Mesodermal patterning and homeobox genes
- Cnidaria is much more diverse than Arthropoda.” Contest or defend this statement; then support your answer using evidence presented in a table that compares and contrasts diversity in feeding modes & diets, organ systems, methods of locomotion, and a number of species.
2. Please use the following data table of mesodermal patterning and homeobox genes to help you reconstruct a most parsimonious tree of basal Animals: “1” means the gene is present in that taxon, and “0” means it is absent. Please use these taxa as tips on your tree and indicate where on the tree each gene evolved.
| Mesodermal patterning genes and Homeodomains (Homeobox genes) | |||||||||||
| Taxa | COL | TALE | AMPA recep. | POU | Erb-B recep. | HNF | PROS | SINE | CASK | GRIP | S-50 PRD |
| Bilateria | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Choanoflagellata | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cnidaria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ctenophora | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Placozoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Porifera | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Fungi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3. Suppose you discover a new species of Amniote living a completely arboreal lifestyle in the Cascade Mountains. Explain why (from both a habitat and phylogenetic perspective) you are amazed to discover that it reproduces via external fertilization.
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