Question

Your professor wants you to construct a phylogenetic tree of orchids. She gives you tissue from seven orchid species and one lily. What is the most likely reason she gave you the lily? a. to see if the lily is a cryptic orchid species b. to serve as an outgroup c. to see if the lily and the orchids show all the same shared derived characters d. to demonstrate likely homoplasies

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is b. to serve as an outgroup.

Explanation:

When studying the phylogeny of a group, there must be an outgroup that can serve to understand which characters are plesiomorphic (or ancestral) and how they changed to what new character. The outgroup must be outside the study group, in this case, orchids, which would be the Lily.