Read and build a cladogram

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cladogram (model data), rooted, not to scale.

3. 1.

   Ari reads a plant cladogram. What does node X stand for?

   • A plant group alive today, between moss and the seed plants
   • A shared ancestor of fern, pine and flowering plant
   • The fern, which gave rise to pine and flowering plant
   • The date when fern first appeared on Earth
4. 2.

   Bo looks for a clade, an ancestor with all of its descendants. Which pair of plants forms a clade?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Fern and pine, because both have vascular tissue in the table
   • Moss and fern, because they sit side by side in the drawing
   • Moss and flowering plant, the two ends of the whole tree
   • Pine and flowering plant, both descended from node Y
5. 3.

   Esme asks what the four plant names at the ends of the branches stand for. Which answer is right?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Four extinct plants known from fossils in rock
   • Four plant groups alive today, one on each branch tip
   • Four ancestors, each older than the plant beside it
   • Four plants ranked from simplest on the left to most advanced

6. 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

7. 4.

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

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

8. 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

9. 5.

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

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

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. 6.

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

    • Pine, which branches off beside flowering plant
    • Node X, an older ancestor that fern shares too
    • Node W, the root of the whole tree
    • Node Y, the last ancestor the two plants share
12. 7.

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

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

13. 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

14. 8.

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

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

15. 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

16. 9.

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

    • Frog, because it sits in the middle of the tree
    • Lamprey, because it has no jaws and branches off first
    • Trout, because it sits right beside lamprey
    • Dog, because it sits at the far right as the most advanced
17. 10.

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

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