1) Using the phylogenetic tree from OneZoom, I chose to identify the placement of my observed walnut tree. The phylogenetic placement for my observation went as follows: eukaryote, viridiplantae, streptophyta, magnoliopsida, Fagales, Juglandaceae, Juglans.
2) One, very broad, adaptation that all our organisms exhibit is their ability to withstand relatively cold temperatures. The way each organism achieves this is unique to it and varies between physiological (photosynthesis), behavioural (burrowing/den building) and physical (root systems) means.
3) One of my observations was a small cluster of Riverbank Grapes. This particular plant has a unique ability to resist mildew and black rot on its foliage. Ultimately, this adaptation allows this organism to survive (by maintaining photosynthetic processes) during varying weather conditions in its habitat.
I studied the Eastern Gray Squirrel on OneZoom. This species's phylogeny is bilaterally symmetrical animals, deuterostomes, jawed vertebrates, tetrapods, amniotes, and rodents. Its scientific name is Sciurus carolinensis and this is an invasive species, its conservation status is of least concern.
As for the adaptation that my 10 species have in common, there is none because I did not only observe one category of species and each large group of organisms has different ways to adapt to its changing environment. However, the butternut hickory observed adapted to the surrounding trees by only having high branches, exposing all the leaves to sunlight to go through photosynthesis.
All of the species identified do not have many common adaptations, since the group’s project was the “Flora and Fauna of Mount Royal” which is a broad topic. However, the species have all adapted to thrive in a wide temperature range, including both the heat of Montreal summers to the cold winters.
The plant that was identified using a phylogenetic tree was a thicket creeper, Parthenocissus inserta. Its phylogeny placement goes, eukaryotes, viridiplantae, eudicots, Pentapetalae, Vitaceae, Parthenocisseae. One unique adaptation of the thicket creeper is that it has club-shaped ends in order to fit inside of a crevice. This allows it to easily grow through shrubbery and trees (as opposed to its close relative, the Virginia creeper which climbs walls).