GENERAL BIOLOGY ACTIVITY

▪ You have the following information about four plants species. Plant X the
outgroup. Recode the characters as ancestral or derived and then build a
phylogeny. There may be more than one possible tree.

Plant Reproductive Type of Type of Rhizomes Plant

body leaves stem Height

A seeds compound smooth absent short

B seeds compound smooth present tall
C seeds compound hairy present tall
D seeds simple hairy present short
X spores simple hairy present short

Plant Recorded Characters

1 2 3 4 5
A 1 1 1 1 0
B 1 1 1 0 1
C 1 1 0 0 1
D 1 0 0 0 0
X 0 0 0 0 0