Early scientists used morphological characteristics to create a phylogeny of animals, but recently, dna sequence data have in the revision of phylogenies of taxa within the larger groups (i. e., bilaterians, sponges, cnidarians). why are morphological characteristics like “fate of the blastopore” or “body symmetry” relatively good at predicting larger-scale branching patterns on phylogenies?

the development of these features is controlled genetically, therefore similarities in DNA sequence would be expected in more closely related data.

Explanation:

Phylogenies or Phylogenesis is the  evolution of a genetically related group of organisms as being different from the development of the individual organism.

1) gene flow

- it is described as the transfer of genes from one population to another population so that frequency of gene is increased.

-a zebra migrates to join a different herd of zebras.

2) natural selection

- a mechanism of evolutionary change in which individuals with advantageous traits survive and reproduce whereas the others ( those that can not adapt) eliminate from the population.

-competition for sunlight leads to taller trees.

3) mutation

- permanent change in the nucleotide sequence of dna ( genetic material) that could have harmful or useful consequences.

-the dna of a snake changes to make its venom stronger.

4) genetic drift - it is a random phenomenon ( that occurs by chance such as fire) that results in change in the gene frequency in a small population.    

-a grassfire randomly sweeps through a population of buffalo and kills most of the animals.

explanation:

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