The diagram below compares how certain mammalian groups might be classified based on morphology (anatomical structure) versus modern genetic and DNA sequencing.
Explain how our understanding of the evolutionary relationships between organisms, and the way they are classified, has developed.
In your answer, refer to:
- how traditional classification systems based on anatomy and morphology could lead to errors such as grouping the marsupial mole and the golden mole together.
- how modern biochemical and molecular evidence (such as DNA, RNA, and protein analysis) has resolved these errors to show true evolutionary relationships.