15) Some researchers claim that sponge genomes have homeotic genes (genes that regulate
development of anatomical structures), but no Hox genes (genes that regulate development of
posterior-anterior axes and body segments). If true, this finding would
A) strengthen sponges’ evolutionary ties to the Eumetazoa.
B) mean that sponges must no longer be classified as animals.
C) confirm the identity of sponges as basal animals.
D) mean that extinct sponges must have been the last common ancestor of animals and fungi.
E) require sponges to be reclassified as choanoflagellates.
16) The last common ancestor of all bilaterians is thought to have had four Hox genes (genes that
regulate development of posterior-anterior axes and body segments). Most extant cnidarians have
two Hox genes, except Nematostella, which has three Hox genes. On the basis of these
observations, some have proposed that the ancestral cnidarians were originally bilateral and, in
stages, lost Hox genes from their genomes. If true, this would mean that
A) Radiata should be a true clade.
B) the radial symmetry of extant cnidarians is secondarily derived, rather than being an ancestral
trait.
C) Hox genes play little actual role in coding for an animal’s “body plan.”
D) Cnidaria may someday replace porifera as the basal bilaterians.
E) Cnidarians are the basal metazoans.
17) Which statement is most consistent with the hypothesis that the Cambrian explosion was
caused by the rise of predator-prey relationships?
A) increased incidence of worm burrows in the fossil record
B) increased incidence of larger animals in the fossil record
C) increased incidence of organic material in the fossil record
D) increased incidence of hard body parts in the fossil record