Why don’t shared ancestral characters provide evidence for relationships between organisms within a taxon that has those traits? Give an example.

What is the difference between derived and ancestral and what are the examples?

Examine the image of the relatedness of vertebrates represented in this phylogenetic tree. Which statements are correctly inferred from this tree? Select all that apply.   A) The mammals are the outgroup in this tree.     B) Birds and dinosaurs share a recent common ancestor.     C) Mammals and birds are more closely related than any other species.     D) Turtles are equally as diverged from lizards and snakes as they are from crocodiles.     E) Lizards and snakes are more recently diverged from each other than they are from crocodiles.

why is it more difficult to assign species designations for paleo species than it is for extant species?