Biological Evolution Evidence Quick Check

Question

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Question
Flowering plants have common ancestors with other plants and plant-like organisms. The table below shows the last common ancestor shared between flowering plants and two other types of organisms.

Last common ancestor with flowering plants
Cone-producing plants 250 million years ago
Green Algae 500 million years ago
A scientist compares the amino acid sequences of a protein produced by flowering plants, a cone-producing plant, and green algae.

What prediction about these sequences is supported by the data in the table?

(1 point)
Responses

The amino acid sequences for all three organisms will have no similarities.
The amino acid sequences for all three organisms will have no similarities.

The amino acid sequences for flowering plants and cone-producing plants will be the most similar.
The amino acid sequences for flowering plants and cone-producing plants will be the most similar.

The amino acid sequences for flowering plants and green algae will be the most similar.
The amino acid sequences for flowering plants and green algae will be the most similar.

The amino acid sequences for all three organisms will be identical.
The amino acid sequences for all three organisms will be identical.
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Answer 1

The best-supported prediction about the amino acid sequences, based on the provided data, is:

The amino acid sequences for flowering plants and cone-producing plants will be the most similar.

This is because flowering plants and cone-producing plants share a more recent common ancestor (250 million years ago) compared to flowering plants and green algae (500 million years ago). Generally, the more recent the common ancestor, the more similar the sequences are expected to be due to less time for evolutionary divergence.