Question

Consider the statement "We are fish to a cladist." A cladist is someone who only recognizes groups descended from a common ancestor. Because we do not consider ourselves fish, how would we describe the group "fish"?
A. sister to coelocanths
B. polyphyletic
C. paraphyletic
D. sister to cartilaginous
E. fishes monophyletic

Answer 1

Answer:

B. polyphyletic group

Explanation:

Polyphyletic group is a taxon which comprises of organisms which are unrelated and do not share a recent or immediate common ancestor. Polyphyletic group is often used to refer to a group of organisms with similar characteristics called homoplasies, but not inherited from  a common ancestor. This means that the organisms are of multiple origins irrespective of the traits that make them similar.

Therefore, from the question, because we do not consider ourselves fish, we would describe the group "fish" as polyphyletic.