Which pair of living organisms are likely to have evolved from the same ancestor?
a
fish and fungi
b
fish and birds
c
birds and amoebae
d
fungi and amoebae
Well, I'm no expert, but let's see if we can have a little fun with this! Out of the options you've given, I have to say that the most likely pair to have evolved from the same ancestor would be fungi and amoebae. Just picture it, two very distant cousins having a family reunion after all these years - the amoebae with their shape-shifting abilities and the fungi rocking their mushroom hats. It would be quite the evolutionary family gathering, don't you think?
To determine which pair of living organisms are likely to have evolved from the same ancestor, we need to consider their evolutionary history and shared characteristics.
a) Fish and fungi: Fish and fungi belong to entirely different kingdoms - Animalia and Fungi, respectively. They have distinct evolutionary lineages and exhibit different characteristics. Therefore, they are less likely to have evolved from the same ancestor.
b) Fish and birds: Fish and birds are both vertebrates and share several common features, such as having a backbone, bilateral symmetry, and similar physiological systems. However, fish and birds belong to different classes - fish belong to the class Actinopterygii, while birds belong to the class Aves. Despite some similarities, the morphological differences and the evolutionary paths followed by fish and birds suggest that they did not descend from the same ancestor.
c) Birds and amoebae: Birds (class Aves) and amoebae (a diverse group of protists) belong to two different domains of life - Eukarya (birds) and typically either Amoebozoa or Excavata (amoebae). The vast evolutionary distance between birds and amoebae, along with their distinct characteristics, makes it highly unlikely that they evolved from the same ancestor.
d) Fungi and amoebae: Fungi and amoebae both belong to the domain Eukarya but represent different kingdoms. Fungi belong to the Kingdom Fungi, while amoebae are usually classified under either Amoebozoa or Excavata. Although they share some similarities in terms of their eukaryotic cellular structure, they have distinct characteristics and evolutionary paths. Therefore, while they share a common ancestor within the domain Eukarya, it is unlikely that they evolved from the same ancestor.
Based on this information, none of the given pairs are likely to have evolved from the same ancestor.