Deck 14: The History of Life

Question 1

Monotremes,like the duck-billed platypus,are egg-laying mammals covered in hair,have mammary and skin glands,have three ear ossicles,are diphyodont,and possess dentary-squamosal jaw articulation.Marsupials,such as kangaroos and koalas,are pouched mammals that have a vertical tympanic membrane in addition to possessing characteristics observed in monotremes.Eutherians,such as humans,are placental mammals that have a vertical tympanic membrane in addition to possessing characteristics observed in monotremes. What one shared derived trait sets marsupials and eutherians apart from monotremes?

A) being diphyodont
B) having a vertical tympanic membrane
C) having a dentary-squamosal jaw
D) being covered in hair

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which kind of organism makes up the oldest fossil found on Earth?

A) protist
B) animal
C) bacteria
D) plant

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The ________ feature occurs between each branch on an evolutionary tree.

A) evolution of a new derived
B) loss of a derived
C) evolution of a shared ancestral
D) evolution of a convergent

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Evolutionary tree diagrams representing the relationships between various organisms can be drawn only when those organisms share a

A) common cellular metabolism.
B) distinct lineage.
C) common cellular organization.
D) common ancestor.

Question 5

The first eukaryotes evolved approximately ________ years ago.

A) 200,000
B) 200 million
C) 2 billion
D) 2 trillion

Question 6

If a plant evolved during the Permian period and spread across the continent of Pangaea,where might the fossils of this animal be found now?

A) North America only
B) North and South America
C) North and South America,Europe,and Asia
D) North and South America,Europe,Asia,and Africa

Question 7

How was the distribution of humans (after they evolved)affected by continental drift?

A) The supercontinent of Pangaea had not yet split up before humans evolved.This made it very easy for humans to travel over the entire landmass of Earth.
B) The supercontinent of Pangaea had already begun to split up,but the continents were still very close together,making it easy for humans to travel from one continent to another.
C) The supercontinent of Pangaea had not yet split up before humans evolved.This had little impact on the distribution of humans because they did not travel until the 1400s.
D) The supercontinent of Pangaea split apart and the resulting continents were in their present-day locations by the time modern humans evolved.This would have slowed the distribution of humans until they developed ways of easily traveling the oceans.

Question 8

According to the tree below,which of the following combinations of organisms are MOST closely related?

A) amoebas and plants
B) animals and fungi
C) plants and fungi
D) fungi and amoebas

Question 9

Any two groups of organisms will have ________ most recent common ancestor(s).

A) two
B) no more than four
C) only one
D) as many as 16

Question 10

In the evolutionary tree below,which of the nodes corresponds to the MOST recent common ancestor of troodontids,dromaeosaurids,and Archaeopteryx?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D

Question 11

The appearance of eukaryotes may have been delayed until more ________ accumulated in Earth's atmosphere.

A) oxygen
B) nitrogen
C) carbon
D) sulfur

Question 12

The Cambrian explosion

A) caused a lack of air in Earth's atmosphere.
B) was caused by an increase in volcanic activity.
C) was volcanic in nature.
D) increased the diversity of animal life on Earth.

Question 13

In a fictional movie set in a land dominated by flowering plants,advancing and retreating glaciers,and a cast that includes a human,a wooly mammoth,a saber-toothed cat,and dinosaurs,the ________ would be most out of place in the setting according to the geological time line of life on Earth.

A) saber-toothed cat and the human
B) wooly mammoth and the human
C) saber-toothed cat and the dinosaurs
D) dinosaurs

Question 14

Monotremes,like the duck-billed platypus,are egg-laying mammals covered in hair,have mammary and skin glands,have three ear ossicles,are diphyodont,and possess dentary-squamosal jaw articulation.Marsupials,such as kangaroos and koalas,are pouched mammals that have a vertical tympanic membrane in addition to possessing characteristics observed in monotremes.Eutherians,such as humans,are placental mammals that have a vertical tympanic membrane in addition to possessing characteristics observed in monotremes. What traits are shared derived traits for monotremes,marsupials,and eutherians?

A) mammary and skin glands,three ear ossicles,diphyodont,dentary-squamosal jaw articulation
B) vertical tympanic membrane,three ear ossicles,diphyodont,dentary-squamosal jaw articulation
C) three ear ossicles,diphyodont,dentary-squamosal jaw articulation,egg-laying
D) vertical tympanic membrane,three ear ossicles,diphyodont,placenta

Question 15

During the Devonian period,plants evolved which of the following key innovations to overcome the harsh,dry conditions of life on land and flourish?

A) waterproof cuticle,vascular systems,structural support tissues,leaves,roots,seeds,and specialized reproductive structures
B) amniotic eggs with a hard shell,photosynthesis,flowers with protected seeds
C) flowers with protected seeds,photosynthesis,hard-shelled amniotic eggs
D) photosynthesis,flowers with protected seeds,waterproof cuticle

Question 16

The Cambrian explosion occurred primarily in the oceans.The first challenges that had to be overcome during the mass colonization of dry land in the Ordovician period were

A) support of body structure without buoyancy in water,movement,and reproduction.
B) photosynthesis,cellular respiration,and reproduction.
C) DNA replication,photosynthesis,and cellular respiration.
D) DNA replication,phagocytosis,and cellular respiration.

Question 17

At the base of the evolutionary tree of all life is the ________ ancestor.

A) universal
B) convergent
C) derived
D) descended

Question 18

The following numbered sets each represent a distinct group of organisms: (1)three toes per foot,cold-blooded,feathers,no finger adaptations
(2)three toes per foot,warm-blooded,body hair,opposable thumbs
(3)three toes per foot,warm-blooded,feathers,no finger adaptation
(4)three toes per foot,warm-blooded,body hair,no finger adaptations
Which of the following choices is the MOST likely to represent the order in which these groups would appear on an evolutionary tree,from oldest to most recent?

A) 1,2,3,4
B) 4,2,3,1
C) 1,3,4,2
D) 2,1,4,3

Question 19

The Cambrian explosion resulted in the evolution of more than 17,000 species of an animal known as the trilobite.The sheer number of trilobite fossils found in modern times suggests that trilobites were abundant,perhaps the rulers of the seas.Today,no living descendants of this group exist.What happened?

A) Trilobites evolved before the first mass extinction,so it is possible that any of the five mass extinctions could have wiped out the entire group.
B) In order to disappear from the planet entirely,trilobites must have undergone the process of adaptive radiation.
C) It is unlikely that trilobites could have survived the increase in atmospheric oxygen once the process of photosynthesis had evolved.
D) Being so plentiful,trilobites must have been the major food source for terrestrial dinosaurs.The extinction of the trilobite may have caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs.

Question 20

Evolutionary trees are based on

A) the principle of convergent evolution.
B) a set of shared characteristics believed to have arisen in a common ancestor.
C) similarities in the function of a characteristic or trait.
D) consensus among biologists regarding the usefulness of particular traits.

Question 21

Which of the kingdoms below share a most recent,common ancestor?

A) Plantae and Fungi
B) Plantae and Animalia
C) Animalia and Protista
D) Animalia and Fungi

Question 22

Scientists use existing fossils to predict what the transitional forms between organisms might look like.Why might it be so hard for scientists to find fossils of these transitional forms?

A) Scientists have no way to determine how deep in a rock to look for a transitional fossil,so they just have to dig and dig until they find the right fossil.
B) Because of continental drift,the exact location of where a transitional fossil should be found cannot be determined.Looking for a particular fossil that could be anywhere on the planet is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
C) Fossils of transitional species may have never formed due to environmental conditions,or if they did form,natural processes like erosion may have destroyed them.
D) The transitional form of any organism is only hypothetical in nature; it never truly existed on the planet and,therefore,could never become a fossil.

Question 23

Imagine the discovery of an undescribed nonphotosynthetic,multicellular organism.To determine whether it is a(n)________,it would need to be examined microscopically to determine if its cells ________.

A) animal or fungi; have cell walls
B) animal or plant; have nuclei
C) plant or fungi; have cell walls
D) animal or fungi; contain DNA

Question 24

The emergence of each new branch on the evolutionary tree represents

A) the addition of a new Linnaean taxon within that lineage.
B) the completion of a generation for that particular organism.
C) the introduction of the most important features of a group.
D) a common ancestor and the introduction of a new shared derived feature.

Question 25

In order to best determine relationships among different organisms,scientists examine

A) DNA and behavior.
B) DNA and body structures.
C) body structures and behavior.
D) DNA,body structures,and behavior.

Question 26

Although it is costly to produce fruit,the large number of fruit-producing plant species attests to its success as an evolutionary adaptation.In what way is fruit production helpful to plants?

A) Fruits attract pollinators like insects and birds to move pollen between different plants.
B) Fruit toxins can discourage potential consumers from eating the plant.
C) Plants can store energy in fruits during summer and then later recover the energy during winter,when the fruit decomposes.
D) Consumers eating fruits also eat seeds that,when not digested,can be deposited far from the parent plant and increase the range of that plant species.

Question 27

Resolving the relationship between the various kingdoms has been challenging because species often resemble one another.For example,the kingdom ________ contains some organisms that are animal-like and others that are plant-like.

A) Bacteria
B) Fungi
C) Archaea
D) Protista

Question 28

The evolutionary history of the protists remains unresolved,but it is being refined with the addition of DNA evidence.This is an example of how scientific

A) data may change our interpretation of an evolutionary tree without challenging our understanding of evolution.
B) data proves that a hypothesis regarding an evolutionary tree is true.
C) evidence proves that the theory of evolution is wrong.
D) evidence proves that the Protista did not share the same universal ancestor as the rest of the living organisms on Earth.

Question 29

Neighboring plant or fungi cells share a common cell wall,making multicellularity relatively simple.How do animal cells remain connected to one another?

A) Animal cells share a common plasma membrane rather than a common cell wall.
B) Long interconnecting fibers extend from the nucleus of one cell to the nucleus of an adjacent cell.
C) Most animals produce a felt-like extracellular matrix to which their cells can attach.
D) Animal cells are connected to each other by the cytoskeleton.

Question 30

A marine biologist has isolated a microorganism from the Gulf of Mexico.This organism is unicellular,photosynthetic,uses a flagellum to swim,and has been observed ingesting smaller microorganisms in its vicinity.To what kingdom does this organism MOST likely belong?

A) Fungi
B) Animalia
C) Plantae
D) Protista

Question 31

The most ancient lineage in kingdom Animalia is the ________,followed closely by the ________.

A) sponges; cnidarians
B) echinoderms; chordates
C) chordates; deuterostomes
D) arthropods; protostomes

Question 32

Upon examining specimens recovered from the small intestine of a murder victim during the autopsy,clusters of cells are found that are attached to each other by shared cell walls.The outer layers of these cells are covered with a waxy cuticle,and there is evidence of many green organelles inside the more intact cells in the clusters.What type of cells might these be?

A) plant cells
B) fungal cells
C) bacteria
D) protozoan cells

Question 33

Branches on the evolutionary tree are sometimes rearranged by scientists because

A) new,related fossils or new information about existing fossils changes the understanding of the relationships.
B) new,unrelated fossils are intentionally put on the tree with existing fossils.
C) scientists are trying to prove a nonexistent relationship between species.
D) scientists have proven a relationship between two or more species.

Question 34

Which of the following statements about bird evolution is NOT correct?

A) Scientific studies have revealed so many errors in the traditional dinosaur-bird evolutionary tree that none of it is considered useful to understanding the evolution of birds and flight.
B) Scientific studies of the Xiaotingia fossil caused scientists to adjust the traditional dinosaur-bird evolutionary tree.
C) Scientific comparisons of Archaeopteryx and Xiaotingia fossils caused scientists to adjust the traditional dinosaur-bird evolutionary tree.
D) It is important to understand the dinosaur-bird evolutionary tree in order to have a better understanding of how flight evolved.

Question 35

The current classification system used by biologists is

A) complex and unchanging.
B) universally accepted by all biologists.
C) based on four generalized types of living organisms: Bacteria,Archaea,Eukarya,and Protista.
D) updated and revised whenever new information becomes available.

Question 36

Gymnosperms and angiosperms are believed to be more closely related to one another than the other major plant groups because

A) they alone possess vascular systems.
B) both groups produce separate male and female gametes.
C) they provide their embryos with stored food in seeds.
D) they alone possess a waxy cuticle.

Question 37

For the species Homo sapiens the first part of the name,Homo,denotes the

A) class.
B) family.
C) order.
D) genus.

Question 38

Evolutionary trees are continually revised by scientists as new information becomes available from various sources such as

A) better understanding of the details of physiological processes.
B) additional,similar fossils found in relation to the geological time period.
C) the continued evolution of current Earth species.
D) the identification of alien species that have reached Earth via meteorites and comets.

Question 39

What criteria best characterize membership in the kingdom Protista?

A) a continuous lineage of descent from a common ancestor
B) a large assortment of unique shared derived traits
C) a common evolutionary heritage
D) the inability to meet the characteristics that define each of the remaining eukaryotic kingdoms

Question 40

When making sourdough bread,bakers use a combination of microorganisms to produce the sour flavor and to leaven the dough before baking.The organisms typically used to produce the lactic acid that give sourdough its distinctive flavor are very small rod-shaped prokaryotic organisms known generally as Lactobacilli.These microorganisms are from the kingdom ________.The other organisms that produce the leavening effect are nonphotosynthetic eukaryotes,have cell walls,absorb their nutrients from their environment,and (in this case)are very tolerant of acidic environments.These microorganisms are from the kingdom ________.

A) Bacteria; Fungi
B) Plantae; Fungi
C) Animalia; Bacteria
D) Plantae; Bacteria

Question 41

The fourth mass extinction occurred about 200 mya at the end of the ________ period.This extinction eliminated 35 percent of the existing animal species,including ________.

A) Triassic; reptiles,early dinosaurs,and the first mammals
B) Jurassic; dinosaurs,the first birds,and many flowering plants
C) Silurian; insects,birds,and mammals
D) Carboniferous; insects,birds,and mammals

Question 42

The evolution of sperm-cell-containing structures called ________ freed gymnosperms from requiring water for fertilization.

Question 43

According to the classification chart shown below,humans are in the phylum ________.

Question 44

Why might many new species form in the aftermath of a mass extinction?

A) Gene flow among the remaining species would be increased,giving rise to many new genetic recombinations.
B) Changed environments and reduced competition would provide opportunities for new adaptations.
C) New environments would increase mutation rates.
D) Populations of remaining species would expand rapidly and reduce geographic isolation.

Question 45

The mass extinction at the end of the Ordovician period killed

A) 50 percent of marine animal families,including many trilobites.
B) 50 percent of terrestrial and marine animal families,including many trilobites.
C) 90 percent of terrestrial and marine animal families,and 100 percent of terrestrial plants.
D) 100 percent of trilobites and 90 percent of terrestrial and marine animal families.

Question 46

When did photosynthesis evolve and how did it influence the evolution of life on Earth?

Question 47

According to the classification chart shown below,humans are in the order ________.

Question 48

Because there is always new information to discover and interpret,scientists must be prepared to revise their ________ when there is evidence to suggest it is not correct.

Question 49

Mass extinctions cause the loss of many species,no matter how well adapted those species were before the extinction.Why might previous adaptations NOT help a species survive a mass extinction?

A) The rapid environmental changes that cause mass extinctions do not leave the organisms time to adapt.
B) Ongoing continental drift allows more species to interbreed,which lowers the genetic variability available for adaptation.
C) Adaptive radiations are stronger than adaptations.
D) Well-adapted organisms will not be affected by mass extinction; these are the groups that will survive.

Question 50

In an evolutionary tree,a given ancestor and all its descendants make up a ________,or branch.

Question 51

The domain ________ encompasses the traditional four kingdoms of Protista,Plantae,Fungi,and Animalia.

Question 52

The mass extinction at the end of the Permian period (about 250 million years ago)is thought to have killed off as many as 60 percent of the animal families.What group of animals dominated life on land at that time?

A) trilobites
B) mammals
C) reptiles
D) amphibians

Question 53

The mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period about 65 mya is believed to have been caused by a massive comet or asteroid smashing into what is now known as the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico.The debris arising from this impact would have blocked the sun's rays from reaching Earth.How would this cause a mass extinction?

A) With no sunlight,the plants would not be able to photosynthesize and they would die.Any animals that fed on those plants would also die and this chain reaction would continue up the food chain.
B) A giant fireball would have spontaneously incinerated every living thing,and the evolution of life on Earth would have started completely fresh.
C) A massive wave spread out from the epicenter of the impact and drowned all of the terrestrial life on Earth.Evolution of all life on land started over after that event.
D) All of the terrestrial plants and animals choked to death on the debris cloud.

Question 54

The figure below shows the number of living taxonomic families that existed on Earth during the last 540 million years.The sudden decreases in family numbers at 445,360,250,200,and 65 million years ago represent Earth's five mass extinction events.Based on this data,which mass extinction had the biggest impact on the overall diversity of life on Earth?

A) 200 million years ago
B) 250 million years ago
C) 360 million years ago
D) 445 million years ago

Question 55

The most recent mass extinction,which occurred during the Cretaceous period,may have been caused by

A) extra heat from the sun.
B) the pull of the moon on Earth.
C) the dinosaurs.
D) an asteroid hitting Earth.

Question 56

The fossil record indicates that species have become extinct throughout the history of life.There have been five ________,during which greater than 50 percent of Earth's species became extinct.

Question 57

Roughly 360 mya at the end of the ________ period,a mass extinction wiped out 30 percent of animal families,including many fishes and trilobites.The terrestrial animals at this time would have included ________.

A) Devonian; many insects,other invertebrates,and amphibians
B) Cambrian; dinosaurs and mammals
C) Silurian; mammals and humans
D) Carboniferous; reptiles and humans

Question 58

About 540 mya,there was an astonishing burst of evolutionary activity that correlated to the first appearance in the fossil record of most of the major living animal groups.Popularly known as the ________,this geologic time changed the face of life on Earth.

Question 59

Canis lupus is the scientific name for wolves.Canis refers to the ________ name.

Question 60

What is a likely reason the Cretaceous extinction about 65 mya is the best studied mass extinction?

A) It is the most recent mass extinction.Therefore,the fossils are typically closer to the surface and more easily reached for study.
B) It was by far the most far-reaching extinction and most interesting extinction event because it killed everything in the oceans.
C) It was the mass extinction farthest back in time,and it gave rise to the Cambrian explosion.
D) It was the mass extinction event that killed off all of the animals and plants that arose during the Cambrian explosion.

Question 61

The following geologic periods,listed in alphabetical order,are the most recent: Cretaceous,Jurassic,Paleogene/Neogene,Quaternary,and Triassic.Re-order the names of the periods beginning with the most recent.Then,choose one of these geologic time periods and describe the major events during that period.

Question 62

Briefly explain how new scientific findings may change the arrangement of an evolutionary tree while enhancing our understanding of evolution.

Question 63

List at least three basic functions of life that are handled differently on land than they are in water.

Question 64

List the three domains of life.Then,identify which two domains are most closely related to one another.Finally,indicate which domains are classified as prokaryotes and which are classified as eukaryotes.

Question 65

If Earth's current mass extinction were to end tomorrow,what would be expected to occur with adaptive radiations?

Question 66

According to the figure of Xu's dinosaur-bird tree shown below,was Archaeopteryx the ancestor of modern birds? Explain your answer.

Question 67

Information about the decline in animal groups during the first five mass extinctions was expressed as a percentage of animal families that went extinct.Can the graph shown below be used to determine the percentage of animal families lost during the current mass extinction? If so,what is the percentage of animal families that have gone extinct since 1500? If not,why not?

Question 68

How is the current mass extinction,shown in the figure below,similar to past mass extinctions? What is the cause of the current mass extinction?

Question 69

The following Linnaean classifications are listed alphabetically: class,family,genus,kingdom,order,phylum,and species.Re-order these classification names beginning with the category that includes the largest number of organisms and ending with the category with the least number.

Question 70

List the four kingdoms within the domain Eukarya and list one characteristic for each of the four kingdoms.

Question 71

Early birds had small,thick skulls and two toes on each foot.Archaeopteryx had a long,almost pointy skull and three toes on each foot.Early birds and Archaeopteryx shared the traits of feathers; clawed hands; and a long,bony tail.Examine the two trees presented in the figure below.Assuming that Xiaotingia shared traits with Archaeopteryx that neither of them shared with birds and looking only at the traits presented here,which of the trees shows the most likely relationship between these three animals? Support your answer by indicating which tree branch is initiated by which characteristic.

Question 72

Identify key characteristics for kingdom Fungi and provide three examples of members of this kingdom.

Question 73

Explain two ways that mass extinctions can have a profound impact on evolved biodiversity in the ecosystem.