Phylogenetics and Evolutionary Mechanisms

Infer common ancestry and relative relatedness from a simple rooted phylogenetic tree by interpreting its root, branches, nodes, and tips and comparing most recent common ancestors rather than visual proximity.

Determine whether a group on a phylogenetic tree is a clade by applying the common-ancestor-and-all-descendants criterion and recognize clades nested within larger clades.

Given a simple character table and specified ancestral states, distinguish characters from character states and identify shared derived characters across physical, genetic, and behavioral examples.

Given a stated evolutionary history or a simple tree, distinguish homologous similarities inherited from a common ancestor from homoplastic similarities that evolved independently.

Map a small character data set onto candidate trees and select the best-supported tree by minimizing independent character origins or reversals, explaining how multiple consistent characters can outweigh an isolated homoplasy.

Explain why birds must be included for reptiles to form a clade and contrast this result with traditional rank-based classification.

Choose and justify the use of stratigraphy, radiometric dating, or a calibrated molecular clock in a basic dating problem based on the available evidence and whether a relative sequence or an estimated numerical date is required.

Explain how mutation introduces new alleles as the ultimate source of genetic variation, and use simple before-and-after allele counts to recognize evolutionary change in a population.

Predict how gene flow and genetic drift can change allele frequencies in simple population scenarios, including why drift is stronger in small populations.

Predict how natural selection changes trait and allele frequencies when individuals differ in heritable traits, survival, and reproductive success.