What is the difference between an ancestral character and a shared derived character?

Q: How are shared ancestral characters and shared derived characters different? How is the concept of…

A: Homology is defined by  "the relationship between two organs of common descent, which therefore have…

Q: How do major changes in characters evolve, and how do new features originate?

A: The change in the heritable characteristics of the species across many generations is called…

Q: What is evolutionary history of a species called?

A: Evolution is a continuous process and we are still evolving. Evolution is nothing but adapting to…

Q: Who gave the scientific name homo sapiens to man?

A: The species that we and all other living human beings on this planet belong to is Homo sapiens. Homo…

Q: Arrange the early species of Homo in evolutionary order ?

A: Homo species is otherwise known as hominin. It is considered a successful genus till date. The early…

Q: How does the study of fossils strengthen the theory of evolution?

A: fossils are the remains of the organism that gets preserved for a long period of time they are…

Q: What is the function of including an outgroup in this phylogeny? After all, the point of the…

A: An outgroup is a lineage that falls outside the clade being studied but is closely related to that…

Q: In what ways can an evolutionary trend develop during the history of a genus or a family?

A: Evolution is defined as the process by which different types of living or biotic organisms are…

Q: Can the anatomy of extinct ancestral species be inferred from the developmental genes shared by…

A: Evolution is the gradual accumulation of genetic variations to produce new features or the new…

Q: Best on the phylogenetic tree shown here, which organisms are most closely related to dinosaurs and…

A: The phylogenetic tree helps to identify evolutionary relationships among various organisms.  The…

Q: How to determine the age of fossils orartifacts ?

A: Fossils are the remains of living things that have been buried or preserved under various conditions…

Q: What kind of trait is important to cladistics? a. shared derived traits b. shared ancestral traits…

A: The term phylogeny describes the evolutionary relationship shared among organisms. The taxonomic…

Q: What is the common ancestor of humans and apes?

A: The biological transformation of a species through time is referred to as evolution. Evolution aids…

Q: How does the hypothesized origin of modern humans (Homo sapiens) differ from the hypothesized origin…

A: Evolutionary history reveals that certain races of humans start evolving at different places. It is…

Q: What does hindlimb shape say about the ancestry of dolphins and other cetaceans?

A: One of the orders of Mammals is Cetaceans that had originated about 50 mya in Eocene epoch. This…

Q: Why is it so important for scientists to distinguish between homologous and analogous…

A: Phylogenetic tree is the pictorial representation of evolution of organisms from a common ancestor.…

Q: What caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?

A: Dinosaurs represent the giant reptiles that evolved on earth 245 million years ago. They come under…

Q: Why don’t shared ancestral characters provide evidence for relationships between organisms within a…

A: A clade is defined as a monophyletic taxon, that is, a group that will consist of all descendants…

Q: Derived characters are traits that   characterize the last common ancestor that a particular…

A: Character is a feature or characteristic of an individual like height, colour, shape etc.  A trait…

Q: Can Phylogeny  Be Used to Analyze Evolutionary History ?

A: Yes,Phylogeny can be used to analyze the Evolutionary History.

Q: What does the nostril position say about the ancestry of dolphins and other cetaceans.

A: Cetaceans are aquatic marine mammals.  In this group it contains dolphins and whales. they are…

Q: How might we know what the common ancestor of frogs and humans may have been? Where could we look…

A: Similarities in characters of two organisms definitely suggest that they had some common ancestor…

Q: How can phylogenetics be used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of specific traits in a group…

A: Phylogeny is the study of relationships among different groups of organisms and their evolutionary…

Q: What role do mutations play in the fragment presented above? How is the mechanism of natural…

A: The abrupt changes in the DNA sequence is called mutation.Iit could be beneficial, harmful or…

Q: What role do the fossils named “Ardi” and “Lucy” play in the reconstruction of human evolutionary…

A:

Q: Dolphins and fish have similar body shapes. Is this feature more likely a homologous or analogous…

A: The organisms are evolved throughout their life. For the identification of evolution in the nature…

Q: Would the selection of characters differ with the choice of animals?

A: Animal husbandry comprises the agricultural practice of animal breeding. It deals with the animals…

Q: What term did Lamarck use to explain how new species emerged

A: Jean-Baptiste Lamrack was a French naturalist, who believed if the body parts were not being used,…

Q: How can you tell when a trait is a synapomorphy versus when it is an analogous trait on a phylogeny?

A: The character or feature of an organism is called the trait. The evolution causes changes in the…

Q: What is an evolutionary tree? Is there a precise evolutionary tree known by science that explains…

A: In biology, evolution defined as the change in a species' features over numerous generations as a…

Q: What is the difference between primitive and advanced species and why is it now considered wrong to…

A: A primitive species has a simple body structure and ancient body design features not changed much…

Q: How do we know the age of the last common ancestor shared by two species?

A: Evolution is the process by which an organism inherits or adapts favourable characteristics that…

Q: Compare and contrast analogous, homologous and vestigial

A: The living creatures such as birds , fishes etc. are included under the animal kingdom. These…

Q: What is the difference between derived and ancestral and what are the examples?

A: All organisms have been formed from common ancestors. The theory of evolution has proven this time…

Q: What is an evolutionary tree? Is there a precise evolutionary tree that explains the emergence and…

A: The evolutionary tree is a visual and schematic depiction of evolutionary connections between living…

Q: Why don't shared ancestral characters provide evidence for relationships between organisms within a…

A: Species are organized into groups based on shared derived traits (traits different from those of the…

Q: How do we infer evolutionary history from a group of organisms?

A: A fossil and extant species' evolutionary history is described in evolutionary history.…

Q: Was the ancestor of all dinosaurs feathered or scaly?  What character condition did you get

A: It is clear from the genetic tree that ancestral dinosaurs were mostly scaly.

Q: How would cladists and evolutionary taxonomists differ in their interpretations of the statement…

A: Evolution is the process of heritable change in the characteristics of an organism. Such changes…

Q: Which of the three domains is the least ancient?

A: The domain classification consists of prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and archaea. The prokaryotes include…

Q: Does reclassification of a dinosaur, or any other species, decrease the supporting evidence for the…

A: Evolution is the process of formation of life on the earth in the form that we see today. It is a…

Q: Which group is the most ancestral?

A: All living things are descended from a single progenitor. The Theory of Common Descent demonstrate…

Q: Are bird wings and the wings of bats (evolved from limbs) an example of an evolutionary homology or…

A: Homology means the organs that are evolved from the same point of origin but have evolved different…

Q: How has variation in fossil H, Sapiens been interpreted?

A: Fossils are the remains or traces of ancient life that have been preserved by natural processes.…

Genetic Evolution

Sexual reproduction produces distinct population variations. Heredity determines the traits and qualities to be passed down to the progeny. Over time, this variation within-species is also affected by the process of human evolution. The study of how genetic variation leads to evolutionary changes is known as genetic evolution. If a trait helps an organism to survive and reproduce, it is more likely to be passed down the generations. It is rare that such traits result in a completely distinct set of traits in descendants than the ancestral population; this can result in the emergence of a new species.