Question

American vultures used to be classified in the same family as African vultures. Which discovery caused scientists to reclassify American vultures as more closely related to storks?

Answer 1

Answer:

DNA evidence revealed the American vultures share more recent ancestor with the Storks

Explanation:

The hooded vultures that is mostly found in the African continent have a close resemblance with the American vultures and were traditionally classified to belong to the Falcon family.

However, it was observed that the American vultures shared a similar behavior with Stork which is not common to the vulture found in Africa, including the hooded vulture. The Stork and the American vulture exhibit the behavior of urinating on their legs when being overheated. When the urine gets evaporated, it helps them to cool their body temperature.

This shared behavior between the storks and the American vultures led scientists into using molecular analysis in analyzing the DNA of the hooded vultures found in Africa, the American vultures, and the stork.

Evidence from the DNA analysis later revealed that the American vultures and the storks share a more common DNA sequences than African vultures and American vultures do.