Download Cladograms - Parsey Biology

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Telephone Cladogram Activity
Objective: The purpose of this activity is to explore the concept of cladograms and how they
help visualize evolutionary relationships between organisms.
Background: Cladograms are tools that biologists use to visualize evolutionary relationships.
The way that they show evolutionary relationships is by branching when two organisms differ
from each other in some way, whether that be anatomical, behavioral, functional, or molecular.
Admittedly, they can get to be quite complex and confusing. In order to simplify the concept, we
will be working with cladograms revolving around the invention of the telephone. The following
cladograms will deal with the history of telephones from the first phones to today’s modern cell
phones.
1. First, we will consider the simple cladogram below, which shows the relationship between
different types of cell phones.
Feature
Standard Keypad
Standard Screen
Full Keypad
Touch Screen
Phone A
X
X
Phone B
X
X
Phone C
X
X
a. Looking at the about cladogram, which phone is closest in relationship to Phone
C? Why?
b. Charts, like the one shown above, are sometimes used to help put cladograms
together. The chart shows what features each organism—or phone, in this case—
has in common or how they differ. What is/are the difference(s) between Phone A
and Phone C?
c. In your own words, what does a cladogram show? How?
2. Good! Now, let’s consider a more complex cladogram that traces the evolution of
telephones from Alexander Graham Bell to present.
a. Show where the following phones would go in the cladogram above.
b. Based on the cladogram, what can you infer about Phones B and C? Explain.
3. Biologically, one could use anatomical features, behavior, or molecular similarities and
differences in constructing a cladogram. Molecularly, one could look at the number of
mutations in a common strand of DNA. Another way would be to compare strings of
amino acids and note differences in the order of the amino acids.
Cytochrome C is a protein located in the mitochondria of cells involved with cellular
respiration. Below is a table showing the amino acid sequences for Cytochrome C in
several organisms.
Organism
Biochemical Data
Amoeba
Amino Acid Sequence: ISO-SER-ASP-GLN-PHE-ILE-LEU-GLN-SER-ARG-LEU-LEU-HIS
DNA Sequence: ATTAGCGACCAGTTTATCCTACAATCCCGTCTACTTCAT
Kangaroo
Amino Acid Sequence: LEU-ISO-PRO-PRO-PHE-ILE-LEU-LEU-SER-HIS-LEU-LEU-SER
DNA Sequence: CTAATCCCCCCGTTTATCCTACTTTCCCATCTACTAAGT
Earthworm
Amino Acid Sequence: LEU-ISO-ASP-PRO-PHE-ILE-LEU-HIS-SER-ARG-LEU-LEU-ARG
DNA Sequence: CTTATCGACCCGTTTATCCTACATTCCCGTCTACCTTCGT
Cat
Amino Acid Sequence: LEU-ISO-PRO-PRO-PHE-ILE-LEU-LEU-SER-HIS-LEU-LEU-SER
DNA Sequence: TTAATCCCCCCGTTTATCCTACTTTCCCATCTACTAAGT
Shark
Amino Acid Sequence: LEU-ISO-PRO-PRO-PHE-ILE-LEU-LEU-SER-ARG-LEU-LEU-ARG
DNA Sequence: CTTATCCCCCCGTTTATCCTACTTTCCCGTCTACTTCGT
Dolphin
Amino Acid Sequence: LEU-ISO-PRO-PRO-PHE-ILE-LEU-LEU-SER-HIS-VAL-VAL-SER
DNA Sequence: CTAATCCCCCCGTTTATCCTACTTTCCCATGTAGTAAGT
Lizard
Amino Acid Sequence: LEU-ISO-PRO-PRO-PHE-ILE-LEU-LEU-SER-ARG-LEU-LEU-ARG
DNA Sequence: CTAATCCCCCCGTTTATCCTACTTTCCCGTCTACTTCGT
Sponge
Amino Acid Sequence: ISO-ISO-ASP-GLN-PHE-ILE-LEU-HIS-SER-ARG-LEU-LEU-ARG
DNA Sequence: ATTATCGACCAGTTTATCCTACATTCCCGTCTACTTCGT
a. The more amino acids that organisms have in common with another, both type
and order, indicates the closer the relationship. The same is true for nucleotides.
Compare the biochemical data above. Which organism is most closely related to
the lizard? Why?
b. Which organism is most closely related to the dolphin? Why?
c. How do you think different amino acid sequences would affect organisms? Explain
your answer.
4. Construct a cladogram using the table below. Label the branches with the appropriate
structures.
Characters
Cells with flagella
Symmetry
Bilateral Symmetry
Mesoderm
Head develops first
Anus develops first
Segmented body
Calcified Shell
Chitonous
Exoskeleton
Water-vascular
system
Sponge Jellyfish Flatworm Earthworm
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Snail
x
x
x
x
x
x
Fruit fly
x
x
x
x
Starfish
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
5. Understand that you follow the chart or description in order to form a cladogram. It does
not matter if you know what a structure is or what it does, but how to separate