Question

duck - billed platypuses and panda bears have more similarities in their hbb gene sequences than duck - billed platypuses and mallard ducks have. this piece of evidence supports the following claim:
duck - billed platypuses share a more recent common ancestor with panda bears than with mallard ducks.
which additional piece of evidence best supports the same claim?
in duck - billed platypuses, three bones—the malleus, incus, and stapes—connect the lower jaw to the skull in newborns and form the middle ear in adults. in panda bears, the malleus, incus, and stapes form the middle ear in newborns and adults. in mallard ducks, the stapes forms the middle ear.
duck - billed platypuses lay one to three eggs that hatch after 10 to 11 days. panda bears give birth to one to two cubs after a pregnancy of 95 to 160 days. mallard ducks lay 5 to 15 eggs that hatch after three to four weeks.
duck - billed platypuses are carnivores, eating worms, insects, and crustaceans. panda bears are herbivores, eating bamboo almost exclusively. mallard ducks are omnivores, primarily eating grass and invertebrates.

Explanation:

The first option provides anatomical evidence (similar bone structures - malleus, incus, and stapes in a more comparable way between platypuses and pandas than with ducks) which can be related to evolutionary relationships (more similar structures might indicate a closer evolutionary link). The second option (reproductive differences) and third option (dietary differences) are more about current - day characteristics rather than evolutionary ancestry - related evidence.

Answer:

The first option (the one about the bones - malleus, incus, and stapes) best supports the claim.