Molecular Systematics of Animal mcqs January 8, 2026April 9, 2024 by u930973931_answers 30 min Score: 0 Attempted: 0/30 Subscribe 1. What is the primary focus of molecular systematics? (A) Studying animal behavior (B) Classifying organisms based on molecular data (C) Investigating physiological adaptations (D) Analyzing ecological interactions 2. Which of the following molecular techniques is commonly used to study evolutionary relationships among animals? (A) Gel electrophoresis (B) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (C) Southern blotting (D) Chromatography 3. Which molecular marker is frequently used in molecular systematics for inferring phylogenetic relationships? (A) rRNA (B) Mitochondrial DNA (C) All of the above (D) Chloroplast DNA 4. What type of DNA is typically used for molecular phylogenetic analyses due to its rapid rate of evolution? (A) Nuclear DNA (B) Chloroplast DNA (C) Mitochondrial DNA (D) Ribosomal DNA 5. Which of the following statements regarding molecular clocks is true? (A) They are independent of mutation rates. (B) They assume a constant rate of molecular evolution. (C) They are unaffected by genetic drift. (D) They are only applicable to prokaryotic organisms. 6. What is the term for the technique used to determine the order of nucleotide bases in a DNA molecule? (A) DNA hybridization (B) DNA replication (C) DNA sequencing (D) DNA amplification 7. Which of the following molecular data is most commonly used for inferring phylogenetic relationships among animals? (A) Amino acid sequences (B) Nucleotide sequences (C) Gene expression patterns (D) Protein structures 8. What is the purpose of constructing phylogenetic trees in molecular systematics? (A) To study ecological interactions (B) To analyze behavioral adaptations (C) To visualize evolutionary relationships among organisms (D) To determine population sizes 9. Which of the following is NOT a step in the process of molecular phylogenetic analysis? (A) DNA extraction (B) Fossil analysis (C) Phylogenetic inference (D) DNA sequencing 10. Which molecular technique is used to amplify specific regions of DNA for further analysis? (A) Gel electrophoresis (B) PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) (C) Southern blotting (D) DNA sequencing 11. What is the term for regions of DNA that are shared among different species due to inheritance from a common ancestor? (A) Analogous sequences (B) Homologous sequences (C) Convergent sequences (D) Paralogous sequences 12. Which of the following is a limitation of molecular phylogenetic analysis? (A) Limited applicability to eukaryotic organisms (B) Lack of accuracy in determining evolutionary relationships (C) Difficulty in obtaining DNA samples (D) Inability to analyze extinct species 13. What is the primary advantage of using molecular data over morphological data in phylogenetic analysis? (A) Molecular data are easier to obtain. (B) Morphological data are less affected by genetic drift. (C) Morphological data are not subject to homoplasy. (D) Molecular data provide more accurate information about evolutionary relationships. 14. Which of the following is a measure of the degree of genetic similarity between two individuals or species? (A) Genetic variation (B) Genetic divergence (C) Genetic drift (D) Genetic distance 15. What is the primary assumption underlying molecular clock analysis? (A) Molecular data are not subject to mutation. (B) Evolutionary rates vary randomly. (C) Genetic drift has a negligible effect on molecular evolution. (D) Evolutionary rates are constant over time. 16. Which of the following molecular markers is commonly used for inferring deep evolutionary relationships among animals? (A) Short tandem repeats (STRs) (B) Microsatellites (C) Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (D) Nuclear ribosomal DNA 17. What is the term for the phenomenon in which similar traits evolve independently in unrelated lineages due to similar selective pressures? (A) Convergence (B) Homoplasy (C) Parsimony (D) Monophyly 18. Which phylogenetic tree reconstruction method is based on minimizing the total number of evolutionary changes? (A) Maximum likelihood (B) Bayesian inference (C) Parsimony analysis (D) Neighbor-joining 19. What is the primary advantage of using Bayesian inference for phylogenetic analysis? (A) It provides confidence intervals for branch lengths. (B) It allows for the estimation of ancestral states. (C) It is computationally efficient for large datasets. (D) It does not require assumptions about evolutionary rates. 20. Which of the following statements about molecular systematics is true? (A) It relies solely on morphological data for inferring phylogenetic relationships. (B) It aims to reconstruct the evolutionary history of organisms using molecular data. (C) It studies genetic variation within populations but not among species. (D) It uses molecular data to classify organisms based on ecological roles. 21. Which molecular technique allows for the identification of specific nucleotide sequences in a DNA sample? (A) PCR (B) Gel electrophoresis (C) Southern blotting (D) DNA sequencing 22. In molecular phylogenetics, what does a monophyletic group represent? (A) Species with similar ecological roles (B) An ancestor and all its descendants (C) Species from different lineages (D) Species with convergent traits 23. Which is a characteristic feature of mitochondrial DNA used in molecular systematics? (A) Maternal inheritance (B) High recombination (C) Large genome (D) Contains introns 24. What is the process of aligning homologous sequences for phylogenetic analysis called? (A) Sequence alignment (B) Sequence comparison (C) Sequence assembly (D) Sequence annotation 25. Which assumption is key in maximum likelihood phylogenetic methods? (A) Constant evolutionary rates (B) Fewest evolutionary changes (C) Longest branches are most likely (D) Most species included is best 26. Which molecular marker is used for recent evolutionary relationships among animals? (A) Transposable elements (B) Mitochondrial DNA (C) Chloroplast DNA (D) Nuclear ribosomal DNA 27. What is the process of inferring evolutionary relationships using molecular data called? (A) Taxonomic classification (B) Phylogenetic analysis (C) Population genetics (D) Genetic mapping 28. Which statement about molecular clocks is true? (A) Assume constant molecular evolution (B) Independent of mutation rates (C) Affected by genetic drift (D) Only for prokaryotes 29. What is the primary advantage of molecular data in phylogenetics? (A) Easier field collection (B) Less homoplasy than morphology (C) More accurate evolutionary relationships (D) Better divergence time estimates 30. Which statement about molecular systematics is true? (A) Uses only morphology (B) Classifies based on ecology (C) Studies variation only within populations (D) Reconstructs evolutionary history using molecular data