MODULE 1 - Mastering Bio 1.01

Discipline: Biology (and other Life Sciences)

Type of Paper: Question-Answer

Academic Level: Undergrad. (yrs 3-4)

Paper Format: APA

Pages: 1 Words: 275

Question

Reptiles first appeared during the _____ era.
Paleozoic

We are living during the _____ era.
Cenozoic.

Dinosaurs went extinct during the _____ era.
Mesozoic.

_____were the dominant vertebrate life form during the Paleozoic era.
Amphibians.

Life arose during the _____ era.
Precambrian.

Flowering plants first appeared during the _____ era.
Mesozoic.

The Mesozoic era begin approximately ___ million years ago.
251

The Precambrian time began at least ____ million years ago.
4,600

Seed plants first appeared during the ____.
Paleozoic.

The first prokaryotic cells appeared during the _____.
Precambrian.

Animals first appeared during the _____ era.
Precambrian.

The Cenozoic era began approximately _____ million years ago.
65

_____ were the dominant vertebrate life form during the Mesozoic era.
Dinosaurs.

Most modern animal phyla evolved during the _____ era.
Paleozoic.

Bony fish first evolved during the _____.
Paleozoic.

Which event occurred earliest in the history of Earth?
formation of Oxygen.

Which of these events occurred most recently in the history of Earth?
first humans.

Which of these events occurred during the Paleozoic?
colonization of land by plants.

How many half-lives should have elapsed if 6.25% of the parent isotope remains in a fossil at the time of analysis?
four.

Approximately how far back in time foes the fossil record extend?
3.5 billion years.

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

The oxygen revolution changed Earth's environment dramatically. Which of the following adaptations 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.

Adaptive radiations cannot be a direct consequence of: 1) an adaptive radiation in a group that another group uses as food; 2) vacant ecological niches; 3) genetic drift; 4) evolutionary innovation; 5) colonization of an isolated region.
3) genetic drift.

Which sequence of eons, from oldest to youngest, is correct?
Hadean, Archaean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic.

What is exceptional about the Burgess Shale, Doushantuo, and Ediacaran faunas?
Soft-bodied animals are very well represented in these faunas. 

How did Ediacaran animals differ from Burgess Shale animals?
Ediacaran animals lacked mouths and digestive tracts.

Why do mass extinction wipe out species more or less randomly?
They are caused by exceptionally harsh, short-term conditions.

How can mass extinction events be distinguished from background extinctions?
A mass extinction occurs when at least 60% of species are wiped out within 1 million years.

Which of the following organisms would be most likely to fossilize?
  1. A common squirrel
  2. A rare squirrel
  3. A common worm
  4. A rare worm
1) A common squirrel

For many years scientists believed that almost all animal lineages burst into being during the Cambrian era (just after the end of the Precambrian super eon). However, there have been many recent findings of animal-like fossils and "trace fossils" from the late Precambrian. Which of the following best describes why it took so long to realize there was animal-like life in the Precambrian?
Animals from the Precambrian had soft bodies.

Which listing of geological periods is in the correct order, from oldest to most recent?
Cambrian, Devonian, Permian, Cretaceous.

Which of the following could be seen in the Mesozoic, but not the Paleozoic?
lots of flowering plants.

How do the fauna documented in the Doushantuo, Ediacaran, and Burgess Shale fossils compare?
Burgess Shale fauna are the largest and most morphologically complex.

Feathers either play a role, or may have played a role, in _____.
courtship, flight, gliding, extended hops.

_____ is rapid speciation under conditions in which there is little competition.
Adaptive radiation.

Mass extinctions create conditions that promote _____.
adaptive radiation.

The appearance of an evolutionary novelty promotes ______.
adaptive radiation.

The different finch species found on the Galapagos Islands probably arose as a result of ______.
adaptive radiation.

What evidence supports the impact hypothesis for the end-Cretaceous extinction?
Sedimentary rocks from the K-P boundary layer contain large amounts or iridium.

Which evolutionary mechanism creates new alleles?
Mutation.

Which of the following statements about speciation is true?
Speciation will occur more slowly if gene flow is high.

Why are teeth and pollen grains the most common types of vertebrate and plant fossils, respectively?
Both are extraordinarily resistant to decay.