CIL 2026 | System | Question: 91

Question

A botanist creates a digital representation of a rare plant's evolutionary tree, where each node records a unique genetic mutation. During research, they need to extract the chronological sequence of mutations as they would naturally occur along the main lineage. Which traversal algorithm, when applied to the tree, most accurately reflects the order of these mutations if left sub-branches represent earlier side mutations and right sub-branches represent later side mutations?

• A. A preorder traversal starts with the main mutation, missing proper side branch sequencing.
• B. Applying a postorder traversal lists mutations from leaves to root, not main lineage order.
• C. Performing an inorder traversal yields the desired mutation sequence along the main lineage.
• D. Level order traversal groups mutations by depth, not by evolutionary chronology.