The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
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Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Get
Started
By what specific physical characteristic
could we classify the following fruits
into two groups?
 Strawberry
 Apple
 Orange
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Introduction
Read the introduction.


A character is a recognizable structure,
function, or behavior of an organism.
A homologous character, or homology,
is shared by taxa and their common
ancestor.
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Introduction


Shared derived characters are
homologies shared by all populations of a
single species or group of species
descended from a common ancestor.
An evolutionary tree, or tree, is a
branched diagram for classifying taxa that
represents a hypothesis about the
evolutionary relationships of taxa.
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Taxonomy
Level
Northern
Red Oak
Tree
Mouse
E. coli
House
Cat
Human
Chimpanzee
Domain
Eukarya
Eukarya
Bacteria
Eukarya
Eukarya
Eukarya
Kingdom
Plantae
Animalia
Eubacteria
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Chordata
Proteobacteria
Chordata
Chordata
Chordata
Class
Magnoliopsida
Mammalia
Gamma
Proteobacteria
Mammalia
Mammalia
Mammalia
Order
Fagales
Rodentia
Enterobacteriales
Carnivora
Primates
Primates
Family
Fagaceae
Muridae
Enterobacteriaceae
Felidae
Hominidae
Hominidae
Genus
Quercus
Mus
Escherichia
Felis
Homo
Pan
Species
Quercus rubra
Mus
musculus
Escherichia coli
Felis
domesticus
Homo
sapiens
Pan troglodytes
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Challenge

How do you test a tree
hypothesis for a group of taxa?
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Vertebrate Forelimbs
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Procedure
Procedure Step 3

All of the taxa share a common ancestor
that had forelimbs with similar structures.
The taxa gradually evolved as certain
features enabled them to take advantage
of opportunities in their environment.
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Homology and Analogy
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Procedure
Character Matrix for Six Vertebrates
Character
Lamprey
Frog
Bird
Whale
Pig
Human
Pelvic remnants (small
portion of what was
once a whole pelvis)
0
0
0
1
0
0
Body hair
0
0
0
1
1
1
Amniotic egg
0
0
1
1
1
1
Forelimbs
0
1
1
1
1
1
Vertebral column
(backbone)
1
1
1
1
1
1
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Vertebrate Tree
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Vertebrate Tree
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Branched Tree
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Hypotheses for Vertebrate Phylogeny
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Procedure
Return to Student Sheet 3.1, “Ideas
about Evolution”
 Add information from this activity or a
previous activity to support whether any
of the statements are correct or
incorrect.
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Follow Up
Analysis 3

Based on the tree you chose:
◦ Which are more closely related to humans: birds or
frogs? Support your answer with evidence.
◦ Which are more distantly related to birds: humans or
lampreys? Support your answer with evidence.
◦ Which group shares a more recent common ancestor
with whales: pigs or humans? Support your answer
with evidence.
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Follow Up
Analysis 4

Based on the portion of a tree shown below,
what can you say about the relationship of taxa
X to horses and humans?
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Revisit the
Challenge

How do you test a tree
hypothesis for a group of taxa?
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates
Key
Vocabulary







character
clade
evidence
evolutionary tree
homologous
character
homology
hypothesis
Activity 7: The Phylogeny of Vertebrates





node
phylogenetics
shared derived
character
taxa
taxon