BIO 41- Exam 1 Study Guide
How did Carl von Linne (Linneaus) contribute to the field of biology?
"Systema Naturae" 1738 The manuscript described a new system for classifying plants.
Is symbiosis as important as predation and competition? Why or why not?
Yes, all three factors contribute to bioversity within an eco-community.
Can one say that "On the Origin of Species" is a crucial book within the biological sciences? Why or why not?
Yes, the first mainstream introduction to the general public on the proposed theory of evolution. Although Darwin chose not to touch the idea of humans evolving, it was still a huge step towards that direction.
What is a contractile vacuole? Function?
a membrane-enveloped organelle that periodically expands, filling with water, then contracting, expelling its contents. They protect the cell from absorbing too much water and potentially bursting. Ex: ammonia is a water-soluble waste that can be excreted from the cell through this organelle.
Use Paramecium as an example to describe movement and feeding in a ciliate.
as mentioned above, this phylum is characterized by the hair-like cilia. The flickering movements of the cilia propel the organism through its medium while also creating feeding currents.
What happens when two different species have exactly the same niche?
Competitive exclusion theory, the two species will compete for the same resources and eventually one will overpower the other
Give at least four reasons for why some species are more common in the fossil record? Is the record "biased"? Explain.
-Favors sea-dwelling species -favors hard bodied species -favors larger-sized organisms -favors organisms with high populations w/ long lifespan
How does that number compare to the number of described species? Any impact on the field of biology?
1.8 million described and 8.7 million predicted
Approximately how long ago did the first protists appear in the fossil record?
1.8 million years ago.
What are the six major areas of evidence that support evolution?
1.Taxonomy contribution 2. Fossil record 3. Comparative anatomy 4. Embryology 5. Biogeography 6. Molecular biology.
Most biologists now agree that there are far more species on the planet than the number which has been described. What is the current estimate of species living on our planet?
8.7million
Define the concept of a community as used in ecology. Give examples of five different communities.
A community is an area where organisms of different species live together. ex. forest, deep sea, jungle, desert, swamp
What is a species? Define the biological species concept.
A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding.
Define the concept of keystone predator and be able to explain their role in the community (Focus on the Sea otter example from lecture). Can you give examples of other keystone predators?
A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions. ex. Sea otters feed on sea urchins and if the population of sea urchins wasn't controlled then sea urchins would overconsume kelp other ex. tiger shark
Define niche. Why is this an important concept in community ecology?
A niche refers to the way in which an organism fits into an ecological community or ecosystem. It's important because different organisms play different roles significant to their communities, ex. a keystone predator, a producer.
Study the diagram of all known organisms below. What percentage is made up of animal species? What percentage is made up of insect species?
About 20% are animals and about 53.1% are insects.
Use the acacia tree as an example of how many herbivores can coexist due to resource partitioning. Explain!
Acacia trees can be home for several other species such as a few different species of ants. They feed from the tree nectar, elephants and giraffes also feed from this tree's leaf. Elephants feed on the leafs on the lower branches and giraffes feed on leaves of higher branches. So each has it's own food source without competing. They also help the tree to grow and be healthier.
Why do the early stage embryos of a fish, a chicken, a mouse and a human have gill slits?
All of these species share a common fish ancestor, and the gill slits are evidence of this.
What are amoebas? Where are they found? How do they move? How do they gain access to nutrients?
Amoebas are unicellular protozoa protists that have no particular shape and are able to assume a variety of body forms due to flowing cell cytoplasm. - They are found in freshwater ponds and streams they also can be found on the undersides of plants leaves. - They change shape by extending their fake feet called pseudopodia which also helps them to move and capture food. - To feed they extend their pseudopodia and capture food particles in a water filled cyst by wrapping themselves around them and gradually open the water filled cyst that also contains the food and digest it.
Briefly describe the amoebas and give some examples of protists that exemplify the taxon.
Amoebas are unicellular protozoa protists that have no particular shape and are able to assume a variety of body forms due to flowing cell cytoplasm. Rhizopoda or naked amoebas, foraminifera (amoebas with perforated calcareous shells) and heliozoa (sun like amoebas) are from this group.
What are analogous structures? Vestigial structures? Examples of each?
Analogous structures- have similar functions but different evolutionary origins, ex. penguin fin and fish fin. Vestigial structures are structures that are no longer useful but still present in an organism. Was functional was one point in the evolutionary past. ex. human tail bone.
The phylum Arthropoda [meaning "joint-footed"] is the largest described taxon on the planet in terms of species diversity. The phylum includes all types of insects, crustaceans, spiders, millipedes and centipedes. What is percentage of the phylum Arthropoda of all known animal species?
Approx 84% in this phylum
How many species have been described (i.e. the total number of species named and categorized)?
Approximately 1.4 million
What is the difference between Batesian vs Mullerian mimicry (give examples).
Batesian Mimicry- a harmless species mimics a pattern/behavior of a toxic/harmful species. Mullerian mimicry- different toxic species having similar colors/patterns. ex. bees and yellow jackets
Can we learn something about evolution from artificial selection (e.g. breeding dogs)?
Artificial selection can bring out a variety of traits and mutations within a species. For example in species of german shepherds and other large dogs they are very useful dogs for law enforcement and other activities, but within this gene pool, which is often shallow in pure breds, issues can arise and run in the breeds, like hip problems.
How has our understanding of plate tectonics affected our view of evolution?
Because now it makes sense why species from far away continents are related to each other apparently because all these continents were once connected. it also explains why certain species began to evolve separately from each other. the changing planet, over time, has caused geographical boundaries that contributes to the evolution of individual species.
The protists are traditionally divided into protozoa, algae and slime molds. Why is this considered to be an incorrect and artificial grouping of these organisms?
Because these groups often overlap, they have been replaced by phylogenetic-based classifications. However, they are still useful as informal names for describing the morphology and ecology of protists.
Why are the forams so important within the marine environment?
Because they are abundant enough to be an important part of the marine food chain. Also their shells is the most important part of the sands of the bottom of the oceans. Also sediments of their shells turn to limestones over time and wherever limestone is found it means it's been an ocean once and it will help with the study of earth's history. Their shells fossils are also very important and helpful in the fossil records.
What is biodiversity? What is the difference between species richness and relative abundance? What can they tell us about a specific community?
Biodiversity- variety and variability of life on Earth. Species richness- the number of species in a community/sample. Relative abundance- the number of individuals of a given species as a percentage of all of the individuals in the community/sample. All of these factors can signify the food web of the community, and the various conditions of the ecosystem.
What is the focus of the field of biogeography? How does the field support evolution?
Biogeography is the science that study the distribution of different species across the world. Supports the ideas of species adapting to various changes in their environment/ecosystem.
Are biological communities stable or do they change? Explain.
Can change due to environmental factors/human interference/natural disasters/evolutionary factors.
Give two examples of resource partitioning.
Caribbean anoles: Although several species may live in the same forest, each restricts its habitat to a particular part of the forest, such as the tree canopies or tree trunks. Two species of squirrels--one eats acorns from the branches; one eats acorns that have fallen.
Explain the following: "Natural selection leads to differential reproductive success"?
Certain traits in species are considered more favorable to mates, therefore potential mates with more favorable traits often have more success in reproduction.
Briefly mention some of the individuals involved in the process of altering our perception of how life evolved. How did each individual contribute to Darwin's thinking?
Charles Lyell (1797-1875) wrote a book stating that small forces over a long period of time can be very powerful, causing major changes. (grand canyon) Carl von Linne (1707-1778) known as the father of modern taxonomy Lamarck's (inaccurate) Theory of the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics Alfred Wallace (1823-1913) sent a letter to Darwin regarding his own Evolutionary beliefs (mirroring Darwin's) thus hurrying Darwin along in publishing his book about Natural Selection much quicker. Niles and Eldredge: proposed that evolution was not a gradual change over a long period of time. They argued it was a rapid change in a short amount of time due to some Cause.
Briefly describe the ciliates. Examples? How do they move?
Ciliates are protozoans characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia (similar to the flagella- but much shorter and much higher in numbers). They are used for swimming, crawling, attachment, feeding, and sensation. They move around using their cilia- hence the name.
Explain the process of coevolution. Use an example to illustrate your definition.
Coevolution- lifeforms working together to survive. Ex. The Honey Badger and the greater honeyguide have this relationship. The Bird leads the badger to the honey, and the bird allows the badger to pillage the hive, the bird eats leftovers.
Which is the most dominating taxon within the animal kingdom in terms of species diversity (making up approximately 25% of all known species)?
Coleoptera (Beetles)
What are the three major forces affecting the evolution of interactions within a given community?
Competition, Predation, Symbiosis
What is a cyst? Function?
Cyst is a resting or dormant stage of a microorganism, usually bacterium or a protist, that helps the organism to survive in unfavorable environmental conditions. It can be thought of as a state of suspended animation in which the metabolic processes of the cell are slowed down and the cell ceases all activities like feeding and locomotion.
Compare and contrast the difference between taking digital photographs of an organism versus drawing/sketching one in the field.
Digital photographs are exact representations of the species depicted, but sometimes are difficult to capture in nature. Sketches are more personalized and are often used more in bird call books and so on. Both have different advantages and disadvantages.
Briefly describe how our species started to appreciate the biodiversity of the planet (in a geographical and historical context)?
Direct observation, geographical exploration, explanations through religious texts.
Why would two different species such as a dog and a human have more genes in common than a beetle and a human?
Dogs and humans share a closer distant ancestor within the animal kingdom, than between a beetle and a human.
What are the different taxonomic levels (in order from the largest to the smallest taxon)?
Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species (Dear King Philip Come Over For Good Spaghetti)
Describe the differences between ecosystem ecology, community ecology and population ecology.
Ecosystem ecology- environment, the physical and biological factors. Community ecology-biological interactions. Population ecology -tracking birth and death rates.
Explain the concept of the endosymbiotic theory.
Endosymbiotic theory says that some certain organelles of eukaryotic cells such as mitochondria, plastids (eg. Chloroplast), etc were used to free living bacteria that were taken by other cells but did not digest and over time they turned to organelles.
Terry Erwin changed our concept of the number of species that inhabit the planet. Briefly describe his experiment and how he estimated the number of insect species in the tropics.
Erwin fogged trees of a specific species and studied the species of insect he found. He noticed each tree had insect species specific to That tree, as well as many insects that were just visiting. By figuring out how many species were indigenous to each tree (on average), and calculating how many different species of tree were around the world, he was able to figure out how many different species of insect there were on the planet! (lots of math)
Explain the difference between evolution and natural selection.
Evolution is change in the genetic makeup of the population over time. Natural selection is one mechanism that drives evolution. Other such mechanisms include genetic drift, migration and mutation.
Define the concept of evolution?
Evolution is the process by which organisms develop, diversify, and theoretically improve over time compared to their earlier forms of that organism throughout history. This process of change stems from Natural Selection.
Explain the concept of an evolutionary armsrace.
Evolutionary arms race is the concept of prey adapting gradually in defense against their predators. More "weapons" to fight against their predators, and in defense to this predators also arm themselves against their prey's defenses.
What is the role of evolution and natural selection as related to resource partitioning in a community?
Favorable traits for survival in a community are passed on, therefore it's more favorable for a particular organism to use different resources that aren't in competition. Resource partitioning is a result of natural selection, less competition= better for organism's survival.
Use the finches and tortoises of the Galapagos islands as examples of how Darwin started to understand how life changes over time due to the process of evolution.
Finches- different beaks on finches dependent on the food source available tortoises- location of cacti, higher or lower, affected the height
What is the importance of genetic variation in the process of evolution?
Genetic variation helps keep the gene pool wide and more susceptible to change and adaption, and less susceptible to generally dangerous genetic (often recessive) mutations.
Describe the structure of Foraminiferans. How do the differ from sarcodines (amoebas)?
Foraminiferas are a group of amoebas that by their pseudopods make a shell from calcium carbonate (CaCO3) around themselves with holes in it that make it look like bees nest. - Sarcodines or naked amoebas don't have any protective shell they are only a usual cell with a flowing cytoplasm that helps them move and capture food.
Does the fossil record support evolutionary theory? Why or why not?
Fossil records help show ancestors to current species and also reflect the different conditions of the earth in their respected time period.
What is the geological record? What determines the boundaries in the record? Can you name the different eras (with approximate beginnings and endings in time)? Can you name the geological periods within each era in the correct order? Can you pinpoint the approximate time of each period?
Geological record is the part of science that studies information of sedimentary layers of rocks that contain sands, mud and fossils that over a very long time hardened and formed rocks. Studying these layers give us information about earth's history such as its climate, geography, geology, andeven evolution of life forms over time.
Evolutionary change can either be gradual or punctuated. Explain.
Gradual evolution- where the increment of change is small compared to that of time Punctuated evolution -where the increment of change is very large compared to that of time in discrete interval while most of the time there is virtually no change at all.
How many insect species exist in the tropical rain forests according to Terry Erwins data?
He observed 1,100 types of beetles and 160 of them were specialized.
What was the importance of Charles Darwin?
He was the first to (publically) suggest the Theory of Evolution based on Natural Selection. He led the voyage of the Beagle in 1831 that lasted about 5 years. It ended with a trip to the Galapagos Islands- a trip that inspired him to write about the evolution of the island finches, "On the Origin of Species."
What is the role of coevolution in a community? Use the Heliconius and passionflower vine as well as the bat/noctuid moth examples from your lecture to explain the concept of coevolution.
Heliconius (butterfly) lay it's eggs on the leaves of the passion flower and their larvae feed on the leaves. So to prevent the butterflies from laying too many eggs on any single plant, some passion flowers develop small colored nubs which resemble the butterflies' eggs and seem to fool them into believing that more eggs have already been laid on a plant than actually is the case. Also, the passion flower produce sweet nutrient-rich liquid from glands on their leaf stems. These fluids attract ants which will kill and eat many pests that they happen to find feeding on the passion flowers. They also have poisonous leaves that the heliconius larvae are protected against that by the help of enzymes they have. - Moths been living way earlier that bats and at the time the diurnal predators such as birds and dragonflies appeared the noctuid moths started to become nocturnal to avoid the predators. But when bats evolved and started to fly at night for food gradually the noctuid moths evolved a very strong hearing sense to detect the bats coming close. So they can pinpoint the bats and when they are closing to them the moth fall itself from sky and escape from the bat to stay alive a little longer.
Heliozoans are named well :"sun animals". Explain. How do heliozoans capture food?
Heliozoans are named after the sun due to their sun-like structure. The 'rays' that stem from it's body (the axopodia) are used for various things including Capturing Food, sensation, movement, and attachment.
How was Erwin's paper received in the scientific community? Explain!
His idea of 30 million insect species was not accepted worldwide because now we say so for 1.8 million species are found.
Populations are the units of evolution. Why can't individuals evolve?
Individual organisms cannot evolve unless you want to include gene editing, evolution is a process that happens over generations.
How did Lamarck contribute towards our understanding of evolution?
Lamarck contributed to Taxonomy. Lamarck's Theory of the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics- this theory of Lamarck's was inaccurate because it attempted to state that characteristics that were acquired during an organism's lifetime could be passed down genetically
Describe the relationship between Leafcutter Ants and fungi as an example of mutualism
Leafcutter ants cut leaves to form their own underground garden garden of fungi. The leaves feed the fungi, and the ants feed on the leaves, which are now palatable because of the fungi's mold. Mutually beneficial.
Explain the concept of binomial nomenclature.
Linnaeus- Every species has a unique name composed of 2 parts: the genus and the species epithet. ex. Homo sapien
How do marine life forms from the deep seas differ from the "typical" life forms found at the surface?
Marine lifeforms in deep seas generally lack the need for vision, can handle significant pressure/temperatures/high salinity (salt) levels.
What is microevolution?
Microevolution is the change in allele frequencies that occurs over time within a population. This change is due to four different processes: mutation, selection (natural and artificial), gene flow, and genetic drift.
Use the Hummingbird study as an example of natural selection. What are the characteristics of the individual birds that natural selection is acting upon?
Natural selection acts upon the characteristic of beak length, if two parents have long beaks their offspring are likely to have long beaks as well
What is the role of competition within community?
Natural selection, creating niches in the community to better share resources
Early naturalists tended to gather biodiversity information in a slightly different manner compared to modern biologists. explain.
Naturalists in history mostly gathered biodiversity information through direct observation, sketches, specimens, etc. Modern day biologists use more modern technology and have more information on evolution and how different species are related in the animal kingdom
Organisms often produce an enormous amount of offspring. Why do not all the offspring survive?
Not all offspring survive due to predation, and having traits that are unfavorable to survival within its environment. Surplus ensures that at least some will survive.
Do predators have an "easy" task in the community of organisms?
Not necessarily, predators are important for maintaining population stability and biodiversity within an ecocommunity
In the past it was thought that life was static and unchanging. Briefly describe how this view of the world was challenged, leading towards our current understanding of life as dynamic and ever-changing.
Old beliefs based on tradition/religion. Charles Darwin challenged these ideas through through scientific observation.
Give several examples of the evolutionary consequences of predation for both plants and animals (mechanical, chemical and behavioral; camouflage examples from lecture as well as the text).
PLANTS: to avoid being eaten, some plants develop Chemical defenses to fight against predation Ex: Geranium flower petals produce a unique chemical compound to defend itself from japanese beetles. Physical defenses would be to have thorns. ANIMALS: Some physical traits used to fight off predation are horns. Chemical defenses include poisoning of the skin (poison dart frog). Behavioral defenses could include a snake 'playing' dead and replicating the scent of a dead snake to avoid being eaten
Define plankton. What kind of organisms are represented by plankton?
Plankton are small, microscopic organisms drifting/floating in the ocean (or freshwater). These organisms include but are not limited to diatoms, protozoans, small crustaceans, and eggs/larval stages of other animals.
Describe the life cycle of Plasmodium in detail. Name all life stages. Make a distinction between the sexual and asexual part of the life cycle.
Plasmodium (Malaria Parasite) 1) mosquito bites the human, injecting the parasite sporozoites into the bloodstream. 2) the liver stage, where the parasites located the liver (quickly) and invade liver cells. They grow, divide, and produce tons of Merozoites. 3) the merozoites exit the liver and reenter the bloodstream, beginning the invasions of red blood cells. Here, they develop into Schizonts, where they rupture- releasing newly formed merozoites (asexual replication). 4)(the sexual stage) male or female gametocytes form from the new merozoites. 5) the gametocytes are ingested by another mosquito, and those infected red blood cells containing more gametocytes will burst in its midgut, and later develop into mature gametes. Male and female gametes fuse to form zygotes. Zygotes turn into ookinetes that burrow through the midgut walls forming oocysts on the other side. 6) growth and division of oocysts produce thousands of haploid sporozoites. When the oocysts burst in the body cavity of the mosquito, the released sporozoites travel to and invade the salivary glands. Then when he gets his next meal, the cycle begins all over again.
How do you explain that fossils of certain reptiles are found in both West Africa as well as on the East coast of Brazil?
Plate tectonics, certain species lived on parts of these modern areas when these areas were once positioned together, since then the plates have moved toward the modern position.
What is the connection between biodiversity and predation?
Predation promotes biodiversity by controlling populations of other species, allowing more species to thrive. Without predation, the prey species would overpopulate causing disproportionate competition for resources, leading to the dispersal of species (lower species diversity/ in a given area)
Why is predation such an important force within a community? What is the difference between predation and parasitism?
Predators play a significant role in the population stability and biodiversity within a community. Predation-larger species killing its prey quickly Parasitism- a small species killing its prey slowly, if at all. It wouldn't benefit the parasite to lose its host so rapidly.
Summarize: Characterize the protists.
Protists- single-celled eukaryotes with a nucleus, mitochondria, contractile vacuoles, food vacuoles, eyespots, and flagella. Protists derived from prokaryotic cells long ago, and have split into 3 groups- plantae, animalia, and fungi
The protists differ in some major aspects compared to the prokaryotic life forms that preceded them. Point out three new major characteristics that evolved in the protists.
Protists: have organelles, some of them have sexual reproductive which is the source of variation, and they are the origin of multicellularity.
Describe the features of the Radiolarians. These organisms have an extensive fossil record. Explain why.
Radiolaria, similarly to forams, have a skeleton that forms around the spicules. And the reason their fossil record is so large is because their skeleton is composed of Silica (helping it stay intact) and they have an extremely long geological range. This has made them very useful in studying sediments that lack calcareous fossils.
What is resource partitioning? What is the connection between resource partitioning and the niche concept?
Resource partitioning is the process whereby similar species exploit the limited resources in an ecological area without one species during the other into extinction. When species use different resources, this can help them to coexist by avoiding competition for the same resources. Niche concept is related because if two organisms share the same niche and competes for the same resources then one will overtake the other.
What role did Alfred Russell Wallace play in terms of our understanding of evolution?
Same idea as Darwin, just not as much evidence. Pushed Darwin to publicize ideas.
How can the sequencing of genes from different organisms tell us something about evolutionary relationships?
Sequencing genes can help us understand exactly what genes are passed along different species and families and so forth. helps establish how closely related two different species are related
Define the concept of homologous structures. Give an example!
Structures with different functions but similar evolutionary origins. ex. bat wings, human hands, and seal flipper.
Briefly explain how we have explored the realm of the oceans over the last century. What kind of devices are now used to explore the depths?
Submarines and other deep sea devices, majority of the ocean is still unstudied.
What is the role of symbiosis in a community?
Symbiosis- close and often long-term interaction between two different biological species. This close relationship helps benefit all the species involved, long term.
How are the white cliffs of Dover (in England) related to forams?
The White cliffs are composed of mainly white chalk with a fine-grained texture containing Foram skeletal remains that sank to the bottom of the ocean during the Cretaceous era.
Explain the phenomenon of mutualism with the help of the interactions between the Bull's Horn Acacia tree and the Pseudomyrmex ants.
The ants provide protection for the tree, while the tree gives the ants shelter.
The evolution of the horse is a prime example of vertebrate evolution. What aspects of the horse changed over the last 60 million years? What kind of changes are thought to have triggered this macroevolutionary change in the ancestors of the modern horse?
The body size, foot structure and tooth structure. The horses ancestor were small forest animals that feed on soft leaves and small insects but climate changed got warmer and drier, and forest became more mixed with grasslands and they changed their habitat to grasslands started to feed on grasses too. Their teeth got changed because grass is very rough because of the high silica content of it so horse's teeth evolved because of the rough food. But in grasslands they were very visible by predators and they needed to be aware of the predators approaching and escape from them. So the body gradually got larger with stronger muscles and their digits' shape and number changed and horses became fast runners.
Explain the concept of the molecular clock.
The molecular clock is a technique that uses the mutation rate of biomolecules to deduce the time in prehistory when two or more life forms diverged (relation).
What is the purpose of taxonomy? How is it used in biology?
The science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups.
What changes occurred in the field of geology challenging the static world view?
The theory of plate tectonics helped support the idea of evolution by fossil records, other geographical findings also undercovered various major changes in different phases of history.
Radiolarians and heliozoans have numerous extensions reaching out into the surrounding water. What is the functional purpose of these extensions?
These extensions, also known as pseudopodia, are very active! They not only capture prey and dispose of waste, they react to external stimuli and cling to foreign objects.
What is a transitional fossil? Examples?
Transitional fossils are the ones that show primitive traits of change in early species they help to link evolutional pieces together. Such as a fossil that shows the transition between dinosaurs and birds. ex. Homo habilis or Tiktaalik
Trichonympha is a fascinating organism that is ecologically important. Describe its symbiotic relationship with termites.
Trichonympha lives inside termites guts. They digest the cellulose and fibers of the wood and other plants that termites eat therefore the symbiosis between termites and trichonympha is mutualism because both termite and trichonympha feed on the same thing.
Trypanosoma is linked to several major diseases. Explain
Trypanosoma is a parasitic protozoa that causes "sleeping sickness" which kills thousands of people every year in Africa. Trypanosoma is carried in a biting fly called "tsetse" who bites infected hosts and transmit it to other people. When host is bitten by this fly the trypanosoma gets into the bloodstream and cover themselves by a coat of glycoprotein to avoid the host's immune system to recognize them and make the host sick. Another disease is "chagas" which is mainly a tropical disease of central and south America because the but who carry it lives there. This disease also if not treated properly can develop life-threatening heart and digestive disorders.
Explain the competitive exclusion principle (Gause's experiment). Why is this principle important in ecology?
Two species cannot occupy the same niche, the unique way of life and its relationship to other biotic and abiotic factors, the "profession" of an organism. One species may be overpowered if in the same niche as another.
What is aposematic coloration?
Warning coloration for predators, ex. bright small tree frogs are generally highly toxic.
Briefly explain the evolution of modern whales
Whales evolved from 4 legged land mammals, and slowly adapted to have characteristics more suited for the ocean, ie. fins, and losing hind legs.
What is the difference between intraspecific and interspecific competition? Examples?
intraspecific- Competition among members of the same species ex.sexual competition among male peacocks interspecific- competition between individuals of different species ex. lions and cheetahs feed on similar prey
Symbiotic relationships. Define parasitism, commensalism and mutualism. Can you give (as well as recognize) examples of each?
parasitism- non-mutual symbiotic relationship between species, where one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. ex. Ectoparasites(outside) ticks, Endoparasites(inside) hookworms. commensalism- relationships between two organisms where one organism benefits from the other without affecting it. ex. grey whales and barnacles mutualism- two organisms of different species exist in a relationship in which each individual benefits from the activity of the other. ex. plants- birds eating fruit
Succession: definition. Can you distinguish between primary and secondary succession? Examples?
primary succession- Basically- the slow/gradual growth of an ecosystem over a long period of time. ex. volcano eruption secondary succession- occurs on substrate that previously supported vegetation before an ecological disturbance ex. forest fire
What is sexual competition? How does sexual competition fit into the question above?
sexual competition- intraspecific competition, competing for mates. ex. male elephant seals
The phylum Apicomplexa contains numerous parasitic species. The main characteristic of the taxon is the so called apical complex. What is an apical complex and what is its function?
the apical complex is the focus of the events of host cell penetration and the establishment of intracellular parasitism.
What exactly is a niche as used in biology? Use an animal (e.g. a Blue Jay) to explain what a niche is.
the ecological niche of a sunflower -photosynthesis (oxygen output) -providing shelter and food for other organisms (e.g. bees, ants, etc.)