PHYLOGENY LAB:

I. INTRODUCTION

_____ is the evolutionary development and diversification of a species; this allows all organisms to be classified. __ is simply the classification of organisms in a hierarchical system of classification.

Go through DKPCOFGS, describe general to specific, and give brief description of each level.

___ is a common way to display the characteristics shared by related organisms.

Explain branches and nodes

So what drives different characteristics?

Evolutionary relationships:

Convergent evolution & Divergent evolution

Allopatric Speciation & Sympatric Speciation

What drives evolution?

Adaptation & fitness

An _______ is a characteristic that increases and organism's ability to survive and reproduce in their environment. Individuals that successfully reproduce more often, have higher evolutionary fitness than those that fail to reproduce.

Worksheet Exercise: Phylogeny

Part 1: Answer the following questions.

1. The term fitness can have two different meanings. Usually, we think of physical fitness which describes the physical health of an individual. What does the term fitness mean when biologists are discussing evolution ?

2. Many people think of the process of evolution as "survival of the fittest". How do you interpret "survival of the fittest" ?

Part I Continued: Characteristics

• Work as a group to divide the animals in the bag at your table into 4-5 groups

• Identify what characteristics you used to make these divisions and complete the worksheet

1. Identify four groups of animals based on similar adaptations (or characteristics) and describe similarities in their lifestyles.

a._____

b._____

c._____

d._____

2. Name a unique adaptation that you see in 3 of the species :

a._____

b._____

c._____

5. How would the adaptations you identified in question 1 affect the animal's lifestyle and fitness? (Example: animals with thicker fur can survive in colder climates, so thickness of fur affects habitat)

a.______

b.______

c.______

6. What type of environmental pressures lead to the development of these adaptations?

7. Pick an animal or group of animals and hypothesize about the type of habitat they live in and the type of food they consume and explain why.

Part 2: Fish Create a phylogenetic tree using the fish pictures provided, white boards, and markers.

8. What do you think about constructing your fish phylogenetic tree? What was the hardest part? What was the easiest? Fill the space provided.

9. What did you like most about this lab? What did you like least?