Q. A biologist is trying to infer how five closely related species of snakes are related to one another. She notices that some of the snakes have forked tongues and others do not. Which of the following would help her distinguish the ancestral state? (Solved)
1. She looks among snake fossils for evidence that being forked is a characteristic of the ancestor of this group, but determines no such fossils exist.
2. She locates a specimen of a more distantly related snake to see if it has a forked tongue.
3. She looks at a representative mammal species to see if it has a forked tongue.
4. She flips a coin.
- b. She locates a specimen of a more distantly related snake to see if it has a forked tongue.