EEOB 3310 Midterm 2

Humans have modified what proportion of the terrestrial surface of the Earth?

About 77% excluding Antartica

Does anagenesis and speciation always occur?

Anagenesis and speciation does not always occur. Species can occur over time that have not evolved or separated into different lineages. For example, some species of bacteria and archea remain in ancestral form.

Which of the following is NOT a common misuse of the word coevolution as highlighted by Dan Janzen's 1984 paper?

Assuming that coevolution has occurred when evolutionary change is demonstrated in two partner species in response to each other

Do bad genes or bad luck contribute the most to the typical extinction event?

Bad genes, assume species go extinct in "normal" extinction events because they can no longer access the resources that they require to survive due to sub-optimal phenotypes which have a genetic basis.

What would you conclude about this individual's motility and diet?

Bipedal, completely or largely vegetarian diet that includes recalcitrant plant stuffs like tubers and grains. Cannot conclude if they ate a cooked diet.

Consuming __________ increased access to nutrients, which likely spurred brain and body growth and development in humans.

Cooked and/or processed meat, tubers, and other plant materials

Cultural transmission is a much stronger force for evolutionary change than natural selection.

Definition: transfer of information in a population via social learning (species to species, parent to child, generational) Rapidity of information transmission via social learning compared to natural selection Cultural transmission of information can confer selective advantages and disadvantages in populations Examples: tool use in animals, including orangutans, chimps, bird song, rats, cetaceans Culture evolves at a much faster rate than genes do Natural selection takes much longer to act on a species Culture can change due to environmental or social pressures

What is inclusive fitness?

Direct fitness plus effects on other multiplied by relatedness

Which of the following cell types would you expect to be totipotent?

Embryonic cells early in development

A symbiotic relationship is always beneficial.

False

All extant species have been described by taxonomists.

False

Coevolution always results in cospeciation.

False

Humans evolved from chimpanzees.

False

Lactase persistence is common in adult humans.

False

None of the early hominid species existed concurrently.

False

In three words or less, describe the model used by Davidson and Erwin to describe the genetic assemblages that underlie development in animals

Gene Regulatory Networks

What master regulator genes are fundamental to the control of how the body plan develops?

HOX genes

Given that HOX genes can be swapped between vertebrates and invertebrates, what would you say about how conserved these genes are across distantly related organisms?

HOX genes are highly conserved across distantly related organisms

Describe the single biggest conservation threat to extant species, and the proposed solution offered by EO Wilson to this conversation threat.

Habitat loss, with estimates suggesting that humans have modified 77% of terrestrial habitat and 87% of marine habitat. EO Wilson prosed the "half Earth project" where 1/2 of the habitat on the planet is protected from development

Each white, horizontal box represents a separate species. Based on the figure what can you accurately conclude?

Many hominin species coexisted for most of human evolution

Why are early zygotic traits the most resistant to mutation and change?

Mutations that alter zygotic development could undo the development of the organism completely

Process "C" shown in the figure is an example of which of the following?

Paedomorphosis via neotony

When species appear to have diverged rapidly followed by a prolonged period of stasis.

Punctuated equilibrium

Describe punctuated equilibrium and one form of evidence that would support this pattern of macroevolution.

Punctuated equilibrium follows a pattern of stasis, where the species isn't evolving, followed by a shorter period of rapid diversification. An example is a species of bird that hasn't changed over many generations but must adapt quickly when a bacteria kills off the species of tree they nest in.

Where was H. Naledi discovered, was it a contemporary of Homo Sapiens and what evidence was used to accurately date this species?

South Africa, contemporary of H. Sapiens, dating of both the bones and substrate surrounding them was used to obtain an accurate date for them.

The key innovation for the adaptive radiation of Brocchinia in South America was the development of a ___________ morphology.

Tank

What is meant by the colinearity of HOX genes and give an example.

The colinearity of HOX genes refers to the way the position of the HOX gene on the chromosome corresponds to the position of the body part. An example is in Drosophila. The HOX gene that controls the thorax is in the middle of the gene.

Given the above phylogeny, which of the following statements are true?

The correct evolution relationships between Hs, Pt, and Mmu could be constructed using the evolutionary history of mammalian RNase A duplications and losses. The evolutionary history of RNase A 14 and 15 is shared between H. Sapiens and Rhesus monkeys.

A lineage through time plot measures what?

The rate of lineage formation (i.e. speciation) over time

With regard to the latitudinal gradient, how does this figure support the Diversification rate?

The slopes of a regression line between the points representing North and South America is significantly different, suggesting that speciation rates in North America are lower than those in South America.

For coevolution to occur, there must be reciprocal system.

True

The Species Energy Hypothesis states that because there is more sunlight in the tropics there is also more primary productivity, and this increased productivity leads to more ecological niches for species to fill.

True

The cyanobacteria gave rise to an ancestor of plastids found in plant cells.

True

"Habitat tracking" in the context of phyletic gradualism

When a species appear to exhibit a pattern of phyletic gradualism because they can follow their optimal/typical habitat

Adaptive radiation of a group involves

adaptation to new ecological niches facilitated by key innovations

Phylogenetic diversity is defined as

an index that quantifies biodiversity while incorporating the phylogenetic differences in a sample.

The fossil record of land plants supports a hypothesis of adaptive radiation for _______.

angiosperms

A totipotent cell

can differentiate into any adult cell

Introgression is a phenomenon where

gene exchange to parental species can occur through a hybrid individual

ring-tailed lemurs mark territories with urine scents and engage in "stink-wars" with other lemurs that enter their territory. This an example of ______-sexual selection

intra

Multicellularity in plants and opisthokonts

is independently derived in each lineage.

haplodiploid system, focal daughter to maternal aunt and paternal aunt

maternal aunt relatedness = 0.375, paternal relatedness = 0.25, maternal aunt more likely to help

Phylogeny of theridiidae spiders. Group living in this family has evolved

nine times

diploid system, focal son to his paternal great uncle

relatedness = 0.125, yes he should help

Male wolf spiders have tufts of bristles on the forelegs. females of this ancestral spider prefer males with tufts. this is an example of which type of intersexual selection?

sensory bias

Name one of the predictions of Hamilton's rule, i.e. altruism is more likely when:

the cost to the altruist is low

Chlamydomonas are ________ while volvox are _________.

unicellular, multicellular