Question

part ii - create your own cladogram to make a cladogram, you must first look at the animals you are studying and establish characteristics that they share and ones that are unique to each group. for the animals on the table, indicate whether the characteristic is present or not. based on that chart, create a cladogram like the one pictured above. drawing of your cladogram (use the draw feature in word to complete) table with columns: snake, catfish, frog, tiger, human; rows: cells, backbone, legs, hair, opposable thumbs

Answer:

To solve this problem of creating a cladogram, we first analyze the characteristics (Cells, Backbone, Legs, Hair, Opposable Thumbs) for each animal (Snug, Catfish, Frog, Tiger, Human) and then construct the cladogram based on shared and unique traits. Here's the step - by - step process:

Step 1: Analyze each animal's characteristics

• Snug (assuming it's a non - vertebrate, like an invertebrate such as a worm or insect):
• Cells: All living organisms have cells, so mark "Yes".
• Backbone: Invertebrates lack a backbone, so mark "No".
• Legs: Many invertebrates may not have legs (depending on the specific organism), so mark "No".
• Hair: Invertebrates do not have hair, mark "No".
• Opposable Thumbs: Invertebrates do not have opposable thumbs, mark "No".
• Catfish (a fish, vertebrate):
• Cells: "Yes" (all living things have cells).
• Backbone: "Yes" (fish are vertebrates).
• Legs: Fish do not have legs, mark "No".
• Hair: Fish do not have hair, mark "No".
• Opposable Thumbs: Fish do not have opposable thumbs, mark "No".
• Frog (an amphibian, vertebrate):
• Cells: "Yes".
• Backbone: "Yes".
• Legs: "Yes" (frogs have legs for movement).
• Hair: Frogs do not have hair, mark "No".
• Opposable Thumbs: Frogs do not have opposable thumbs, mark "No".
• Tiger (a mammal, vertebrate):
• Cells: "Yes".
• Backbone: "Yes".
• Legs: "Yes".
• Hair: "Yes" (mammals have hair or fur).
• Opposable Thumbs: Tigers do not have opposable thumbs, mark "No".
• Human (a mammal, vertebrate):
• Cells: "Yes".
• Backbone: "Yes".
• Legs: "Yes".
• Hair: "Yes".
• Opposable Thumbs: "Yes" (humans have opposable thumbs which help in grasping).

Step 2: Construct the cladogram

1. The most basic characteristic is the presence of cells, which all organisms have. So we start with a common ancestor that gives rise to all the organisms.
2. The next characteristic is the presence of a backbone. Organisms with a backbone (vertebrates: Catfish, Frog, Tiger, Human) branch off from those without a backbone (invertebrates: Snug).
3. Among the vertebrates, the presence of legs is the next trait. Organisms with legs (Frog, Tiger, Human) branch off from those without legs (Catfish).
4. Among the leg - bearing vertebrates, the presence of hair is the next trait. Organisms with hair (Tiger, Human) branch off from those without hair (Frog).
5. Finally, among the hair - bearing vertebrates, the presence of opposable thumbs is the trait that differentiates humans from tigers. Humans have opposable thumbs, while tigers do not.

To draw the cladogram:

• Start with a single node (representing the common ancestor of all organisms).
• Draw a branch from this node. One branch leads to Snug (non - vertebrate, no backbone). The other branch leads to the vertebrate group.
• From the vertebrate node, draw a branch to Catfish (no legs) and another branch to the leg - bearing vertebrates (Frog, Tiger, Human).
• From the leg - bearing vertebrate node, draw a branch to Frog (no hair) and another branch to the hair - bearing vertebrates (Tiger, Human).
• From the hair - bearing vertebrate node, draw a branch to Tiger (no opposable thumbs) and another branch to Human (with opposable thumbs).

If we were to represent the cladogram in a simple text - based structure (where each "|" represents a branch and the organisms are listed at the end of the branches):

          Common Ancestor
           /           \
          /             \
    Snug (no backbone)   Vertebrates (backbone)
                        /           \
                       /             \
                Catfish (no legs)    Leg - bearing Vertebrates (legs)
                                    /           \
                                   /             \
                            Frog (no hair)      Hair - bearing Vertebrates (hair)
                                                /           \
                                               /             \
                                        Tiger (no opposable thumbs)  Human (opposable thumbs)

The final answer is the constructed cladogram as described above, which shows the evolutionary relationships between the organisms based on their shared and unique characteristics.