Chapter 25 Review

If the half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 years, then a fossil that has 1/16 of the normal proportion of carbon-14 to carbon-12 should be about how

22,900

Fossils of Lystrosaurus, a dicynodont therapsid, are most common in parts of modern-day South America, South Africa, Madagascar, India, South Australia, and Antarctica. The animal apparently lived in arid regions and was mostly herbivorous. It originated during the mid-Permian period, survived the Permian extinction, and dwindled by the late Triassic, though there is evidence of a relict population in Australia during the Cretaceous period. Some dicynodonts had two large tusks, extending down from their upper jaws. The tusks were not used for food gathering, and in some species were limited to males. Food was gathered using an otherwise toothless beak. Judging from the fossil record in sedimentary rocks, these pig-sized organisms were the most common mammal-like reptiles of the Permian.What is thought to be the correct sequence of these events, from earliest to most recent, in the evolution of life on Earth?

4, 1, 3, 2, 5

How did the Cretaceous and Permian extinctions affect the numbers of prey organisms?

After the Permian extinction, the numbers or prey organisms increased then leveled off

You are the lucky student of a wacky professor who develops a time machine. He asks if you will test it with him. You get in, and there is an immediate glitch—the date readout fails so that when you land, you are not sure what era you are in. As your time machine lands, you see an unusual landscape before you. As you open the door, you realize you cannot breathe. You quickly shut the door, realizing you are in the ________.

Archaean eon

Which listing of geological periods is in the correct order, from oldest to most recent?

Cambrian, Devonian, Permian, Cretaceous

Which period had the greatest increase in the number of extant species?

Cenozoic

What concept explains the evolution of complex eyes?

Complex eyes evolved through a series of steps that benefited the eyes.

Which of the following is a limit of evolution that results in exaptations?

Evolution is limited by historical constraints.

According to the theory of seafloor spreading, oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, form as oceanic crustal plates move over a stationary "hot spot" in the mantle. Currently, the big island of Hawaii is thought to be over a hot spot, which is why it is the only one of the seven large islands that has active volcanoes. What should be true of the island of Hawaii? I)Scientists in search of ongoing speciation events are more likely to find them here than on the other six large islands.II)Its species should be more closely related to those of nearer islands than to those of fartherislands.III)It should have a rich fossil record of terrestrial organisms.IV)It should have species that are not found anywhere else on Earth.V)On average, it should have fewer species per-unit surface area than the other six islands. Group of answer choices

I, II, IV and V

Which of the following characteristics are expected in the first animals to have colonized land? I)They were probably herbivores (ate photosynthesizers). II)Animals had four appendages. III)Animals had the ability to resist dehydration. IV)Animals had lobe-finned fishes as ancestors. V)Invertebrates

I, III and V

Which of the following is the correct sequence of events in the origin of life? I.Formation of protocells II.Synthesis of organic monomers III.Synthesis of organic polymers IV.Formation of DNA-based genetic systems

II, III, I, IV

Which factor most likely caused animals and plants in India to differ greatly from species in nearby southeast Asia?

India was a separate continent until 45 million years ago.

What is true of the fossil record of mammalian origins?

It includes transitional forms with progressively specialized teeth.

Why would gene duplication events, such as those seen in the Hox gene complex, set the stage for adaptive radiation?

One copy of a gene can perform the original function, while other copies are available to take on new functions.

In 2013, researchers constructed a vesicle with replicated RNA. Why was this significant evidence for abiotic origin of life?

RNA molecules could pass on information to their "daughters."

Which hypothesis for the abiotic formation of organic molecules suggests that early Earth's atmosphere was a neutral atmosphere?

Some evidence suggests that the early atmosphere was made up primarily of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

Which of the following statements suggests natural selection as a mechanism in the evolution of ribozymes?

Some strands of RNA replicate less often.

Why are fossils considered to be an incomplete record of evolution?

The fossil record is biased for organisms that had hard shells and skeletons.

How does continental drift explain the uniqueness of Australian fauna?

The subsequent separation of the southern continents formed an island of marsupials.

What is true of the Cambrian explosion?

There are fossils of animals in geological strata that are older than the Cambrian explosion.

A genetic change that caused a certain Hox gene to be expressed along the tip of a vertebrate limb bud instead of farther back helped make possible the evolution of the tetrapod limb. This type of change is illustrative of ________.

a change in a development gene or in its regulation that altered the spatial organization of body parts

A genetic change that caused a certain Hox gene to be expressed along the tip of a vertebrate limb bud instead of farther back helped make possible the evolution of the tetrapod limb. This type of change is illustrative of

a change in a developmental gene or in its regulation that altered the spatial organization of body parts.

Which of the following organisms would be most likely to form a fossil?

a common squirrel

You are the lucky student of a wacky professor who develops a time machine. He asks if you will test it with him. You get in, and there is an immediate glitch—the date readout fails so that when you land, you are not sure what era you are in. Your professor begins to panic, but you see something that tells you are in the Cenozoic era. Which of the following could it be?

a rabbit eating a daisy

Which of the following is a defining characteristic that all protocells had in common?

a surrounding membrane or membrane-like structure

Upon being formed, oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, should feature what characteristic, leading to which phenomenon?

a variety of empty ecological niches, leading to adaptive radiation

A female fly, full of fertilized eggs, is swept by high winds to an island far out to sea. She is the first fly to arrive on this island and the only fly to arrive in this way. Thousands of years later, her numerous offspring occupy the island, but none of them resembles her. There are, instead, several species, each of which eats only a certain type of food. None of the species can fly, and their balancing organs (halteres) are now used in courtship displays. The male members of each species bear modified halteres that are unique in appearance to their species. Females bear vestigial halteres. The ranges of all of the daughter species overlap.In each fly species, the entire body segment that gave rise to the original flight wings is missing. The mutation(s) that led to the flightless condition could have ________.

altered the expression of a Hox gene

Insect wings may have begun to evolve as lateral extensions of the body that were used as heat dissipaters for thermoregulation. When they had become sufficiently large, these extensions became useful for gliding through the air. Additional selection refined them as flight-producing wings. If this hypothesis is correct, modern insect wings would be an example of ________.

an exaptation

The following question is based on the observation that several dozen different proteins comprise the prokaryotic flagellum and its attachment to the prokaryotic cell, producing a highly complex structure.If the complex protein assemblage of the prokaryotic flagellum arose by the same general processes as those of the complex eyes of molluscs (such as squids and octopi), then ________.

ancestral versions of this protein assemblage were either less functional or had different functions than modern prokaryotic flagella

If one organ is an exaptation of another organ, then these two organs ________.

are homologous

Hawaii is the most southeastern of the seven largest islands and is also closest to the seafloor spreading center from which the Pacific plate originates, which lies about 5,600 km farther to the southeast. Assuming equal sedimentation rates, what should be the location of the thickest sediment layer and thus the area with the greatest diversity of fossils above the oceanic crust?

around the base of Kauai, the oldest of the large Hawaiian islands

An early consequence of the release of oxygen gas by plant and bacterial photosynthesis was to ________.

cause iron in ocean water and terrestrial rocks to rust (oxidize)

A sediment core is removed from the floor of an inland sea. The sea has been in existence, off and on, throughout the entire time that terrestrial life has existed. Researchers wish to locate and study the terrestrial organisms fossilized in this core. The core is illustrated as a vertical column, with the top of the column representing the most recent strata and the bottom representing the time when land was first colonized by life.If arrows indicate locations in the column where fossils of a particular type (see key) first appear, then which core in the figure above has the most accurate arrangement of fossils?

core A

Which of the following would be least likely to appear in the fossil record?

desert-dwelling species

If a fossil is encased in a stratum of sedimentary rock without any strata of volcanic rock (for example, lava or ash) nearby, then it should be ________.

difficult to determine the absolute age of the fossil, because radiometric dating of sedimentary rock is less accurate than that of igneous rock

A swim bladder is a gas-filled sac that helps fish maintain buoyancy. The evolution of the swim bladder from lungs of an ancestral fish is an example of ________.

exaptation

A swim bladder is a gas-filled sac that helps fish maintain buoyancy. The evolution of the swim bladder from the air-breathing organ (a simple lung) of an ancestral fish is an example of

exaptation

Which of the following steps has not yet been accomplished by scientists studying the origin of life?

formation of protocells that use DNA to direct the polymerization of amino acids

Adaptive radiations can be a direct consequence of three of the following four factors. Select the exception.

genetic drift

Which of the following showed their greatest diversity during the Mesozoic era but were a small, less diverse group during the Paleozoic era?

gymnosperms

How was early Earth from more than three billion years ago different from today's Earth? Unlike Earth today, early Earth ________.

had an atmosphere rich in gases released from volcanic eruptions

The existence of evolutionary trends, such as increasing body sizes among horse species, is evidence that ________.

in particular environments, similar adaptations can be beneficial to more than one species

What adaptions by mammals helped their adaptive radiation after extinction of terrestrial dinosaurs?

increase in diversity

The following question is based on the observation that several dozen different proteins comprise the prokaryotic flagellum and its attachment to the prokaryotic cell, producing a highly complex structure.Certain proteins of the complex motor that drives bacterial flagella are modified versions of proteins that had previously belonged to plasma membrane pumps. This evidence supports the claim that ________.

natural selection can produce new structures by coupling together parts of other structures

Bagworm moth caterpillars feed on evergreens and carry a silken case or bag around with them in which they eventually pupate. Adult female bagworm moths are larval in appearance; they lack the wings and other structures of the adult male and instead retain the appearance of a caterpillar even though they are sexually mature and can lay eggs within the bag. This is a good example of ________.

paedomorphosis

The duplication of homeotic (Hox) genes has been significant in the evolution of animals because it ________.

permitted the evolution of novel forms

What is the most accurate method used to measure the age of a fossil?

radiometric dating

Fossilized stromatolites

resemble structures formed by bacterial communities that are found today in some warm, shallow, salty bays

The first genetic material on Earth was probably ________.

self-replicating RNA molecules

The loss of ventral spines by modern freshwater sticklebacks is due to natural selection operating on the phenotypic effects of Pitx1 gene ________.

silencing (loss of expression)

Many species of snakes lay eggs. However, in the forests of northern Minnesota, where growing seasons are short, only live-bearing snake species are present. This trend toward species that have live births in a particular environment is an example of ________.

species selection

What major innovations of the three radiations was associated with defying gravity to facilitate life on land?

stems

The oxygen revolution changed Earth's environment dramatically. Which of the following took advantage of the presence of free oxygen in the oceans and atmosphere?

the evolution of cellular respiration, which used oxygen to help harvest energy from organic molecules

A female fly, full of fertilized eggs, is swept by high winds to an island far out to sea. She is the first fly to arrive on this island and the only fly to arrive in this way. Thousands of years later, her numerous offspring occupy the island, but none of them resembles her. There are, instead, several species, each of which eats only a certain type of food. None of the species can fly and their balancing organs (halteres) are now used in courtship displays. The male members of each species bear modified halteres that are unique in appearance to their species. Females bear vestigial halteres. The ranges of all of the daughter species overlap.Which of these fly organs, as they exist in the description, best illustrates an exaptation?

the halteres

The Permian period ended and then rapid speciation occurred as new animal and plant forms evolved. The most likely explanation for this is ________. I)adaptive radiation II)ecological opportunity III)lack of competition IV)morphological innovation

three of these explanations

A sediment core is removed from the floor of an inland sea. The sea has been in existence, off and on, throughout the entire time that terrestrial life has existed. Researchers wish to locate and study the terrestrial organisms fossilized in this core. The core is illustrated as a vertical column, with the top of the column representing the most recent strata and the bottom representing the time when land was first colonized by life.To assign absolute dates to fossils in this sediment core, it would be most helpful if ________.

volcanic ash layers were regularly interspersed between the sedimentary strata