Question

Which of the following sets of animals belong to a single taxonomic group?

(a) Cuttlefish, jellyfish, silverfish, dogfish, starfish

(b) bat, pigeon, butterfly

(c) Monkey, chimpanzee, man

(d) Silkworm, tapeworm, earthworm

Answer 1

Monkey, chimpanzee and man belong to a single taxonomic group, i.e., mammals because all of them possess the following characters.

(i) Milk producing mammary glands.

(ii) Two pairs of limbs.

(iii) Presence of external ears.

(iv) Viviparity.

(v) Skin possessing hair.

Whereas,

$\begin{array}{cc}\text{Animal Group}& \text{~}TaxonomicGroup\\ \text{Cuttle fish}& \text{Phylum-Mollusca, Class-Cephalopoda,}\\ \text{Jelly fish}& \text{Phylum-Cnidaria}\\ \text{Silver fish}& \text{Class-Insecta, Order-Thysanura, Phylum-Arthropoda,}\\ \text{Dog fish}& \text{Phylum-Chordata, Class-Chondrithyes,}\\ \text{Starfish}& \text{Phylum-Echinodermata, Class-Asterpodea,}\end{array}$

$\begin{array}{cc}\text{Animal Group}& \text{~}TaxonomicGroup\\ \text{Bat}& \text{Phylum-Chordata, Class-Mammalia}\\ \text{Pigeon}& \text{Phylum-Chordata, Class Aves}\\ \text{Butterfly}& \text{Phylum-Arthropoda, Class-Insecta, Order-Lepidoptera}\end{array}$

$\begin{array}{cc}\text{Animal Group}& \text{~}TaxonomicGroup\\ \text{Silkworm}& \text{Phylum-Arthropoda, Class-Insecta, Order-Lepidoptera}\\ \text{Tapeworm}& \text{Phylum-Platyhelminthes, Class-Cestoda}\\ \text{Earthworm}& \text{Phylum-Annelida, Class-Oligochaeta}\end{array}$