The fossil remains of a terrestrial organism are found in Canada. These fossils appear to be similar to fossils found in the Midwestern United States, and also to fossils found in Northern Europe. What would be the best first step in a scientific procedure for determining if one of these organisms could be an ancestor of the others?
A.Compare the fossils to modern-day organisms to find any modern organisms that may have evolved from the fossilized organisms.
B. Reconstruct the environments that these organisms might have lived in using modern knowledge of climatology.
C. Search for more fossils in other surrounding regions to try to identify how the organisms migrated to the other continents
D. See if any of the organisms lived before the others by measuring the age of their fossils using some means, like radioactive dating.
I am pretty sure it isnt B. But i need help finding the BEST answer.

Question

The fossil remains of a terrestrial organism are found in Canada. These fossils appear to be similar to fossils found in the Midwestern United States, and also to fossils found in Northern Europe. What would be the best first step in a scientific procedure for determining if one of these organisms could be an ancestor of the others?
A.Compare the fossils to modern-day organisms to find any modern organisms that may have evolved from the fossilized organisms. 
B. Reconstruct the environments that these organisms might have lived in using modern knowledge of climatology. 
C. Search for more fossils in other surrounding regions to try to identify how the organisms migrated to the other continents
D. See if any of the organisms lived before the others by measuring the age of their fossils using some means, like radioactive dating.
I am pretty sure it isnt B. But i need help finding the BEST answer.

anonymous · Answer

It may help scientist, to determine the fossils age, by knowing that the younger fossils are the more recently evolved species, while the further down species are the older and less recently evolved species. Scientist will generally have a better idea for when species evolved, when they compare the anatomical structures and the DNA. 

**Scientist will look for similar anatomical structures, so that they determine how closely related two species are. Now the theory of the continental drift has helped scientist understand why some similar fossils can be found in different continents.  

**DNA will general provide the strongest evidence--scientist will use it, so that they can determine how closely related different species are. All living organisms will have the same universal code in DNA and RNA. The more nucleotide sequences that they share--this will likely be a more efficient clue to how closely related they are to one another. Now scientist will have multiple types of evidence that they will use for determining how recently two different species diverged from another common ancestor.  

Hope that helps! n_n

anonymous · Answer

It sounds like D would be the best answer now right?

anonymous · Answer

?

anonymous · Answer

Yes, you are correct! They are asking for the ancestral comparison and if they are evolved and/or related to one another. DNA would be the key way. Measuring to see if the organisms lived before one another, would be the efficient way, for seeing if they a linked to one another or if they have evolved from one another--showing any ancestral linkage with their size change and fossils structures, etc. Radioactive dating is used to determine how old they are. n_n

anonymous · Answer

Thanks! C: 
i thought so

anonymous · Answer

Your welcome n_n