Alien Fish Traits Study: Explore Unique Organisms on New Planet

Alien Fish Assignment (10 pts) Imagine you are a xenobiologist (a biologist who studies alien life), and you have found a planet filled with creatures that look a bit like Earth fish. Like organisms on Earth, these alien “fish” all come from a single common ancestor, and you want to study how they are related to each other. First, you come up with a series of traits to pay attention to. Here are the ones you will use for the alien fish: Body Proportions – Is the creature elongated or stubby? Body Color – What color is the main body of the creature?* Body Point Number – How many body points do they have? Center Organ – Does the creature have a small purple organ in the center of its body? Center Organ Shape – What shape is the central organ? Pattern Design – What does the pattern on the creature look like? Fins – Does the creature have fins? All of the fish have one and only one trait in each category. After looking at the fish for a while, you determine that these are all of the possible ways that the different traits can look: Body Proportions: Elongate / Stubby Body Color: Red / Gray / Blue / Yellow Body Point Number (not including fins): 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Center Organ: Has Center Organ / No Central Organ Center Organ Shape: Circle / Square / Triangle / Pentagon / Hexagon / None Pattern Design: Spots / Stripes / No Pattern Fins: Has Fins / No Fins So, for instance, this fish would be scored like so: Body Proportions: Stubby Body Color: Blue Body Point Number (not including fins): 5 Center Organ: Has Center Organ Center Organ Shape: Circle *The images also have a letter in the corner to indicate their color for those who are colorblind B

Pattern Design: Stripes Fins: No Fins Whereas this one would be scored like this: Body Proportions: Elongate Body Color: Red Body Point Number (not including fins): 0 Center Organ: Has Center Organ Center Organ Shape: Triangle Pattern Design: No Pattern Fins: Has Fins These two fish aren’t very similar at all, but they do both have a center organ. Did their common ancestor have that trait, or did it evolve independently in each? You’ll have to look at more fish to find out! You can use these characters to assess how closely related different fish are. The more traits two organisms share, the more likely it is they are closely related. Now you try! First, circle or highlight the traits that go with the following 3 fish: R

Body Proportions: Elongate / Stubby Body Color: Red / Gray / Blue / Yellow Body Point Number (not including fins): 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Center Organ: Has Center Organ / No Central Organ Center Organ Shape: Circle / Square / Triangle / Pentagon / Hexagon / None Pattern Design: Spots / Stripes / No Pattern Fins: Has Fins / No Fins Body Proportions: Elongate / Stubby Body Color: Red / Gray / Blue / Yellow Body Point Number (not including fins): 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Center Organ: Has Center Organ / No Central Organ Center Organ Shape: Circle / Square / Triangle / Pentagon / Hexagon / None Pattern Design: Spots / Stripes / No Pattern Fins: Has Fins / No Fins

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Body Proportions: Elongate / Stubby Body Color: Red / Gray / Blue / Yellow Body Point Number (not including fins): 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Center Organ: Has Center Organ / No Central Organ Center Organ Shape: Circle / Square / Triangle / Pentagon / Hexagon / None Pattern Design: Spots / Stripes / No Pattern Fins: Has Fins / No Fins Questions: 1. How many traits do these fish share? What are the traits ? (1 pt) a. Fish 1 and Fish 2 ? They both have center organs that are hexagons, no patterns and are stubby. (3) b. Fish 2 and Fish 3 ? They have nothing in common. c. Fish 1 and Fish 3 ? They both have body points and no fins. (2) 2. Of the three fish above, which two are most closely related? (1 pt) Fish 1 and Fish 2 3. You find a new fish that looks like this: 4. List the traits that Fish 4 has in common with each of the fish from question 1. (1 pt) a. Fish 1 Both have 3 body points and no fins. b. Fish 2 Nothing. c. Fish 3 They are both elongated with no center organs and a stripe pattern. They also have body points. 5. Based on shared traits, which fish from question 1 do you think Fish 4 is most closely related to? (1 pt) Fish 3.

6. Which phylogeny below shows the correct relationships between Fish 1 – Fish 4 based on their observed traits? (1 pt) A Fish 1 Fish 3 Fish 4 Fish 2 B Fish 1 Fish 3 Fish 2 Fish 4 C Fish 1 Fish 3 Fish 4 Fish 2 D Fish 1 Fish 3 Fish 4 Fish 2

7. You are given the phylogeny below. In order to assist in answering the following questions, draw “bubbles” around each clade. Be sure to nest the smaller clades inside the larger clades. a. Fish 8 and Fish 9 are side-by-side. Is Fish 8 more closely related to Fish 9 than it is to Fish 5? Please explain your answer using the cladogram. (2 pts) i. No, they are equally related to fish 9 because they are within the same group (15 Ma) and then related to fish 9 by a different group. b. Fish 5 and Fish 11 are both blue and striped. What’s one reason why they might they look similar? (1 pt) i. They share a common ancestor. c. Fish 11 split off from the others a long time ago. Is it the ancestor of Fish 10? Please explain your answer using the cladogram. (2 pts) No, it is not the ancestor because it is on the end of a node.

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Fall2021 Alien Fish Assignment

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