Question

A student is comparing traits for five related bird species. They make a chart and record data for four different traits. They then use the chart to make a cladogram showing their hypothesized relationships between the species.

	1	2	3	4	5
Head Size	20 cm	20 cm	20 cm	20 cm	20 cm
Beak Color	Black	Blue	Blue	Black	Black
Eye Color	Black	Black	Red	Red	Red
Eye Number	2	2	2	2	3

What occurred at point C on the cladogram?

• A. Head size increased.
• B. Red eyes developed.
• C. The beak color of the common ancestor of Species 4 and 5 changed from blue to black.
• D. The descendants of Species 3 diverged to become Species 4 and Species 5.

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

The beak color of the common ancestor of Species 4 and 5 changed from blue to black.

At point C all other characteristics do not exhibit any change other than the beak color that changes from Blue to Black

So, the correct answer is 'The beak color of the common ancestor of Species 4 and 5 changed from blue to black'