[Campbell Biology P.515] Based on the information about FOXP2 protein sequences and the evol... | Practice Question

Based on the information about FOXP2 protein sequences and the evolutionary divergence times primates and rodents diverged 65 Mya, chimpanzees and humans 6 Mya , what can be hypothesized about the rate of evolution of the FOXP2 gene, particularly in the human lineage?

  • A: The FOXP2 gene has evolved at a consistent rate across all mammalian lineages.
  • B: The FOXP2 gene shows very few differences among primates, indicating a highly conserved and slowly evolving gene.
  • C: The FOXP2 gene has undergone relatively rapid changes in the human lineage compared to other primate lineages, suggesting its importance in human-specific traits.
  • D: Differences in FOXP2 sequences are primarily due to gene duplication events rather than point mutations.

Explanation

The FOXP2 gene is known to be crucial for speech and language development in humans. Despite the relatively recent divergence of humans and chimpanzees 6 Mya , there are notable amino acid differences in the FOXP2 protein. This suggests that the FOXP2 gene has undergone a period of relatively rapid evolution in the human lineage, which is consistent with its proposed role in human-specific traits like language.