How do scientists use a branching tree?

Question

How do scientists use a branching tree?

a.to show how groups of organisms might be related
b.to show how groups of organisms become isolated
c.to study which organisms have similar stages of development
d.to study the presence of homologous structures in organisms

Answer 1

a. Scientists use a branching tree, also called a phylogenetic tree, to show how groups of organisms are related to each other based on their evolutionary history. The branches represent the evolutionary lineage and the nodes represent the common ancestors of the groups. By studying the branching patterns and genetic information of different organisms, scientists can understand how different species are related and how they have evolved over time.