In which the horizontal axis represents time (present time is on the far right) and the vertical axis represents morphological change. Which of these is the extant (that is, living) species most closely related to species X?

a. Z

b. W

c. V

d. Y

Which of these is the extant (that is, living) species most closely related to species X? c. V

Explanation:

These refers to the following evolutionary tree. The species that are most closely related to species X, are species V because they shared a common ancestor with X most recently. In the evolutionary tree whose horizontal axis represents time (present time is on the far right) and whose vertical axis represents morphological change, a single clade (i. e., a group of species that share a common ancestor) can exhibit both gradualism and punctuated equilibrium.