Read and build a cladogram

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale. Ari reads a plant cladogram. What does node X stand for?

   • The date when fern first appeared on Earth
   • A shared ancestor of fern, pine and flowering plant
   • The fern, which gave rise to pine and flowering plant
   • A plant group alive today, between moss and the seed plants

2. Read this first

   Traits of four animals (model data)

   Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale. Tips from left to right: lamprey, trout, frog, dog. Node W is the root, where lamprey and node X branch apart. Node X is where trout and node Y branch apart. Node Y is where frog and dog branch apart.

   animal	backbone	jaws	four limbs	hair
   lamprey	yes	no	no	no
   trout	yes	yes	no	no
   frog	yes	yes	yes	no
   dog	yes	yes	yes	yes

3. 2.

   Jun reads the trait table for four animals. Which animals have a yes under jaws?

   • Dog, the animal with hair
   • Trout, frog and dog, the animals with jaws
   • Lamprey, trout, frog and dog, the animals with a backbone
   • Frog and dog, the animals with four limbs
4. 3.

   Kira counts traits marked yes in the table. Which pair of animals shares the most?

   • Trout and dog, which share 2 traits marked yes
   • Trout and frog, which share 2 traits marked yes
   • Lamprey and dog, which share 1 trait marked yes
   • Frog and dog, which share 3 traits marked yes

5. Traits of four plants (model data)

   Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale. Tips from left to right: moss, fern, pine, flowering plant. Node W is the root, where moss and node X branch apart. Node X is where fern and node Y branch apart. Node Y is where pine and flowering plant branch apart.

   plant	vascular tissue	seeds	flowers
   moss	no	no	no
   fern	yes	no	no
   pine	yes	yes	no
   flowering plant	yes	yes	yes

6. 4.

   Luz scans the plant trait table. Which trait is marked yes for just one plant?

   • Flowers, marked yes for the flowering plant
   • Seeds, marked yes for pine and the flowering plant
   • Vascular tissue, marked yes for fern, pine and the flowering plant
   • Flowers, marked yes for pine and the flowering plant

7. Use this

   Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale. Tips from left to right: moss, fern, pine, flowering plant. Node W is the root, where moss and node X branch apart. Node X is where fern and node Y branch apart. Node Y is where pine and flowering plant branch apart.

8. 5.

   Milo looks for the most recent common ancestor of pine and flowering plant. Which choice is it?

   • Node Y, the last ancestor the two plants share
   • Node X, an older ancestor that fern shares too
   • Pine, which branches off beside flowering plant
   • Node W, the root of the whole tree
9. 6.

   Noah traces trout and dog back to where their lines meet. Which node is their most recent common ancestor?

   • Trout, which branches off before dog does
   • Node Y, where the line to frog splits from the line to dog
   • Node X, where the line to trout splits from frog and dog
   • Node W, the root where lamprey splits from the other animals

10. Use this

    Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale. Tips from left to right: moss, fern, pine, flowering plant. Node W is the root, where moss and node X branch apart. Node X is where fern and node Y branch apart. Node Y is where pine and flowering plant branch apart.

11. 7.

    Pia traces moss and fern back to where their lines meet. Which choice is their most recent common ancestor?

    • Moss, which branches off first
    • Node W, the root of the whole tree
    • Node X, because moss and fern sit side by side
    • Node Y, the ancestor of pine and flowering plant

12. Traits of four plants (model data)

    Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale. Tips from left to right: moss, fern, pine, flowering plant. Node W is the root, where moss and node X branch apart. Node X is where fern and node Y branch apart. Node Y is where pine and flowering plant branch apart.

    plant	vascular tissue	seeds	flowers
    moss	no	no	no
    fern	yes	no	no
    pine	yes	yes	no
    flowering plant	yes	yes	yes

13. 8.

    Ren wants the outgroup, the line that branches off before the other three. Which plant is it?

    • Fern, because it sits right beside moss
    • Flowering plant, because it sits at the far right
    • Moss, because its line branches off first
    • Pine, because it sits in the middle

14. Traits of four animals (model data)

    Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale. Tips from left to right: lamprey, trout, frog, dog. Node W is the root, where lamprey and node X branch apart. Node X is where trout and node Y branch apart. Node Y is where frog and dog branch apart.

    animal	backbone	jaws	four limbs	hair
    lamprey	yes	no	no	no
    trout	yes	yes	no	no
    frog	yes	yes	yes	no
    dog	yes	yes	yes	yes

15. 9.

    Tala picks the outgroup for trout, frog and dog. Which animal branches off before those three?

    • Lamprey, because it has no jaws and branches off first
    • Dog, because it sits at the far right as the most advanced
    • Trout, because it sits right beside lamprey
    • Frog, because it sits in the middle of the tree
16. 10.

    Zee builds a cladogram of lancelet, lamprey, trout and frog. Which one is the outgroup for the whole set?

    • Lancelet, because it has no backbone and branches off first
    • Lamprey, because it has a backbone and no jaws, so it branches early
    • Frog, because it sits at the far right of the tree
    • Trout, because it sits right beside lamprey in the drawing