Exam 14: How Biological Diversity Evolves

Feathers in birds appear to have first been selected for as insulation but later conveyed a new advantage in helping create light aerodynamic surfaces. This switch in function is an example of ________.

The Permian mass extinction is associated with ________.

Some fish have bony fins. If the body of water they are in dries out, these fins can be used to help the fish "walk" to another body of water. In this context, bony fins are an example of ________.

Scenario As part of a semester-long biology field research course, you are studying reproductive barriers among four different frog species. Your goal is to determine what type of reproductive barrier likely causes the gene pools of the four different frog species to be isolated. These four species share common geographic habitats and are both anatomically and gametically compatible. Your research professor gives you the following figure to consider. After studying the figure, answer the questions that follow. -What can you conclude about the breeding characteristics of these four frog species?

What is the currently recognized classification scheme?

Scientists in the field of evo-devo have determined that evolutionary changes can be a result of changes in ________.

Examine the accompanying figure. According to the figure, cladistic analysis indicates that crocodiles are more closely related to ________ than to ________.

Biological species consist of groups of ________.

The science of naming, identifying, and classifying organisms is called ________.

Analogous structures are evidence of ________.

________ is the discipline of biology that focuses on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships.

Scenario As part of a semester-long biology field research course, you are studying reproductive barriers among four different frog species. Your goal is to determine what type of reproductive barrier likely causes the gene pools of the four different frog species to be isolated. These four species share common geographic habitats and are both anatomically and gametically compatible. Your research professor gives you the following figure to consider. After studying the figure, answer the questions that follow. -Based on the independent and dependent variables represented in the figure and the information you have about common geographic habitats as well as anatomical and gametic compatibility of the four frog species, you initially conclude that reproductive barriers may be due to ________.

Characid fishes are found naturally only in South America and Africa. Fossils of these fish are not found on any other continents. What is the most likely explanation of this distribution pattern?

Uranium-235, with a half-life of 713,000,000 years, decays to lead-207. If a rock sample is determined to have one-quarter of the uranium-235 content it had when it formed, the age of the rock sample can be estimated to be approximately ________ years old.

A period of mass extinction is often followed by ________.

Scenario As part of a semester-long biology field research course, you are studying reproductive barriers among four different frog species. Your goal is to determine what type of reproductive barrier likely causes the gene pools of the four different frog species to be isolated. These four species share common geographic habitats and are both anatomically and gametically compatible. Your research professor gives you the following figure to consider. After studying the figure, answer the questions that follow. -If the researchers of this study wanted to collect reliable data about natural behavior, which methodology should they choose?

Scenario In some zoos, rare crosses between a male lion and a female tiger have produced hybrid offspring called "ligers." Male ligers are sterile but some female ligers are fertile. In the wild, lion and tiger ranges do not naturally overlap, making such a cross unlikely. Furthermore, the solitary behavior of tigers and the social organizations of lions create behavioral differences. -The natural differences in the ranges of wild tigers and lions is an example of ________.

Scenario In some zoos, rare crosses between a male lion and a female tiger have produced hybrid offspring called "ligers." Male ligers are sterile but some female ligers are fertile. In the wild, lion and tiger ranges do not naturally overlap, making such a cross unlikely. Furthermore, the solitary behavior of tigers and the social organizations of lions create behavioral differences. -The production of sterile male ligers is an example of ________.

Examine the two squirrel populations in the accompanying figure. The populations are separated by a geographic barrier. If after a long period of time the two species are no longer separated, what evidence is needed to determine if speciation has occurred?

Sympatric speciation specifically EXCLUDES ________.