct until found alive in 1938, known for its lobed fins which resemble primitive leg structures.

Sacropterygian Fishes

An ancient group of lobe-finned fishes, some of whose descendants evolved into terrestrial vertebrates.

Ancestral

Relating to or inherited from an ancestor or ancestors.