Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

1.2 Cladogram Trees Practice  

​Step One “The Chart”:  CATCH Annotate CFS
1. ​First, you need to make a “characteristics chart” the helps you analyze ❏ Highlight one keypoint from
which characteristics each species has. each paragraph.
● Fill in a “​✔​” for yes it has the trait ❏ Circle 1-2 unknown/vocab
words from each paragraph
❏ Answer ​Thinking Questions
2. Count how many times you wrote “​✔​” for each characteristic.
● Those characteristics with a large number of “​✔​” are more 1. What is the first step in making a
ancestral characteristics​ because they are shared by many. cladogram tree?
● Those traits with fewer “ ​✔​”, are shared ​derived characters​ and
have evolved later. _______________________________
  _______________________________

Backbone Legs Hair ______________________________

Earthworm
2.Summarize step two of building
Fish ✔ cladograms

Lizard ✔ ✔ _______________________________
_______________________________
Human ✔ ✔ ✔
_______________________________
_______________________________
Step Two “The Venn Diagram”:
1. Draw a multi-rectangular Venn diagram. You will need as many rectangle _______________________________
layers as there are traits. _______________________________
2. Start with the​ trait that is shared by all the organisms on the outside. _______________________________
3. Inside each box, write the species that have only that set of traits.
4. On the outside of the Venn Diagram, write the ​outgroup​. This is a group
3. What is an outgroup?
of organisms that ​do not share any traits​ and serve as a comparison to
the phylogeny you are looking at. _______________________________
_______________________________
______________________________

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 Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Step Three “The Cladogram”:  4.Use this chart and fill in the
This step converts the Venn Diagram into a cladogram. The traits are cladogram on the left:
written on the main line, and species go on the branches. On the cladogram
below, try to put all the characters and the species in the correct
evolutionary history.

Interpreting a Cladogram Practice 

Thinking Questions:
1. After which animals did ​mammary glands
develop?

2. What animal ​does not have jaws​?

3. Which ​animals have lung​s?

4. What ​character trait separates salamanders

and lizards?

5. Based on the cladogram, which ​shared a common ancestor most recently- a mouse and a lizard,
or a mouse and a perch?

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 Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part 2: The Evolution Lab Cladograms

​
1. Watch ​Part 2 Directions Video
2. Go to​ ​The Evolution Lab Link
3. Fill Out the charts below and then complete the simulation online.

Mission 1: Training Trees 

Part One: Red, green and gecko

Cells with Nuclei

Gecko

Palm Tree

***Now build the cladogram on the computer simulation and go to the next one.

Cells ​with Nuclei Heterotrophic Photosynthetic autotroph

(​it obtains nutrients and energy (it uses energy from sunlight to
by consuming other organisms) turn carbon dioxide and water
into sugar)

Gecko

Palm Tree

Fly agaric
mushroom

***Now build the cladogram on the computer simulation.

CHECKPOINT QUESTION #1:​ Now that you’ve completed the first puzzle, answer
the question:
Is an animal or a plant more closely related to a fungus?
a. Animal
b. Plant

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 Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part Two: Familiar Faces

Amniote Vertebrate Bilateral symmetry
(i​ts skeleton is (​the left and right halves of the
supported by a single body look the same)
backbone, just like ours

Dog

Goldfish

Kingsnake

Stick Insect
***Now build the cladogram on the computer simulation.
CHECKPOINT QUESTION #2:
The animals in this puzzle look very different but they all have one thing in common.
What trait is that?
a. They're all amniotes
b. They all have backbones
c. They all have bilateral symmetry.

Part Three: Tree of Life Vegetarian Edition

Petals in Petals in Photosynthetic Produces Releases

multiples of 3 multiples of 4 autotroph flowers spores into
or 5 (​it uses energy from water
sunlight to turn carbon
dioxide and water into
sugar)

banana

lemon

onion

raddish

seaweed
***Now build the cladogram on the computer simulation.

CHECKPOINT QUESTION #3: ​Is a ​banana ​more closely related to a lemon or an

onion?
a. Lemon
b. Onion

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Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Mission 2: Fossils Rocking the Earth

Part One: Eating dinosaurs for dinner​:

2 fingered hand Shafted feathers Toothless beak wishbone

Albertosaurus

Archaeopteryx

Chicken

Ostrich

T. rex
***Now build the cladogram on the computer simulation.

CHECKPOINT QUESTION #4:

After solving the puzzle, answer the question: Do birds have anything in common with
dinosaurs?
a. Absolutely!
b. No way

Part Two: One small step

webbed toe-like Eyes on top of a Strong armlike

digits flat head bones

Acanthestega

Eusthenopteron

Tiktaalik

Tulerpeton
***Now build the cladogram on the computer simulation.

CHECKPOINT QUESTION #5:

According to the tree you just built, what is the first trait that helped aquatic species evolve into creatures
that live on land?
a. Eyes located on top of head
b. Strong armlike bones
c. Webbed digits

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 Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part Three: Origin of Whales

*Shout out to Moris, thanks for helping with this one! To solve this one, don’t use gills!

Living in Loss of external

Carnivorous gills seawater hind limbs Tail flukes Underwater nursing
diet

Ambulocetus

Blue Whale

Dorudon

Hippo

Killer Whale

Pakicetus
***Now build the cladogram on the computer simulation.

CHECKPOINT QUESTION #6:

Which of the following species does not have tail flukes?
a. Blue whales
b. ​Pakicetus
​ orudon
c. D
d. Killer whales

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Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Additional Practice
1. Fill in the following chart:

2. Draw a Venn diagram

3. Draw a cladogram with all species and character traits.

4. Fill in the following chart:

5. Draw a Venn diagram

6. Draw a cladogram with all species and character traits.

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Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part 3: More Cladograms

1. Watch ​Directions for Part 3 Video
2. Go to ​The Evolution Lab Link
3. Fill Out the charts below and then complete the simulation online.

Mission 3: DNA Spells Evolution 

Part One: Frog legs and fish eggs
C, position 2 T, position 3

Cichlid

Coelacanth

Frog

Checkpoint Question: ​The DNA sequence of the West Indian Ocean

coelacanth​ is closest to which species?
a. Western clawed frog
b. Midas cichlid

Part Two: One fish, two fish, red fish, lungfish

A, position 10 C, position 3 C, position 4 T, position 1

Cichlid

Coelacanth

Great white shark

Lungfish

frog

Checkpoint Question: ​In 2013, scientists found that coelacanths are not
the closest relative of four-footed amphibians and other animals. Which
species is?
a. Midas cichlid
b. South American lungfish
c. Western clawed frog
d. Great white shark

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Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part Three: Where the tiny wild things are

C, position 7 C, position 8 C, position 15 G, position 2 T, position 15

A. vinosum

D. radiodurans

M. acetivorans

P. aerophilum

S. solfataricus

T.
thermophilus

Checkpoint Question: ​You built this tree using only DNA

information. Why was examining DNA better than considering
physical traits?
a. Physical traits in single-celled organisms are hard
to examine.
b. Organisms that behave differently can be
genetically similar.
c. Certain traits evolve multiple times in multiple
species, and DNA helps us track those changes.

Mission 4: Biogeography: Where life lives   

Part One: Saving Hawaiian treasure
A, position 1 A, position 10 A, position 16 C, position 4 T, position 2
Common rosefinch

‘Akiapola’au

‘Tiwi

Kaua’i ‘amakihi

Po’ouli

Checkpoint Question: ​Look at the way honeycreepers

evolved. If a new species of honeycreeper were discovered,
and it had a short, straight beak, which bird in this puzzle
would likely be its closest living relative?
a. Kaua'i 'amakihi
b. 'I’iwi
c. 'Akiapola’au
d. Po’ouli
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 Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part Two: Cone rangers

Compound Cone scales Large blade-like Pollen without Produces Smaller Small fleshy
cones without wings leaves air sacs flowers scaly leaves cones

Araucaria fibrosa

Bois bouchon

Coral reef pine

Monkey puzzle

Norfolk Is. pine

Parana pine

Pino hayuelo
Checkpoint Question: ​Thanks to DNA testing, scientists have discovered that a tree in South America is genetically
similar to one in Australia. What is one possible evolutionary inference they could make from this discovery?
a. It’s a coincidence.
b. Both species share an ancestor that lived when the world had supercontinents.
c. The trees are adapted to seawater and floated between continents.
d. No inferences can be made.

Part Three: Kangas, gliders, and snakes, oh my!

vertebrate Gives birth to live pouch Prolonged development Uses Warm
young in womb echolocation blooded

elephant

Flying
squirrel

kangaroo

platypus

Rat snake

Sugar glider

Checkpoint Question: ​Despite living oceans apart, the North American kangaroo rat and the Australian hopping mouse
look similar. Both are nocturnal and burrow underground. What can you infer?
a. Nothing. Their similarity is a coincidence.
b. They’re similar because they lived near each other on Pangaea and separated when the continent split.
c. They have similar traits because they both live in deserts where burrowing and nocturnal behavior are
beneficial.

 
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Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Mission 5: Tree of life and Death 

Part One: Hosting blood flukes for dinner
C, position 7 T, position 2 T, position 4 T, position 8

E. euzeti

G. amoena

H. mehrai

S. mansoni

S. haematobius
Checkpoint Question:​ If blood flukes were to exhibit strict cophyly over millions of years, you would predict that blood
flukes would:
a. Evolve in a way that’s completely different from their current host.
b. Evolve in a manner that parallels the evolution of their host.
c. Spread to a species that’s not closely related.

Part Two: Fatal fangs

C, position 3 T, position 8 Gap between fangs Single undertail scales

Black whip snake

Fierce snake

King Brown snake

Taipan snake

Tiger snake

Unknown snake
C​heckpoint Question: ​Which antivenom will save Tyler? Hint: He was bitten by the unknown snake
a. Antivenom A
b. Antivenom B
c. Antivenom C
d. Antivenom D

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 Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part Three: Dawn of a modern pandemic

A, position 1 A, position 11 C, position 1 G, position 14 T, position 7

SIV-EK505

SIV-MB897

SIV-TAN1

Gorilla SIV

HIV-1 group M

HIV-1 group N

HIV-1 group P

Checkpoint Question: ​Which ape virus is most closely related

to the HIV virus that has killed about 39 million people due to
AIDS?
a. Chimp SIV-EK505
b. Chimp SIV-MB897
c. Chimp SIV-TAN1
d. Gorilla SIV

 
 
Mission 6: You evolved too 
Part One: Planet of the apes
A, position 8 G, position 5 G, position G, position T, position 3 T, position
13 17 10

Chimp

Gorilla

Human

Orangutan
Checkpoint Question: ​Based on this tree, who is your closest
living relative?
a. Chimpanzee
b. Gorilla
c. Orangutan

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Name: ____________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ________

Part Two: Back to Skull

Forward-faci Large Large sharp Midsize More vertical Prehens Smaller canine
ng eyes braincase canines braincase face ile tail teeth

A.afarensi
s

Chimp

H. erectus

H.
neanderth
alensis

H. sapiens
Checkpoint Question​: Which of the following can be inferred from the tree:
a. The closest living relative of ​H. sapiens​ is ​H. erectus.​
b. H. erectus​ is more closely related to ​H. neanderthalensist​ han to ​H. sapiens.​
c. A. afarensis​ is more closely related to living chimps than to living humans.
d. Larger brains are a trait that separate the genus ​Homo​ from their closest relatives

Part Three:Inside out Africa

A, A, C, C, C, G, G, T,
position position position position position position position position
1 21 11 12 13 6 8 16

Dinka

Italian

Khoisan

Papua
New
Guinean

Yoruba
Checkpoint Question: ​With which archaic human species did some of the ancestors of modern Europeans interbreed
during the past 100,000 years?
a. Australopithecus afarensis
b. Denisovan
c. Homo erectus
d. Neanderthal
e. Homo habilis

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