GED Science Question of the Day

Practice GED Science with the production-style question-of-the-day selection for this public URL.

Question 1

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

Chimpanzees and humans share a recent common ancestor
Chimpanzees are humans' most recent common ancestor
Humans are chimpanzees' most recent common ancestor
It is impossible to tell the evolutionary relationship between chimpanzees and humans without further fossil evidence

Explanation: Common ancestors are the branching points in a phylogenetic tree, from which multiple species originate. Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor. Through evolution, the genetic changes to this ancestor gave rise to two separate species: chimpanzees and humans. This divide occurred roughly 5 million years ago, according to fossil evidence. To say that chimpanzees are the most recent common ancestor to humans implies that humans actually evolved from chimpanzees. Similarly, to say that humans are the most recent ancestor to chimpanzees suggests that chimpanzees evolved from humans. Neither of these statements are correct, as both species are actually derived from a shared ancient relative (the most recent common ancestor).

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GED Science

GED Science Question of the Day

Practice GED Science with the production-style question-of-the-day selection for this public URL.

Question 1

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

Chimpanzees and humans share a recent common ancestor
Chimpanzees are humans' most recent common ancestor
Humans are chimpanzees' most recent common ancestor
It is impossible to tell the evolutionary relationship between chimpanzees and humans without further fossil evidence

Explanation: Common ancestors are the branching points in a phylogenetic tree, from which multiple species originate. Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor. Through evolution, the genetic changes to this ancestor gave rise to two separate species: chimpanzees and humans. This divide occurred roughly 5 million years ago, according to fossil evidence. To say that chimpanzees are the most recent common ancestor to humans implies that humans actually evolved from chimpanzees. Similarly, to say that humans are the most recent ancestor to chimpanzees suggests that chimpanzees evolved from humans. Neither of these statements are correct, as both species are actually derived from a shared ancient relative (the most recent common ancestor).