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Which best describes the two types of shared characteristics?

1 - characteristics that remain in the common ancestor and the modern organism
2 - characteristics that are new and have been modified from what was found in the common ancestor
1 - characteristics that are new in the common ancestor and the modern organism
2 - characteristics that have been modified from what was found in the common ancestor
1 - characteristics that have been modified in the common ancestor but not in the modern organism
2 - characteristics that are new in both the common ancestor and the modern organism
1 - characteristics that remain in the common ancestor and the modern organism
2 - characteristics that are new in both the common ancestor and the modern organism

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The first option is correct:

1 — characteristics that remain in the common ancestor and the modern organism (shared ancestral traits, or plesiomorphies)
2 — characteristics that are new and have been modified from what was found in the common ancestor (shared derived traits, or synapomorphies)

Example: a backbone is a shared ancestral trait of vertebrates; feathers are a shared derived trait of birds.