Think about a cladogram that shows the evolutionary relationship between humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. A cladogram of these species would currently show humans and chimpanzees with a more recent common ancestor compared to gorillas. Which piece of evidence, if true, would most likely weaken this hypothesis?(1 point)

Question

Responses

Fossils of humans appear in deeper sedimentary rock layers compared to fossils of chimpanzees.
Fossils of humans appear in deeper sedimentary rock layers compared to fossils of chimpanzees.

Amino acid analysis of a certain protein show significant differences in the sequence of amino acids between humans and gorillas.
Amino acid analysis of a certain protein show significant differences in the sequence of amino acids between humans and gorillas.

DNA sequence analysis of the hemoglobin alpha gene shows that humans and chimpanzees have a more similar sequence to each other than they do to the gorilla's DNA sequence.
DNA sequence analysis of the hemoglobin alpha gene shows that humans and chimpanzees have a more similar sequence to each other than they do to the gorilla's DNA sequence.

The cells of the eye in embryos of gorillas and humans follow a similar pattern of development while the eye cells of chimpanzee embryos are different.

Answer 1

The piece of evidence that would most likely weaken the hypothesis that humans and chimpanzees share a more recent common ancestor compared to gorillas is:

Fossils of humans appear in deeper sedimentary rock layers compared to fossils of chimpanzees.

This suggests that humans and chimpanzees may not share a more recent common ancestor since it indicates that humans might be older or have a longer evolutionary history than chimpanzees, potentially contradicting the cladogram interpretation.