Evolutionary Relationship Between Woolly Mammoths and African Elephants

What conclusion can be drawn from the similarity in DNA sequences between woolly mammoths and African elephants?

A. African elephants evolved directly from woolly mammoths. B. The woolly mammoth and the African elephant have a common ancestor. C. Woolly mammoths had the same number of chromosomes as African elephants. D. The woolly mammoth and the African elephant should be classified as the same species.

Answer:

The woolly mammoth and the African elephant have a common ancestor.

The best conclusion supported by the information that the DNA sequence of the woolly mammoth is very similar to the DNA sequence of the African elephant is: B) The woolly mammoth and the African elephant have a common ancestor.

This conclusion is based on the understanding of evolutionary biology, where a high degree of similarity in the DNA sequence between two species typically indicates that they share a common evolutionary lineage, having diverged from a shared ancestor in the past. This does not necessarily mean that one species evolved directly from the other, nor does it imply that they would be classified as the same species today.

Moreover, while both woolly mammoths and African elephants are part of the elephant family and share many similarities, the fact that mammoths and African elephants were distinct species with differences in morphology and adaptations to their environments substantiates that they had diverged evolutionarily from a common ancestor rather than one being a direct descendant of the other.