Assignment Problem: A newly discovered organism (this means make up a species - do not use an existing species)
Imagine you are a researcher in the deep ocean. You have been exploring life at extreme depths surrounding the hydrothermal vents. One day you observe a species you have never seen before and decide to capture it to analyze its body plan and determine its evolutionary path. What did you find?
Imagine you are a researcher in the tropical rainforests of South America. You have been trekking through the jungle for months and one morning awake to see an organism unlike any you have seen before. You decide to capture it to analyze its body plan and determine its evolutionary path. What did you find?
Please include:
- Description of novel (new) species is included with detailed information about the body plan, location in which it is found, what it eats, and what preys upon it.
- A phylogenetic tree is included which correctly places the new organism and highlights sister taxa, common relatives, and nearest branching ancestor.
- Two adaptations are highlighted in the new species that allow it to live in the environment described. These adaptations must be new to the species and not exist in sister taxa or the common ancestor.