Deck 20: Understanding the History of Life on Earth

Question 1

When did most dinosaurs die out?

A)at the end of the Triassic
B)at the end of the Jurassic
C)at the end of the Cretaceous
D)at the end of the Tertiary

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is known as one of the most spectacular animals of the Burges Shale?

A)Laggania
B)Tuzoia
C)Peytoia
D)Anomalocaris

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What is tomography?

A)the use of thin sections cut from a fossil to reconstruct the organism's appearance
B)the use of thick sections cut from a fossil to reconstruct the organism's appearance
C)the use of thin sections cut from a modern animal to reconstruct the organism's history
D)the use of thick sections cut from a modern animal to reconstruct the organism's history

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Some fossils, particular plant fossils, are moulds or impressions. Why may the three-dimensional analysis of these fossils be difficult?

A)because these organisms may have been compressed shortly after death
B)because these organisms may have been compressed long after death
C)because these organisms may have been compressed while still being alive
D)because these organisms may have been compressed dissolved

Question 5

What are geological strata a consequence of?

A)erosion
B)human impact
C)extraterrestrial impact
D)volcanic activity

Question 6

When did dinosaurs flourish?

A)during the Archaean
B)during the Paleozoic
C)during the Mesozoic
D)during the Cambrian

Question 7

Which of the following applies to fossils found in the same stratum?

A)They represent organisms that lived and died at different times in the past.
B)They represent organisms that lived and died at roughly the same time in the past.
C)They represent organisms that lived at roughly the same time in the past.
D)They represent organisms that died at roughly the same time in the past.

Question 8

When did the age that saw a great diversification of land plants as well as the first amphibians happen?

A)the Cambrian
B)the Cretaceous
C)the Devonian
D)the Jurassic

Question 9

If the entire history of Earth is symbolized by a 12-month calendar, in which month would dinosaurs and mammals both appear?

A)in September
B)in October
C)in November
D)in December

Question 10

In what types of rocks are fossils found?

A)metamorphic rocks
B)igneous rocks
C)sedimentary rocks
D)crystalline rocks

Question 11

Which of the following periods did NOT experience a mass extinction?

A)Permian
B)Neogene
C)Cretaceous
D)Ordovician

Question 12

Which of the following is the importance of the Burgess Shale?

A)It contains large numbers of exceptionally well-preserved fossils in sedimentary rocks.
B)It contains small numbers of exceptionally well-preserved fossils in sedimentary rocks.
C)It contains large numbers of poorly preserved fossils in sedimentary rocks.
D)It contains small numbers of poorly preserved fossils in sedimentary rocks.

Question 13

When did the most severe mass extinction on Earth occur?

A)at the end of the Cambrian
B)at the end of the Devonian
C)at the end of the Jurassic
D)at the end of the Permian

Question 14

What happened during the Cretaceous period?

A)Mammals diversified and flourished.
B)Life appeared on this planet.
C)The first animals with shells and skeletons appeared.
D)The dinosaurs reached their peak and then became extinct.

Question 15

When did most dinosaurs become extinct?

A)around 500 million years ago
B)around 65 million years ago
C)around 1 million years ago
D)around 10 000 years ago

Question 16

Which of the following is the oldest of the eras that make up the geological time scale?

A)the Hadean
B)the Paleozoic
C)the Mesozoic
D)the Cenozoic

Question 17

Most paleontologists agree that the parts originally described as Anomalocaris were the remains of two great appendages. Which ones?

A)Anomalocaris were plates around the mouth of Tuzoia, while Peytoia was its carapace or shell.
B)Anomalocaris were plates around the mouth of Peytoia, while Tuzoia was its carapace or shell.
C)Peytoia were plates around the mouth of Anomalocaris, while Tuzoia was its carapace or shell.
D)Peytoia were plates around the mouth of Tuzoia, while Anomalocaris was its carapace or shell.

Question 18

When did mammals undergo an evolutionary "explosion" or major adaptive radiation?

A)in the Mesozoic
B)in the Cambrian
C)in the Triassic
D)in the Cenozoic

Question 19

What was the era during which the earliest signs of life appeared?

A)the Archean
B)the Paleozoic
C)the Mesozoic
D)the Cambrian

Question 20

What is the evolution of many species diversifying rapidly from a single common ancestor called?

A)adaptive radiation
B)punctuated equilibrium
C)genetic drift
D)microevolution

Question 21

What is a likely result of a mass extinction?

A)creation of "empty niche space" that can stimulate radiation of surviving groups
B)elimination of non-beneficial alleles from gene pools
C)increase in the rate of new mutations
D)decrease in the rate of new mutations

Question 22

When did the first land plants appear?

A)during the Ordovician period
B)during Silurian period
C)during Devonian period
D)during the Permian period

Question 23

What genes control the overall body plan of animals?

A)Hox genes
B)Pax genes
C)homeobox genes
D)homeodomain genes

Question 24

A single seed lands on one of a group of isolated islands. Several million years later, its descendants have evolved into a number of new species on the different islands, representing a variety of trees, shrubs, and vines. What is this an example of at that point in time?

A)adaptive radiation
B)punctuated equilibrium
C)genetic drift
D)microevolution

Question 25

Why were there not that many fossils until teeth and bones appeared in fossil finds?

A)Hard tissues lend themselves to mineral fossilization, while soft tissues are usually fossilized as moulds.
B)Soft tissues lend themselves to mineral fossilization, while hard tissues are usually fossilized as moulds.
C)Hard and soft tissues are both fossilized as moulds.
D)Hard and soft tissues both lend themselves to mineral fossilization.

Question 26

Recent research on fossil records of lambeosaurines implies the function of their bony crest. Which of the following is its most probable function?

A)adornments that attracted mates
B)snorkels that facilitated breathing underwater
C)weapons in male combat
D)resonating chambers that produced honking vocalizations

Question 27

What were the first organisms to move onto land?

A)animals
B)plants
C)plants accompanied with fungi
D)fungi

Question 28

Which of the following is an example of analogous characters?

A)the tailbone of a human being and the tail of a monkey
B)the arm of a human, the wing of a bird, and the leg of a dog
C)the bones in the wings of bats, birds, and pterosaurs
D)the sweet potato and potato as food storage

Question 29

Which of the following plants are considered the oldest of the vascular plants?

A)tree ferns
B)treelike lycopsids
C)liverworts
D)moses

Question 30

Which of the following present characters that systematists use to develop phylogenies?

A)morphology, behaviour, and sequence of nucleic acids
B)morphology, behaviour, sequence of nucleic acids and proteins
C)behaviour and sequence of nucleic acids and proteins
D)morphology and sequence of nucleic acids and proteins

Question 31

What does the Cretaceous-Paleogene event refer to?

A)an event in which an extraterrestrial trigger killed most of the dinosaurs along with 75% of all species
B)an event in which an earthquake killed most of the dinosaurs along with 75% of all species
C)an event in which a volcano eruption killed most of the dinosaurs along with 75% of all species
D)an event in which an asteroid killed most of the dinosaurs along with 75% of all species

Question 32

Which of the following information provides clues to the origin of cetaceans?

A)the fact that they are a distinctive group of animals
B)the fact that they live in the water
C)the discovery of the groove-like structure called involucrum
D)isotopic analysis of the teeth of Indohyus

Question 33

Which insects belong to the group of hemimetabolous insects?

A)moths and cockroaches
B)beetles and dragonflies
C)beetles and ants
D)dragonflies and cockroaches

Question 34

What are the genes that determine where appendages will develop on the animal's body called?

A)ideotic genes
B)homeobox genes
C)Hox genes
D)homeotic genes

Question 35

A single pregnant female parakeet arrives in Hawaii early in its history. After millions of years, her descendants have successfully adapted to a variety of foods and habitats. What is this is the result of?

A)genetic drift
B)adaptive radiation
C)allopatric speciation
D)sympatric speciation

Question 36

What is adaptive radiation?

A)the basis of radiometric dating
B)development of similar body form in unrelated organisms
C)formation of beneficial alleles through exposure to radiation
D)origin of many species from a single common ancestor

Question 37

To which lineage do sea cows belong?

A)to an African lineage of mammals that also includes elephants
B)to an Asian lineage of mammals that also includes elephants
C)to an African lineage of mammals that also includes cows
D)to an Asian lineage of mammals that also includes cows

Question 38

Which insects belong to the group of holometabolous insects?

A)beetles, moths, dragonflies, and cockroaches
B)beetles, moths, ants, and dragonflies
C)beetles, moths, ants, and cockroaches
D)beetles, moths, ants, and flies

Question 39

How far back do the fossil records of whales and toothed whales extend?

A)more than 5 Ma
B)more than 20 Ma
C)more than 50 Ma
D)more than 60 Ma

Question 40

What suggests that the earliest movement of animals onto land occurred as short visits?

A)the movement of modern fishes onto land
B)the movement of modern fishes and annelids onto land
C)the movement of modern fishes, annelids, and molluscs onto land
D)the movement of modern fishes, annelids, molluscs, and arthropods onto land

Question 41

What was ichthyosaur thought to be when first discovered?

A)a fish
B)a reptile
C)an amphibian
D)a mammal

Question 42

If we were to discover beings on a distant planet that looked very much like us, what would this probably be cited as an example of?

A)coincidence
B)convergent evolution
C)homology
D)adaptive radiation

Question 43

What has been the general trend in diversity in vascular plants for the past 145 million years?

Question 44

What do some systematists want to replace Linnaean hierarchy for classifying and naming organisms with?

A)PhyloCode
B)description
C)morphological divergence
D)PhyloClass

Question 45

Which of the following best describes a paraphyletic taxon?

A)A paraphyletic taxon includes species from different evolutionary lineages.
B)A paraphyletic taxon includes an ancestral species and all of its descendants.
C)A paraphyletic taxon includes an ancestral species and only some of its descendants.
D)A paraphyletic taxon includes only the ancestral species.

Question 46

What must characters exhibit to be useful systematic characters?

A)They must be genetically dependent, reflecting the same parts of organisms' genomes.
B)They must be genetically independent, reflecting the same parts of organisms' genomes.
C)They must be genetically dependent, reflecting different parts of organisms' genomes.
D)They must be genetically independent, reflecting different parts of organisms' genomes.

Question 47

Nodes represent common ancestors that underwent cladogenesis and produced two descendant clades.

Question 48

Which of the following statements best distinguishes parallel and convergent evolution?

A)Convergent evolution is used when referring to phylogenetically more closely related organisms, while parallel evolution is used when referring to phylogenetically more distantly related organisms.
B)Parallel evolution is used when referring to phylogenetically more closely related organisms, while convergent evolution is used when referring to phylogenetically more distantly related organisms.
C)Parallel evolution is used when referring to phylogenetically parallel organisms, while convergent evolution is used when referring to phylogenetically converted organisms.
D)Parallel evolution is used when referring to morphologically similar organisms, while convergent evolution is used when referring to morphologically different organisms.

Question 49

Which of the following best distinguishes derived and ancestral characters?

A)Derived characters are new forms of traits, while ancestral characters are old forms of traits.
B)Ancestral characters are new forms of traits, while derived characters are old forms of traits.
C)Derived characters are used to determine relatedness among organisms, while ancestral characters are not.
D)Ancestral characters are used to determine relatedness among organisms, while derived characters are not.

Question 50

What do systematists need to consider in order to complete phylogenetic trees or cladograms?

A)similar organisms only
B)extinct and extant organisms
C)extinct organisms only
D)extant organisms only

Question 51

Which of the following are families of Eumaniraptora?

A)Herrerasauridae, Confuciusornithidae, and Avialae
B)Herrerasauridae, Troodontidae, and Avialae
C)Dromaeosauridae, Confuciusornithidae, and Avialae
D)Dromaeosauridae, Troodontidae, and Avialae

Question 52

Why is the traditional taxon class Reptilia considered paraphyletic?

A)It includes an ancestor and all of its descendants.
B)It includes an ancestor and some, but not all, of its descendants.
C)It does not include an ancestor along with some of its descendants.
D)It does not include an ancestor along with all of its descendants.

Question 53

How do mass extinctions and adaptive radiation relate to each other?

Question 54

Which group of animals represents the surviving dinosaurs?

A)birds
B)crocodiles and alligators
C)snakes and lizards
D)turtles

Question 55

Which of the following best describes a monophyletic taxon?

A)A monophyletic taxon includes species from different evolutionary lineages.
B)A monophyletic taxon includes an ancestral species and all of its descendants.
C)A monophyletic taxon includes an ancestral species and only some of its descendants.
D)A monophyletic taxon includes only the ancestral species.

Question 56

Which of the following best describes a polyphyletic taxon?

A)A polyphyletic taxon includes species from different evolutionary lineages.
B)A polyphyletic taxon includes an ancestral species and all of its descendants.
C)A polyphyletic taxon includes an ancestral species and only some of its descendants.
D)A polyphyletic taxon includes only the ancestral species.

Question 57

What is convergent evolution?

A)a tendency among organisms living under the different conditions to develop different body forms
B)a tendency among organisms living under the same conditions to develop different body forms
C)a tendency among organisms living under the same conditions to develop similar body forms
D)a tendency among organisms living under the different conditions to develop similar body forms

Question 58

Which of the following is an example of homologous characters?

A)the wings of insects and birds used for flying
B)the fin-like structures in fish and penguins
C)the bones in the wings of bats, birds, and pterosaurs
D)the sweet potato and potato as food storage

Question 59

Which of the following best describes why crocodilians are classified with lizards, snakes, and turtles?

A)They have a common ancestry and are reptiles.
B)They have a common ancestry and lay eggs.
C)They have a common ancestry and belong to vertebrates.
D)They have a common ancestry and are covered with dry, scaly skin.

Question 60

Australia and Eurasia each have a mouse-like mammal-one a marsupial, the other a placental. What is this an example of?

A)long-distance migration
B)homology
C)adaptive radiation
D)convergent evolution

Question 61

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
large swamp forests; first reptiles appear

Question 62

The extinction of dinosaurs was probably due to the breakup of Pangaea and the resulting cooling of the world's climate.

Question 63

Primitive feathers in certain dinosaurs evolved in anticipation of flight in their descendants, the birds.

Question 64

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
origin of mammals; Pangaea begins to break up

Question 65

The most severe mass extinction occurred at the end of the Permian period.

Question 66

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
continents coalesce into Pangaea; mass extinction at the end of this period destroys 85% of life

Question 67

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
origin of life; evolution of prokaryotes

Question 68

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
modern birds and mammals spread

Question 69

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
initial radiation of animal phyla

Question 70

The extinction of the dinosaurs occurred rapidly as a result of a single cataclysmic event.

Question 71

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
asteroid at the end of this period causes extinction of dinosaurs

Question 72

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
diversification of terrestrial vascular plants; first amphibians and insects

Question 73

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
first vascular plants and jawed fishes appear

Question 74

Match each of the following events with the correct time period.a.Archaean
b.Cambrian
c.Silurian
d.Devonian
e.Carboniferous
f.Permian
g.Triassic
h.Jurassic
i.Cretaceous
j.Paleocene
birds appear; dinosaurs diversify and dominate

Question 75

What are the factors that make the fossil record biased and incomplete?

Question 76

In what eons was there very little appearance of new forms of life, how long did they last, and why was there so little diversification?