Question

(a) based on the data in table 1, identify the animal that has the greatest number of sequence differences from the reference animal.

note on your ap exam, you will handwrite your responses to free-response questions in a test booklet

elephas-2 has the greatest number of sequence differences.

(b) based on the data in table 1, complete the cladogram using the template provided to indicate the evolutionary relationships of the four species: african elephants (loxodonta africana), asian elephants (elephas maximus), woolly mammoths (mammuthus primigenius), and dugongs (dugong dugon).

Explanation:

Part (a)

To identify the animal with the greatest sequence differences from the reference, we analyze the data (implied in Table 1, though not shown here, the response indicates Elephas - 2 has the most differences). This is based on comparing sequence differences across animals, where a higher number of differences means greater genetic divergence from the reference.

1. Understand Cladogram Basics: A cladogram shows evolutionary relationships, with closer branches indicating more recent common ancestors. Species with fewer sequence differences are more closely related.
2. Analyze Relationships: Dugongs (Dugong dugon) are the outgroup (most distantly related) as they are not in the elephant - mammoth group. African elephants (Loxodonta africana), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), and woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) are more closely related. Woolly mammoths and Asian elephants are often more closely related to each other than to African elephants (based on typical genetic data for these species).
3. Construct the Cladogram:

• The outermost branch (first to diverge) is Dugong dugon.
• Then, the next branch splits into the group containing African elephants, and the group containing Asian elephants and woolly mammoths (since Asian elephants and woolly mammoths are more closely related to each other than to African elephants). So the cladogram (from left to right, with the main branch at the bottom) would have:
• The first branch (most basal) for Dugong dugon.
• The next branch splits into one for Loxodonta africana (African elephant) and a sub - branch that splits into Elephas maximus (Asian elephant) and Mammuthus primigenius (woolly mammoth).

Answer:

Elephas - 2 has the greatest number of sequence differences.

Part (b)