Question

When describing a group of animals, you speak about an ancestral species and some but not all of its descendants. This is an example of a _____. Group of answer choices monophyletic group polyphyletic group paraphyletic group

Answer 1

Answer:

This is an example of a paraphyletic group.

Explanation:

Paraphyletic groups is a group that contains only part of the descendants of a common ancestor. A group is constituted as paraphyletic when one or more holophyletic groups are subtracted from a clade (evolutionary branch). Traditional classifications are loaded with paraphyletic groups, such as invertebrates, pteridophytes, opposites. In each of these cases the group is defined by the exclusion of a smaller group within a larger one. An example is the reptiles are a paraphyletic group, since when we refer to them we are excluding mammals and birds even though they are taxa that evolutionarily descend from reptiles.