Chapter 1 Questions

1. A phylogenetic tree is a diagram that can reconstruct evolutionary

relationships of lineages among a group of species or populations. A phylogenetic
tree can also be referred to as an evolutionary tree or cladogram.

2. In considering Figure 1.21, the origin of HIV in humans is believed to

have come from nonhuman primates in Africa more than 60 years ago. Due to
genetic similarities, viral strains were capable of being passed from primates to
humans where they later evolved by natural selection into the major strains of
HIV present today. Sooty mangebeys were hunted for food and kept as pets and
researchers agree that they are responsible for transmitting the strain that evolved
in humans to HIV-2. Chimpanzees were also hunted for food and the primate
virus, SIV, was believed to be transmitted in multiple instances to humans. This
strain ultimately evolving to HIV-1 in humans, and being the major strain of HIV
responsible for the global epidemic of AIDS.

3. The first level of selection on HIV strains is the differences among virions
in their ability to survive and reproduce within a given host. The second level of
selection acting on HIV strains is the imminent death the viral population faces
once they bring death to their host and their ability to view beyond the life span of
the host and consider colonizing on new hosts.

4. The ∆32 allele is a mutant form of the gene that codes for the coreceptor,
CCR5, which normally gives HIV the ability to bind to and enter cells. This
mutated allele is advantageous because it does not allow HIV to infect cells and
therefore allows individuals to be resistant to HIV infection. It is believed that the
existence of the ∆32 allele is not due to an evolutionary response to HIV because
not much time has passed. Its high frequency in Europe, where HIV infection is
relatively rare, suggests that this allele served a purpose in the past for survival
against the small pox epidemic.

5. A supported hypothesis for why the effectiveness of AZT therapy changes

over time is simply due to the patient’s body becoming resistant to the drug. The
population of virions within a patient may change or evolve over time so that
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AZT no longer has any affect. It is proposed that the binding site of the reverse
transcriptases becomes altered or mutated and makes it less likely to mistake AZT
for the normal nucleotide thymidine. By natural selection, the mutant variant of
HIV is favored, becoming more common in the population of virions, and thus
virions can continue to replicate even in the presence of AZT.

Chapter 2 Questions

1. The acceptable mechanism of evolution can be identified as natural

selection. According to Darwin, evolution by means of natural selection is the
notation that all species descend with modification from a common ancestor.
Natural selection acts on favorable variations in species, allowing them to persist
to future generations by means of inheritance, and thus causes species to
gradually change over time.

2. The law of succession can show the pattern between fossil and living
forms from the same geographical area. The theory of descent with modification
proposes that species have a great resemblance to their ancestors that lived in the
same region. Accordingly, fossil and living forms in the same area supports that
living organisms are descended with modification from earlier species.

3. Uniformitarianism is the assumption that geological processes at work

today are responsible for events that occurred in the past. This idea refutes a
hypothesis called catastrophism, where it was believed that earth’s geography
came about by catastrophic and instantaneous events. By using radiometric
dating, it can be estimated to show that earth and life are billions of years old, and
that the concept of uniformitarianism can be used to interpret patterns in the past.

4. Structural homologies can be observed in vertebrate forelimbs, where they

have the same arrangement of bones, but are used for different functions. For
example, the human hand grasps, the mole hand digs, the porpoise paddles, and
the bat wing flies. Developmental homologies can be seen in early embryos from
the vertebrates of the human, bat, cat, possum, chicken, and snake, in which they
all have similar developmental stages such as having pharyngeal pouches and a
tail. Nonhomologous similarities can be viewed in the shark and orca, where they
share similarities in their functions of having streamlined shapes, powerful tails,
and short fins, but are different internally as one is a fish and the other a mammal.
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5. In considering Figure 2.24, pseudogenes are nonfunctional copies of

normal genes that are inserted back into the genome where they accumulate
mutations. The number of mutations found in a pseudogene can reflect its own
age and also how long the species containing it has existed. In support of
Darwin’s theory that all species are related to a common ancestor, out of 6
particular processed pseudogenes, the oldest are found in a broad range of species
such as the human, chimp, gorilla, orangutan, rhesus monkey, and capuchin
monkey, while the youngest are mostly shared with humans. With species sharing
particular pseudogenes, this similarity may resemble a possible relationship
among one another, giving pseudogenes the ability to infer taxonomy of living
organisms.