Michigan Michigan High School Science Meap TestHigh School Science Meap Test

Biology ReviewBiology Review

LE. Biology Evolution

Benchmark 1

Describe what biologists consider to be evidence forhuman evolutionary relationships

to selected animal groups.

Common types of evidence usedhominid fossilsvestigial structuresDNAprotein structure

Key Concepts

Skeletal comparisons, such as:modern human to hominid fossils;

Anatomical/biochemical similarities humans to other higher primates, such as: blood proteins

Similarity of early human embryo stages to those of other vertebrates

Vestigial structures, such as: appendix tail bone

Real-world contexts

The human embryo and the embryos of other animals with backbones have gill slits. According to modern evolutionary theory, this best supports the ideas that

A. fish are our closest relatives

B. all embryos breathe through gills

C. all animals with backbones are related by common ancestry

D. all organisms have gill slits at an early stage in their development

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A. fish are our closest relatives

Incorrect: the question says animals with backbones. This would include many animals, not just fish. Our closest relatives are other primates, such as chimpanzees.

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B. all embryos breathe through gills

Incorrect: at an embryo stage humans get their oxygen from the mother via the placenta and umbilical cord.

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C. all animals with backbones are related by common ancestry

Correct: organisms who share embryonic traits also share a common ancestor. Common ancestry is one of the key ideas in evolutionary theory.

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D. all organisms have gill slits at an early stage in their development

Incorrect: the question says animals with backbones, not all organisms. (all organisms would include bacteria, fungi, plants…)

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Species Number of differences in amino acids

Human 0

Frog 67

Pig 10

Gorilla 1

Horse 26Look at the data table above. It shows the number of differences in the amino acids that make up the hemoglobin molecule found in several species when compared with human hemoglobin.

Using the data table above which species is most closely related to humans?

A. FrogB. PigC. GorillaD. Horse

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The correct answer is C gorilla.

The more closely related two organisms are, the less differences they will have in their DNA and therefore their proteins. Since Gorillas have only one difference and the frog, pig, and horse have more than that, the human and gorilla are the closest.

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