The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure 22.4,whose horizontal axis represents time (present time is on the far right)and whose vertical axis represents morphological change.
Figure 22.4
-Which of these five species is the extant (that is,not extinct)species that is most closely related to species X,and why is this so?
A)V;shared a common ancestor with X most recently
B)W;shared a common ancestor with X most recently
C)Y;arose before X
D)Z;shared a common ancestor with X

Question

The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure 22.4,whose horizontal axis represents time (present time is on the far right)and whose vertical axis represents morphological change.
  Figure 22.4
-Which of these five species is the extant (that is,not extinct)species that is most closely related to species X,and why is this so?
A)V;shared a common ancestor with X most recently 
B)W;shared a common ancestor with X most recently 
C)Y;arose before X 
D)Z;shared a common ancestor with X

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The species that is most closely related to another species is the one that shared a common ancestor with it most recently. Choice A explicitly states that species V shared a common ancestor with X most recently, making it the most closely related extant species to X.

The Following Questions Refer to the Evolutionary Tree in Figure