Fossils of plants found in deeper geologic layers do not show vascular tissues, while fossils in shallower geologic layers include some specimens with and some without vascular tissues. Thus, vascular tissue in plants is considered a ____ character.
A) ancestral
B) homoplasious
C) primitive
D) derived
E) physiologically essential

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Derived characters are traits that appear in later organisms but not in earlier ones. The presence of vascular tissues in plants in shallower (more recent) geologic layers, but not in deeper (older) layers, indicates that vascular tissues are a derived character, having evolved later in the history of plant life.

Fossils of Plants Found in Deeper Geologic Layers Do Not