Zool 250 Exam Questions and Answers with Verified Solutions |
Latest 2026 Update
Q: Biological Taxonomy
Answer:
The practice of classifying organisms
Q: Biological Systematics
Answer:
The theory of classifying organisms
Q: Ranks
Answer:
Linnaeus' nested categories to classify life
Q: Type
Answer:
group in lower rank which is used to define the next higher rank ex. emblematic
species of a genus
Q: Holotype
Answer:
The individual specimen that is the type of a species; typically archived for
reference
Q: Cladistics
Answer:
A phylogenetic classification system that uses shared derived characters and
ancestry to group taxa
Q: Cladogram
Answer:
Diagram showing relationships among taxa following a dichotomously branching
pattern based on most recent common ancestors
Q: Outgroup
, Answer:
split off prior to the ingroup; has the same characters with different character states
Q: Polarization
Answer:
Of character states; assigning ancestral states as those belonging to the outgroup
(0) and derived states as different from the outgroup (1) such that the evolutionary
direction of change is 0-
>1
Q: Clade
Answer:
A group that exclusively contains all descendants of a common ancestor
- a named clade is a taxon
Q: Synapomorphy
Answer:
Shared, derived trait present in more than one ingroup taxon
Q: Symplesiomorphy
Answer:
Shared ancestral trait
Q: Autoapomorphy
Answer:
Derived character that occurs in only one taxon
Q: Parsimony
Answer:
Minimization of the number of changes on the branches of a phylogenic tree
Q: Homologous Character States
Answer:
Present in more than one species that originated in their common ancestor
Q: Homoplasious Character States
Latest 2026 Update
Q: Biological Taxonomy
Answer:
The practice of classifying organisms
Q: Biological Systematics
Answer:
The theory of classifying organisms
Q: Ranks
Answer:
Linnaeus' nested categories to classify life
Q: Type
Answer:
group in lower rank which is used to define the next higher rank ex. emblematic
species of a genus
Q: Holotype
Answer:
The individual specimen that is the type of a species; typically archived for
reference
Q: Cladistics
Answer:
A phylogenetic classification system that uses shared derived characters and
ancestry to group taxa
Q: Cladogram
Answer:
Diagram showing relationships among taxa following a dichotomously branching
pattern based on most recent common ancestors
Q: Outgroup
, Answer:
split off prior to the ingroup; has the same characters with different character states
Q: Polarization
Answer:
Of character states; assigning ancestral states as those belonging to the outgroup
(0) and derived states as different from the outgroup (1) such that the evolutionary
direction of change is 0-
>1
Q: Clade
Answer:
A group that exclusively contains all descendants of a common ancestor
- a named clade is a taxon
Q: Synapomorphy
Answer:
Shared, derived trait present in more than one ingroup taxon
Q: Symplesiomorphy
Answer:
Shared ancestral trait
Q: Autoapomorphy
Answer:
Derived character that occurs in only one taxon
Q: Parsimony
Answer:
Minimization of the number of changes on the branches of a phylogenic tree
Q: Homologous Character States
Answer:
Present in more than one species that originated in their common ancestor
Q: Homoplasious Character States
