Deck 14: The Middle Paleozoic World

Question 1

__________ is a predatory arthropod group, which has its most conspicuous fossil record within Middle Paleozoic rocks.

A) Jawed fishes
B) Eurypterids
C) Ammonoids
D) Coiled cephalopod mollusks

Answer 1

B

Question 2

During Silurian, jaws in fish evolved from

A) jaw muscles.
B) claws and pincers.
C) denticles within fish skin.
D) bars that supported gills.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Reef growth around the Silurian Michigan Basin resulted in

A) global collapse of the coral-strome reef ecosystem.
B) restriction of ocean water flow into the basin and evaporite formation.
C) stromatoporoids taking over reef formation from the corals.
D) reefs adapting to the prevailing winds by forming steep ridges.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A group of "bony skin" fishes new to Middle Paleozoic oceans were was called

A) placoderms.
B) acanthodians.
C) ostracoderms.
D) jawed fishes.

Question 5

During Early Devonian and Middle Silurian, what is now Florida lay

A) near the northern pole.
B) near the southern pole.
C) near the equator.
D) at the equator.

Question 6

Among the first terrestrial invertebrate animals were Early to Middle Devonian millipedes and flightless insects that consumed

A) living plants.
B) dead plants.
C) living animals.
D) dead animals.

Question 7

Perhaps the greatest change in the nature of aquatic ecosystems during Middle Paleozoic resulted from the origin of

A) planktonic invertebrate animals, many of which were predators.
B) nektonic invertebrate animals, many of which were predators.
C) nektonic vertebrate animals, many of which were predators.
D) nektonic invertebrate animals, many of which were herbivores.

Question 8

The Late Devonian Dunkleosteus was one of the largest of the

A) ostracoderms.
B) placoderms.
C) acanthodians.
D) sharks.

Question 9

Lower Devonian-Lower Carboniferous clastic wedge deposits from the Baltica-Laurentia orogeny, which cover large areas of the British Isles, is a formation called the

A) Old Red Sandstone.
B) New Red Sandstone.
C) Oriskany Sandstone.
D) Catskill clastic wedge.

Question 10

The __________ orogeny resulted from the collision of Laurentia with __________ on the north and __________ on the south.

A) Taconic; Baltica; Avalonia
B) Acadian; Baltica; Avalonia
C) Taconic; Avalonia; Baltica
D) Acadian; Avalonia; Baltica

Question 11

Based on the fossil record, the plant adaptation resulting in the seed occurred during

A) Ordovician.
B) Early Silurian.
C) Late Silurian.
D) Devonian.

Question 12

The molasse deposits of the Acadian orogeny are called the

A) Marcellus Formation.
B) Catskill clastic wedge.
C) Oriskany Sandstone.
D) Hamilton Group.

Question 13

The mass extinction during Late Devonian, which is related to global collapse of the coral-strome reef systems and loss of other prominent taxa, was caused largely by

A) an unexplained short-term dimming of the Sun.
B) formation of Earth's first widespread forests.
C) glaciers spreading over a portion of southern Gondwanaland.
D) global warming due to injection of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Question 14

The fish group that went on to become the ancestor of all terrestrial vertebrates was the

A) ray-finned fish.
B) lobe-finned fish.
C) trout and bass.
D) sharks.

Question 15

After the great Late Ordovician mass extinction, there was renewed diversification of life during Silurian and Devonian, which included the highest diversity ever among

A) trilobites.
B) brachiopods.
C) land plants.
D) crinoids.

Question 16

The __________ were Early and Middle Devonian fossil plants that were much like club mosses of today-only larger.

A) lycopods
B) acanthodians
C) placoderms
D) ammonoids

Question 17

The first large tree species, which is called __________, arose during Late Devonian.

A) Baragwanathia
B) Archaeopteris
C) Rhynia
D) Tiktaalik

Question 18

__________ were Middle Paleozoic fish that had paired fins and scales on their bodies.

A) Acanthodians
B) Ostracoderms
C) Eurypterids
D) Placoderms

Question 19

The Middle Paleozoic decline in trilobites and other aquatic invertebrates was likely due to the sum of advances in evolution of the

A) jawless and jawed fishes.
B) placoderms and ostracoderms.
C) ammonoids and eurypterids.
D) jawed fishes, eurypterids, and ammonoids.

Question 20

The earliest multicellular, upright land plants were

A) Late Silurian vascular plants.
B) Early Devonian vascular plants.
C) Ordovician spore-bearing aquatic plants.
D) Silurian semiaquatic, marsh-dwelling stemmed plants.

Question 21

During __________, vast areas of eastern and central North America were covered by black muds, which accumulated in a mud-floored seaway west of the coastal mountains.

A) Late Silurian
B) Early Devonian
C) Late Devonian
D) Early Carboniferous

Question 22

The __________ was a prominent offshore feature of western Laurentia during middle Paleozoic.

A) Roberts Mountains Thrust
B) Eastern Klamath Arc
C) Transcontinental Arch
D) coral-strome reef

Question 23

During Silurian (between the Taconic and Acadian orogenies), a(n) __________ developed in the Appalachian region of Laurentia.

A) island arc
B) large coral-strome reef system
C) carbonate platform
D) evaporite basin

Question 24

In the region of Laurentia called the __________, little or no sediment accumulated during middle Paleozoic.

A) Eastern Klamath Arc
B) Transcontinental Arch
C) Catskill clastic wedge
D) Antler orogeny

Question 25

The first of the two cooling episodes during Late Devonian, both of which have been identified using carbon and oxygen isotope studies, are associated with mass extinctions, the first of which is found at the

A) top of the Frasnian Stage.
B) base of the Frasnian Stage.
C) top of the Famennian Stage.
D) base of the Famennian Stage.

Question 26

The first large tree species, which arose during Devonian, had a height of about __________ meters.

A) 2
B) 12.5
C) 25
D) 50

Question 27

The collision of the Eastern Klamath Arc with the western Laurentian continental margin resulted in the __________ orogeny.

A) Antler
B) Acadian
C) Cordilleran
D) Taconic

Question 28

What was the result of eastward displacement of rocks along the Roberts Mountains thrust fault?

A) The accretionary wedge is deformed.
B) Shallow-water carbonates are pushed up and on top of deep-sea sediments.
C) Deep-sea sediments are pushed up and on top of shallow-water carbonates.
D) The Kalmath Arc was subducted under Laurentia (North America).

Question 29

In Euramerica during Late Devonian, the equatorial part of the suture between Baltica and Laurentia involved

A) Scandinavia and Greenland.
B) North America and the Avalon terrane.
C) Germany and England.
D) England and North America.

Question 30

__________ probably required protective shade before they could inhabit the terrestrial realm.

A) Scorpions and spiders
B) Centipedes and millipedes
C) Amphibians
D) Ray-finned fishes