36) Which distinction is given more emphasis by the morphological phylogeny than by the molecular
phylogeny?
A) metazoan and eumetazoan
B) radial and bilateral
C) true coelom and pseudocoelom
D) protostome and deuterostome
E) molting and lack of molting
37) The last common ancestor of all bilaterians is thought to have had four Hox genes. Most extant
cnidarians have two Hox genes, except Nematostella (of β-catenin fame), 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 Acoela as the basal bilaterians.
E) Two of the responses above are correct.
38) Which of these, if true, would support the claim that the ancestral cnidarians had bilateral
symmetry?
1. Cnidarian larvae possess anterior-posterior, left-right, and dorsal-ventral aspects.
2. Cnidarians have fewer Hox genes than bilaterians.
3. All extant cnidarians, including Nematostella, are diploblastic.
4. β-catenin turns out to be essential for gastrulation in all animals in which it occurs.
5. All cnidarians are acoelomate.
A) 1 only
B) 1 and 4
C) 2 and 3
D) 2 and 4
E) 4 and 5
39) Some researchers claim that sponge genomes have homeotic genes, but no Hox genes. 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.