Give an example of characteristics being used to determine how close two species are in evolutionary terms.

Let us take the example of humans and apes. Both of them have similar body design. Body hair and mammary glands are present in both the animals. Hence, these two animals are closely related in evolutionary term. Now take some common characters between a fish and a man. Vertebral column, brain box and jaws are present in both of them. But fish and man look entirely different from each other. Hence, they are not very closely related in evolutionary term; rather are like distant relatives.