Which of the following statements CANNOT be inferred from the following phylogenetic tree?
To determine which statement cannot be inferred from the given phylogenetic tree, we have to analyze each option in the context of the evolutionary relationships depicted.
- Crocodiles are more closely related to birds than to the other reptiles:
In the phylogenetic tree, crocodiles and birds share a more recent common ancestor with each other than they do with lizards and snakes. Therefore, this statement can be inferred. - Fish, lizards, and snakes have a common ancestor:
The tree shows a common ancestor from which all depicted species, including fish, lizards, and snakes, are descended. Hence, this statement can also be inferred. - Mammals and reptiles have evolved from amphibians:
The tree shows mammals and reptiles branching away from a common ancestor shared with amphibians, but it doesn't explicitly show mammals and reptiles evolving directly from amphibians. Therefore, this statement cannot be inferred directly from the tree. - Mammals are more closely related to crocodiles than to amphibians:
The tree indicates that mammals and crocodiles share a more recent common ancestor than either does with amphibians. Thus, this statement can be inferred.
Conclusion: The statement that "Mammals and reptiles have evolved from amphibians" cannot be directly inferred from the given phylogenetic tree.
Important Questions from Phylogenetic trees
- Newts produce tetrodotoxin (TTX), a poison that targets sodium ion channels, for defense against their predators, garter snakes. Several species of garter snakes are resistant to newt TTX due to specific known amino acid substitutions in garter snake sodium channels. Which one of the following is best-suited to identify whether this adaptation in garter snakes has a single origin or multiple independent origins?
A phylogenetic tree representing the evolutionary relationship between various vertebrates is shown below.
Given this tree topology, which one or more of the following statements is/are correct?A phylogenetic tree for the evolution of two pigmentation traits in species of fish is shown for clades X, Y and Z. Genes A and/or B, if mutated, can cause dark pigmentation in the body.
Which one or more of the following statements is/are correct?- Whales and dolphins are hypothesized to have evolved along the northern shore of the Tethys Sea, prior to the Indian plate's collision with the Eurasian plate. To which one of the following animals are these aquatic mammals most closely related?
In the phylogenetic trees shown, the tips represent different species of geckos(labeled A to E) and the areas to which they belong. Which one of these is most consistent with the hypothesis that the geckos colonized the Western Ghats from Northeast India through the Eastern Ghats?
