Building Cladograms - Questions

Answer the following questions about cladograms

1. What are the three domains in the tree of life?
Root, Nodes, Outgroup, Clades
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2. At the root of each branching tree in a cladogram is a shared ancestor. What do the
branches of the tree represent?
The initial ancestor common to all organisms within the cladogram
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(incoming line shows it originates from a larger clade)
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3. Define the term “Clade” which is used in cladograms

A common ancestor and all of its descendants (i.e. a node and all of its
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connected branches)
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4. Why is it important to understand that evolution does not follow lines but tree-like
branches?
Historically, structural features were used to construct
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cladograms, but molecular evidence is now more commonly used
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5. This diagram shows accepted evolutionary relationships between apes and humans.
Explain how the diagram shows that humans did not evolve from chimpanzees.

It simply shows that they are related but not deriving from
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each other.
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© David Faure, InThinking http://www.thinkib.net/biology 1

6. Shared derived characteristics are used to build a cladogram. What are they?
A gene or protein common to a range of selected organisms
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7. What are homologous characteristics?

Something that comes from a common ancestor through evolution
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8. Give an example of a homologous characteristic in vertebrates

Arm of a human v.s. wing of a bird

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9. Give an example of an analogous characteristic in any group of animals

Hair and fur in primates and rodents

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10. What do branch lengths represent in most cladograms?

transmission of genes from a generation to the next.
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