Deck 20: History of the Vertebrates

Question 1

Reptiles were better adapted to land than amphibians because they:

A) had legs arranged to better support their body weight
B) thoracic breathing
C) had watertight skin to help retain water
D) All of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Mammals that have live births but continue to incubate newborns in a pouch are:

A) monotremes
B) marsupials
C) primates
D) rodents

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Choose the key characteristic that allowed amphibians to successfully invade land.

A) Legs
B) Partially divided heart
C) Cutaneous respiration
D) All of these are correct.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Almost all organisms alive today evolved from marine creatures alive at the beginning of the:

A) Cenozoic era
B) Precambrian time
C) Jurassic period
D) Paleozoic era

Question 5

An example of a modern-day jawless fish (agnathan)is:

A) lampreys
B) shark
C) perch
D) angelfish

Question 6

The first vertebrates to invade land were:

A) amphibians
B) birds
C) reptiles
D) arthropods

Question 7

Choose the largest block of time.

A) Era
B) Epoch
C) Period
D) Age

Question 8

Many scientists consider birds to be little more than feathered dinosaurs.

Question 9

Which of these is not a characteristic of fishes?

A) Gills
B) Nutritional deficiencies
C) Pulmonary veins
D) Single-loop blood circulation

Question 10

What feature allows mammals to have a high metabolic rate,enabling them to be active day and night?

A) Four-chambered heart
B) Diaphragm
C) Hair for insulation
D) All of these are correct.

Question 11

Archaeopteryx is believed to be the transition fossil between reptiles and birds because Archaeopteryx had feathers and:

A) a tail similar to modern birds
B) scales
C) a long reptilian tail
D) a pointed,elongated mouth that could evolve into a beak

Question 12

Amniotic eggs evolved as a means to:

A) protect the embryo while the parent sits on the egg
B) protect the embryo from predators
C) allow the parent to gather food,not sit on the nest
D) prevent the embryo from drying out

Question 13

The massive early jawed fishes were called:

A) whales
B) coelacanths
C) placoderms
D) lampreys

Question 14

The first mammals very likely arose from ________________.

A) amphibians
B) dinosaurs
C) thecodonts
D) therapsids

Question 15

The very first vertebrates were:

A) cartilaginous fish
B) fishes with jaws
C) fishes without jaws
D) bony fish

Question 16

The first reptiles were the sail-toting:

A) pelycosaurs
B) thecodonts
C) therapsids
D) dinosaurs

Question 17

Reproductive methods among the ____________ are the most advanced of any fish.

A) Chondrichthyes - sharks
B) Osteichthyes - bony fish
C) Placodermi - armored fish
D) Acanthodii - spiny fish

Question 18

The type of fish represented by the most living species on earth today are the:

A) sharks
B) bony fishes
C) rays and skates
D) coelacanths

Question 19

What was the climate like during the Cenozoic era after dinosaurs went extinct and mammals began to diversify?

A) Becoming warmer and subtropically moist
B) Stayed the same as in the Paleozoic era
C) Becoming hot and dry,with great desert expansion
D) Cooling off,with glaciers forming

Question 20

When did the major evolutionary expansion of terrestrial plants and animals occur?

A) Mesozoic era
B) Paleozoic era
C) Cenozoic era
D) 2 million years ago

Question 21

All of the following are correct about birds except:

A) they have a low body temperature
B) they have thin,hollow bones
C) they have large breast muscles
D) they have a fused collarbone
E) their feathers are derived from reptilian scales

Question 22

All mammals have three middle-ear bones which evolved from:

A) bones in the reptile jaw
B) jaws of fishes
C) wing bones of birds
D) cartilage of shark skeletons

Question 23

Whales and dolphins have a few hairs on their snouts.

Question 24

For over ______ years,dinosaurs dominated the face of the earth.

A) 10 thousand
B) 1 million
C) 10 million
D) 50 million
E) 150 million

Question 25

The first animals to invade land were:

A) amphibians
B) birds
C) reptiles
D) arthropods

Question 26

The sixth mass extinction event is due to the activity of ____.

Question 27

Which of the following is the correct evolutionary sequence?

A) fish → birds → amphibians → reptiles
B) amphibians → fish → reptiles → birds
C) reptiles → birds → fish → amphibians
D) fish → amphibians → reptiles → birds
E) birds → reptiles → fish → amphibians

Question 28

What is the function of the operculum?

A) To pump water over the gills
B) To cleanse the blood from toxins
C) To detect changes in water pressure
D) To store urine until excreted
E) To regulate buoyancy

Question 29

Bony fishes possess a lateral line system to:

A) regulate oxygen concentrations in their blood
B) cleanse the blood from toxins
C) detect changes in water pressure
D) store urine until excreted
E) regulate their buoyancy

Question 30

Elephants belong to the order:

A) Cetacea
B) Edentata
C) Proboscidea
D) Carnivora
E) Artiodactyla

Question 31

All of the following are made of keratin except:

A) hair
B) hooves
C) claws
D) fingernails
E) antlers

Question 32

Which order do salamanders and newts belong to?

A) Apoda
B) Urodela
C) Anura
D) Chiroptera
E) Edentata

Question 33

Mammals and dinosaurs did not live during the same time periods.

Question 34

Bony fish have a sensory system located along the sides of their bodies called the ___________________________.

Question 35

Bony fishes possess a swim bladder to:

A) regulate oxygen concentrations in their blood
B) cleanse the blood from toxins
C) detect changes in water pressure
D) store urine until excreted
E) regulate their buoyancy

Question 36

What is the likely explanation for the extinction of dinosaurs?

A) The earth was suddenly flooded with water.
B) Lightening storms started massive fires.
C) A meteor struck the earth sending clouds of soot that blocked the sunlight.
D) There was a severe drought.

Question 37

The largest living reptiles ever on earth were the _____________.

Question 38

Amphibians gave rise to the successful land dwellers,the _____________,about 300 million years ago.

Question 39

Which is incorrect about sharks?

A) They belong to the class Chondrichthyes.
B) They have jaws.
C) Most are predators but some are filter feeders.
D) They have an internal bony skeleton.
E) Their eggs are internally fertilized.

Question 40

Which of the following has heterodont dentition?

A) Lizards
B) Dogs
C) Alligators
D) Crocodiles
E) Turtles

Question 41

Why is it that many of the animal groups that appeared in the Cambrian period have no living relatives?

Question 42

The milk-producing glands of mammals are called _____________________.

Question 43

Bony fish evolved ________________________ to help keep them afloat.

Question 44

Fish breathe using ___________ while amphibians and reptiles breathe using _________.

Question 45

The warm-blooded reptilian ancestors to the dinosaurs and mammals were the _______________.

Question 46

What are some of the reasons why placental mammals appear to have outcompeted monotremes and marsupials,the other two groups of mammals?

Question 47

What were the three major invasions of living creatures on land?

Question 48

The ___________________ were the flying reptiles of dinosaur times.

Question 49

What is the explanation for the mass extinction episode that brought about the demise of the dinosaurs?

Question 50

Why are there so many species of living things alive on earth now,more than at any time in Earth's history?

Question 51

______________________ are the order of placental mammals to which humans belong,along with 232 other known species.