Use Figure 26.1 to answer the following questions.

Figure 26.1
-If Figure 26.1 is an accurate depiction of relatedness, then which of the following should be correct?
1)The entire tree is based on maximum parsimony.
2)If all species depicted here make up a taxon, this taxon is monophyletic.
3)The last common ancestor of species B and C occurred more recently than the last common ancestor of species D and E.
4)Species A is the direct ancestor of both species B and species C.
5)The species present at position 3 is ancestral to C, D, and E.
A) 1 and 3
B) 3 and 4
C) 2, 3, and 4
D) 1, 2, and 3

Question

Use Figure 26.1 to answer the following questions.
  
Figure 26.1
-If Figure 26.1 is an accurate depiction of relatedness, then which of the following should be correct?
1)The entire tree is based on maximum parsimony.
2)If all species depicted here make up a taxon, this taxon is monophyletic.
3)The last common ancestor of species B and C occurred more recently than the last common ancestor of species D and E.
4)Species A is the direct ancestor of both species B and species C.
5)The species present at position 3 is ancestral to C, D, and E.
A) 1 and 3 
B) 3 and 4 
C) 2, 3, and 4 
D) 1, 2, and 3

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

2) A taxon is monophyletic if it includes an ancestral species and all of its descendants. If all species depicted form a taxon, it includes all descendants from their last common ancestor, thus it's monophyletic. 3) Without seeing Figure 26.1, based on standard interpretations of phylogenetic trees, if species B and C are closer on the tree than D and E, their last common ancestor would indeed be more recent. 1) Maximum parsimony is a principle that suggests the simplest explanation or path with the least evolutionary changes is preferred when interpreting evolutionary relationships, which is a common approach in constructing phylogenetic trees.

Use Figure 26.1 to Answer the Following Questions