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25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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1. The fossil record contains the appearances of ________ of life forms.
A. tens B. hundreds C. thousands D. millions E. trillions |
D. millions
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2. In 1786, the French paleontologist Georges Cuvier proved that extinction of species had occurred by demonstrating that the skeletons of ____________________.
A. extinct mammoths were distinctly different from those of living elephant species B. extinct sabre-toothed tigers were distinctly different from those of living Bengal tigers C. extinct dinosaurs were distinctly different from those of living dinosaur species D. had divergent DNA structure E. had similar DNA structure |
A. extinct mammoths were distinctly different from those of living elephant species
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3. The fact that older fossils are more unlike living organisms implies that old forms of life have died out and that new forms of life have developed. This relationship is known as the _______________.
A. Law of Faunal Assemblages B. Law of Superposition C. Law of Faunal Succession D. Law of the Floral Devolution E. Law of the Incremental Devolution |
C. Law of Faunal Succession
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4. Steno's 1669 Law of Superposition explains that ________________.
A. older fossils are more unlike living organisms, that old forms of life have died out, and that new forms of life have developed B. strata of like age can be recognized by the like assemblage of fossils they contain C. younger layers of sediment are deposited on top of older layers D. natural selection determines a super species E. super species are deposited in more recent layers |
C. younger layers of sediment are deposited on top of older layers
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5. In 1786, the French paleontologist _________ proved that extinction of species had occurred.
A. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier B. Georges Cuvier C. Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) D. Carl Linnaeus E. Gustav Flaubert |
B. Georges Cuvier
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6. At 3.85 billion years ago, ________ were alive, reproducing and evolving.
A. dinosaurs B. fish C. mammals D. archaea E. ferns |
D. archaea
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7. The major branches of life include ______________.
A. archaea B. bacteria C. eukarya D. All of these are correct |
D. all of these are correct
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8. The arrival of sexual reproduction __________________.
A. sped up evolution a little bit B. sped up evolutionary changes by thousands of times C. did not change the rate of evolution D. slowed down evolution by a little bit E. slowed down evolution by thousands of times |
B. sped up evolutionary changes by thousands of times
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9. Vertebrates appeared on land ________________.
A. before fish appeared in the ocean B. at about the same time as fish appeared in the ocean C. after fish appeared in the ocean D. at some indeterminate time relative to the appearance of fish in the ocean E. after flying birds appeared in the sky |
C. after fish appeared in the ocean
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10. The fossil record from times younger than about 544 million years ago is better than that from earlier times because __________________________.
A. many of the new groups of organisms began creating hard parts, such as shells, that preserve well as fossils B. oxygen decreased in the atmosphere, decreasing oxidation of fossil body parts C. carbon dioxide increased in the atmosphere, retarding oxidation of fossil body parts D. Both oxygen decreased in the atmosphere, decreasing oxidation of fossil body parts and carbon dioxide increased in the atmosphere, retarding oxidation of fossil body parts are correct. E. people have looked more closely at the younger rocks |
A. many of the new groups of organisms began creating hard parts, such as shells, that preserve well as fossils
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11. Organisms so similar in life habits and functions that they can breed together freely and produce reproductively viable offspring are collectively called a ___________.
A. genus B. family C. kingdom D. class E. species |
E. species
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12. Members of a species share a common pool of genetic material known as _________________.
A. a gene B. singular DNA C. a genome D. a chromosome E. recombinant RNA |
C. a genome
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13. A _________ is the smallest biologically real and distinct unit of individuals that share a common ancestor not shared with other organisms.
A. genus B. family C. kingdom D. species E. class |
D. species
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14. At the end of Cretaceous time (65 million years ago), life may have been challenged by _____________________.
A. falling sea level B. the Deccan traps flood basalt in India C. the impact of a large (10-km-diameter) asteroid in the Yucatan area of Mexico D. All of these are correct. |
D. all of these are correct
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15. Possible causes of mass extinctions include ___________________.
A. the longer lasting and far-reaching effects of plate tectonics and of voluminous volcanic outpourings B. biological processes C. climate changes D. asteroid and comet impacts E. All of these are correct |
E. All of these are correct
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16. Plate-tectonic causes of mass extinctions include _________________.
A. changes in seafloor spreading rates B. sea-level changes C. numbers and sizes of continents D. continental positions and glaciations E. All of these are correct. |
E. all of these are correct
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17. The isolated landmasses of Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, and Africa all have very different species from each other and from the rest of the world. If these four landmasses were recombined by natural plate tectonic processes, ___________________________.
A. there would be numerous extinctions as the different species would be thrown into competition for the shared food supply and living space B. nature would assure that all species would be able to maintain their own lifestyles and survive C. every living species would become extinct |
A. there would be numerous extinctions as the different species would be thrown into competition for the shared food supply and living space
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18. Volcanic causes of extinctions include ______________________.
A. sea level change from immense outpourings of lava in relatively short geological time B. worldwide changes in atmospheric composition C. change in ocean-water acidity and oxygen concentrations D. All of these are correct. |
D. all of these are correct
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19. Causes of extinction related to changes in the oceans include all but which of the following?
A. change in salinity B. temperature change C. decreased circulation of ocean water, which affected oxygen content of the water D. massive releases of oil deposits into the ocean, poisoning the water and coating the bodies of marine organisms |
D. massive releases of oil deposits into the ocean, poisoning the water and coating the bodies of marine organisms
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20. Humans have been documented to be the exterminating agent in numerous extinctions on _______________.
A. Madagascar B. New Zealand C. Hawaii D. All of these are correct. |
D. all of these are correct
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21. A major outpouring of basalt could have contributed to widespread extinction including _________________.
A. the Deccan Traps B. the Siberian Traps C. the Ontong Java oceanic plateau D. All of these are correct. |
D. All of these are correct.
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22. A major extraterrestrial impact occurred in ________ at the Cretaceous-Tertiary time boundary.
A. Arizona B. Russia C. Mexico D. Quebec E. India |
C. Mexico
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23. Mass extinctions of large numbers of species have occurred at least five times in the past, but most notably at _________________ and 440 million years ago.
A. one million, 100 million, B. 65 million, 250 million, C. 65 million, two billion, D. 250 million, two billion, E. 73 million, 310 million, |
B. 65 million, 250 million,
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24. The level of oxygen in the form of O2 in the Earth's atmosphere ___________________.
A. has not changed substantially in the past 450 million years B. is drastically decreasing due to pollution C. is no different than it was 4.6 billion years ago D. is drastically increasing due to growth of new bacterial strains E. cannot change because Earth is a closed system |
A. has not changed substantially in the past 450 million years
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25. The Law of Faunal Succession says that ______________________.
A. the older the rocks, the more dissimilar the life forms to those of the present B. the older the rocks, the more similar the life forms to those of the present C. older rocks are on the bottom, and have the youngest fossils D. younger rocks have the youngest fossils |
A. the older the rocks, the more dissimilar the life forms to those of the present
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