Deck 21: Paleozoic Life History

Question 1

What is the importance of Glossopteris?

Answer 1

Glossopteris was a fern that lived in non-swampy areas and was widely distributed in the Late Paleozoic.The presence of fossils of this plant on many continents is one line of evidence for the plate tectonic theory.

Question 2

Briefly state why the development of the amniote egg was so significant in the evolution of the reptiles.

Answer 2

This type of egg allowed the developing organism to bypass a larval stage that needed to live in water.Therefore,organisms were able to inhabit many ecosystems on land without being dependent on water for part of their reproductive cycle.The organism that hatched was self-reliant and looked like a miniature of the adult.

Question 3

Briefly state some of the mammal-like features that therapsids developed.

Answer 3

The therapsids had differentiated teeth for various functions.They had larger lower jawbones than reptiles.They had a different leg structure which led to a more vertical posture.

Question 4

What hypotheses have been put forward to explain the rise of so many different types of organisms at the time of the Cambrian explosion?

Question 5

Briefly state the problems that animals faced in their adaptation to the land.

Question 6

What was the Cambrian Explosion?

Question 7

What was the evolutionary advantage of having a mineralized skeleton?

Question 8

What were the factors that made it difficult for animals to adapt to land?

Question 9

Name two examples of modern sphenopsids.

Question 10

Describe the evolutionary history and importance of crossopterygians.

Question 11

What is the age of the Burgess Shale? What is its significance,and why did this unique preservation occur?

Question 12

What characterized the sphenopsid plant group?

Question 13

Describe the characteristics of an excellent guide fossil and give one example.

Question 14

Describe the four feeding groups and how they get their nutrition.

Question 15

What was the distribution of trilobites in time and space during the Paleozoic? What niches did trilobites fill? Most were bottom dwellers,crawling around on the seafloor eating detritus.

Question 16

What is the significance of the different types of cell cleavage between echinoderms and chordates versus other invertebrates? What other evidence is there for this idea?

Question 17

What was the name of the earliest known reptile,and when did it evolve?

Question 18

Describe the difference in cell division between echinoderms and chordates versus other invertebrates.

Question 19

What selective advantages did an exoskeleton or shell provide?

Question 20

Briefly discuss how the evolution of jawed fishes and other predatory creatures affected the marine ecosystem.

Question 21

Three examples of zooplankton are____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 22

____________________ in jawless fish eventually developed into jaws.

Question 23

The Carboniferous flora in coal-forming swamps was dominated by ____________________ plants.

Question 24

Organisms that live on the seafloor are called ____________________; those that move are ____________________,and those that remain stationary are ____________________.

Question 25

The fin-back reptiles are called ____________________ and they went extinct in the ____________________.

Question 26

Benthos organisms that move through or live in the sediment are called ____________________.

Question 27

The development of ____________________ increased the diversity of foods that fish could consume,including ____________________.

Question 28

The oldest fossils of the first vascular land plants have been found in ____________________ age rocks.

Question 29

Benthic plants are called __________ and benthic animals are called __________.

Question 30

Chordates are animals that have,during at least part of their life cycles,a dorsal hollow nerve chord,a(n)____________________ and ____________________.

Question 31

The presence of an exoskeleton enables an organism to adapt to shallow water by providing protection from ____________________.

Question 32

Briefly state some of the problems that plants had to overcome as they adapted to the land.

Question 33

In an amniote egg,the embryo is surrounded by the ____________________ and provided with a(n)____________________ and a(n)____________________.

Question 34

By the end of the Permian,small mammal-like reptiles,called ____________________,evolved from the pelycosaur.

Question 35

The trilobite body was divided into three parts: a(n)____________________,a(n)____________________,and a(n)____________________.

Question 36

The development that set the stage for the evolution of animals that lived entirely on the land was the __________.

Question 37

Organisms that live in the marine ecosystem above the seafloor are called ____________________.

Question 38

Pelagic organisms can be divided into the floaters,or ____________________,and the swimmers,or ____________________.

Question 39

____________________ were warm-blooded,so they were able to adapt to a wide variety of latitudes.

Question 40

Three examples of phytoplankton are ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 41

Archaeocyathids can be characterized by all except which of the following?

A) sessile
B) benthos
C) constructed reef-like structures
D) suspension feeder
E) sediment bottom feeder

Question 42

Which of the following is not used as evidence to suggest an evolutionary link between chordates and echinoderms?

A) blood proteins
B) embyronic development
C) larval stages
D) biochemistry of muscle activity
E) none of these

Question 43

All but which of the following were important in the reef environment of the Ordovician?

A) bryozoa
B) stromatoporoids
C) tabulate coral
D) crinoids
E) rugose coral

Question 44

Which of the following is not one of the basic feeding groups?

A) herbivores
B) carnivore-scavengers
C) sediment-deposit feeders
D) suspension feeders
E) inhalation feeders

Question 45

What does the name Placoderm mean?

A) plate-skinned
B) bony skin
C) scaly skin
D) spiny skin
E) fleshy skin

Question 46

The two most important seedless vascular plants of the coal-forming swamps were ____________________ and ____________________.

Question 47

Hox genes

A) control the formation of shells.
B) control the development of individual body regions.
C) mostly evolved after the Cambrian explosion.
D) guide the formation of exoskeletons.
E) all of these

Question 48

Which of the following is not an example of a pelagic organism?

A) cephalopod
B) fish
C) algae
D) worm
E) foraminifera

Question 49

An organism classified as an autotroph ____.

A) is a carnivore
B) produces its own food
C) is at the top of the food chain
D) is a herbivore
E) has eyes

Question 50

What is the correct order of trophic levels from bottom to top?

A) primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, primary producer
B) primary producer, secondary producer, tertiary producer, primary consumer
C) tertiary consumer, secondary consumer, primary consumer, primary producer
D) primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer
E) primary consumer, secondary consumer, primary producer, tertiary consumer

Question 51

What did the mass extinction at the end of the Ordovician set the stage for?

A) more species to go extinct
B) groups of organisms to diversify
C) groups of organisms to withdraw from previous habitats
D) groups of organisms to repopulate abandoned niches
E) diversification and repopulation of abandoned niches

Question 52

All except which of the following are important fossils groups from Silurian and Ordovician age rocks?

A) crinoids
B) brachiopods
C) mollusks
D) trilobites
E) bryozoa

Question 53

Which of the following does not apply to trilobites?

A) abundant in modern oceans
B) excellent guide fossil
C) benthos, mobile
D) sediment-feeder
E) invertebrate

Question 54

What were the earliest fish?

A) ray-finned
B) boney-finned
C) cartilaginous
D) jawless
E) jawed

Question 55

The dominant type of flora in non-swampy areas of the Late Paleozoic was ____________________.

Question 56

How did Ordovician reefs differ from those of the Cambrian?

A) Cambrian reefs were generally small.
B) Cambrian reefs were built primarily of Archeocyathids.
C) Ordovician reefs represent a diverse community of organisms.
D) Ordovician reefs were dominated by suspension feeders.
E) all of these

Question 57

Which of the following is not a function of an exoskeleton?

A) protection against ultraviolet light
B) protection against predators
C) increased efficiency in reproduction
D) protection from drying out
E) support the organism to allow for increased size

Question 58

The Precambrian-Cambrian boundary represents the first appearance of ____.

A) vertebrates
B) amphibians
C) reptiles
D) animals with skeletons
E) animals with soft bodies

Question 59

The plant group that flourished during the Permian because it was well suited to a warmer drier climate was ____________________.

Question 60

What did the earliest fish have?

A) armored plated skin
B) jaws
C) spiny skin
D) plated skin
E) ray-fins

Question 61

Seedless vascular plants evolved which of the following features of modern plants?

A) seeds
B) roots
C) leaves
D) secondary growth
E) roots, leaves and secondary growth

Question 62

Eurypterids are a subclass of the cephalopods that are excellent guide fossils.

Question 63

Non-vascular plants differ from vascular plants in that they ____.

A) reproduce by seeds only
B) live in dry arid climates
C) are small and live in moist climates
D) do not have specialized tissue to transport water and nutrients
E) are small, live in moist climates and do not have specialized tissue for transporting water and nutrients

Question 64

What feature distinguishes the two subclasses of bony fish?

A) gill structure
B) skeletal structure
C) fin structure
D) teeth structure
E) scale structure

Question 65

Animals with rigid skeletons appeared abruptly in the fossil record at the beginning of the Paleozoic.

Question 66

The first evidence of shelled organisms is in the early Cambrian in the Ediacaran fauna.

Question 67

The factors which lead to the success of the reptiles on land include all except which of the following?

A) rapid locomotion
B) advanced jaws and teeth
C) method of reproduction
D) herbivorous feeding
E) none of these

Question 68

The sail-like fin on the pelycosaur may have served as all except which of the following?

A) sexual display
B) a means of locomotion
C) a means of protection
D) a means of defense
E) a thermoregulatory device

Question 69

The development of the seed played what role in vascular plant evolution?

A) Plants could grow taller.
B) Plants could reproduce asexually.
C) Plants could adapt to varied terrestrial habitats.
D) none of these
E) Plants could grow taller and reproduce asexually.

Question 70

Organisms with endo- or exoskeletons usually have decreased locomotor functions because muscles are restricted.

Question 71

In the Early Cambrian,there was a great diversity of fauna which represented many phyla that exist today.

Question 72

Plants are divided into which two major groups?

A) coniferous and deciduous
B) vascular and spore-bearing
C) angiosperms and gymnosperms
D) vascular and non-vascular
E) seedless and non-seedless

Question 73

The evolution of jaws played an important role in the evolution of fish because it allowed them to do what?

A) diversify feeding styles
B) increase oxygen consumption
C) increase food consumption
D) increase oxygen and food consumption
E) all of these

Question 74

The earliest vascular land plants were characterized by which of the following?

A) seed-producing and rootless
B) seedless and root-bearing
C) seedless and rhizome-bearing
D) seed-bearing and rhizome bearing
E) none of these

Question 75

The crossopterygians were well-adapted to move onto the land because they had this.

A) lungs
B) a means for locomotion
C) cartilaginous skeletons
D) lungs and a means of locomotion
E) all of these

Question 76

Life was more diverse in terms of phyla during the Cambrian than it is today.

Question 77

The presence of an exoskeleton gives an organism the protection to adapt to a much greater variety of habitats.

Question 78

There is no evidence in the geologic record that multi-celled organisms of any kind existed prior to the Cambrian.

Question 79

The most critical barriers for animals in making the transition from sea to land were the development of ways to deal with what?

A) desiccation
B) reproduction
C) the effects of gravity
D) the extraction of oxygen from the atmosphere
E) all of these

Question 80

One of the most significant roles of the exoskeleton is to provide protection from desiccation and predators.