Mr. Morales is teaching a lesson on classification. He says that spiders are classified as a different group than insects because they have eight legs instead of six legs. He explains that spiders evolved first. Mr. Morales also says that having eight legs is the derived trait that separates the two groups. Antonio thinks Mr. Morales is wrong. Which piece of information is Antonio considering?

Question

Mr. Morales is teaching a lesson on classification. He says that spiders are classified as a different group than insects because they have eight legs instead of six legs. He explains that spiders evolved first. Mr. Morales also says that having eight legs is the derived trait that separates the two groups. Antonio thinks Mr. Morales is wrong. Which piece of information is Antonio considering?

Spiders do not have eight legs.
Insects do not have six legs.
If spiders evolved first, six legs is the derived trait.
Spiders do not have derived traits, since they evolved first.

Answer 1

The piece of information that Antonio is considering is "Spiders do not have eight legs." This information contradicts Mr. Morales' statement that having eight legs is the derived trait that separates spiders from insects. Antonio believes that spiders do not have this trait, which challenges the classification based on number of legs.