Exam 15: A Brief History of Life on Earth

Mammals evolved most directly from the _____ vertebrate group.

Our own species,along with the Neandertals,belong to the genus _____.

During the Cretaceous Period,mammals out-competed dinosaurs.

Charles Darwin studied to become a clergyman before he formulated evolutionary theory.

Recent DNA studies suggest that Homo sapiens is not a direct descendant of _____.

Many experts believe DNA must have appeared before RNA in early life forms.

How do eukaryotes,as seen on left,differ from bacteria and Archaea (i.e.prokaryotes),such as the one pictured at right?

The Burgess Shale contains many unique Cambrian animals,including many soft-bodied arthropods such as Waptia,shown here,and other creatures.How did it form?

The most successful early flying vertebrates were winged reptiles called _____.

Arthropods do not have any form of blood or heart.

Stromatolites,as seen in cross section below,are formed by _____.

The environment of Earth was hostile to life before 3.8 billion years ago.

A shrew-sized 125-million-year-old mammal from China,seen below,is the oldest-known _____ mammal.

In contrast to Gould's and others mechanism of Punctuated Equilibrium evolutionary change,Darwin's original concept of continuous evolutionary changes is called _____.

The most probable cause of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T)mass extinction resulting in the effects as shown,was _____.

What are the basic assumptions of Darwin's theory of evolution?

The K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary)extinction boundary is marked in many sites by a thin,distinctive _____ layer containing soot and large amounts of iridium.

Vascular plants exchange gases through adjustable leaf openings called _____.

Summarize what we know about stages of human evolution

Why was Miller's experiment in early life synthesis,using the apparatus shown,interesting but invalid?