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Chapter 2: The Pattern of Evolution

Chapter Study Questions

Chapter Study Questions


This activity contains 24 questions.

	According to the Theory of Special Creation, species __________.   are immutable; they do not change over time were created independently; no species ever gave rise to a new species are recent all of these

	What are the key components of a scientific theory? Was the Theory of Special Creation a valid scientific theory in Darwin's time? Is it a scientific theory today?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	The data presented in these graphs illustrate that _________.   Soapberry bugs from Key Largo (southern Florida) have longer beaks, on average, than do soapberry bugs from Lake Wales (central Florida) Soapberry bugs feeding on flat-podded golden rain tree fruit have shorter beaks, on average, than do soapberry bugs feeding on balloon vine fruit Soapberry bug beak lengths have decreased over time The first and second answers are both correct

	Look again at textbook Figure 2.3b, which shows beak lengths of soapberry bugs over time. What happened to variation in beak length when the golden rain trees appeared? Did soapberry bugs with new beak lengths (not seen before in the population) appear after the introduction of golden rain trees? Comment on what this pattern shows about the initial stages of evolution.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	What surprising thing do bird embryos' feet and wings do during development? What is the significance for evolutionary theory?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Which of the following best describes vestigial structures?   Vestigial structures are similar structurally and functionally to comparable structures in other organisms. Vestigial structures are small structures that are not present in close relatives. Vestigial structures have not yet been identified in humans. Vestigial structures are well-developed structures that have a different function in close relatives. Vestigial structures are functionless or rudimentary homologs of characters that are functional in close relatives.

	What did Cuvier discover about the Irish elk? What was its significance for evolutionary theory?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	The theory of descent with modification predicts that a region's extant plants and animals will be most similar to fossils __________.   from the same region from regions with the same environment from transitional forms

	According to the theory of descent with modification, organisms from the African tropics should be most similar to organisms from ___________.   the South American tropics other regions of Africa the Asian tropics

	What do Ambulocetus natans and Sinosauropteryx prima have in common?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Creationists commonly state that Archeopteryx should not be regarded as a transitional fossil, because it has fully developed feathers and therefore is clearly a bird, and/or because Archeopteryx is not the direct ancestor of modern birds. Do you think these criticisms are valid? Explain.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	According to the phylogeny presented in Figure 2.16, the closest relative of leopards is ____________.   lions Jaguars and lions are equally closely related to leopards and are leopards' closest relatives snow leopards jaguars

	Homologous characters are:   similar in function, but not in structure. features that show underlying structural similarity even if their superficial structure is different. features that appear superficially similar even if their underlying structure is different. known only from gross anatomy, not from any other biological feature. found only in closely related species.

	Look again at bones of the horse foreleg shown in Figure 2.18. One of the horse bones is shaded two different colors. Why? What does this illustrate about the difficulties of knowing whether anatomical characters are homologous?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Briefly explain why shared "flaws," such as the presence of the proximal CMT1A repeat, are particularly strong evidence in favor of descent with modification and against special creation.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Uniformitarianism means that _______________.   geological processes (like the deposition of sediments at beaches) have operated at the same rate throughout the Earth's history the Earth is very young extinctions cannot happen geological processes operating now operated the same way in the past

	This diagram represents two sedimentary rock layers with one intrusion/dike and a set of boulders. According to the principles used by 19th-century geologists to establish the relative ages of the major rock formations of Europe, what is the correct sequence of the illustrated structures (oldest to youngest)?   C, D, A, B A, C, B, D A, B, C, D A, C, D, B

	Modern geologists believe that dramatic geological catastrophes have occurred occasionally in the past - for example, occasional cataclysmic floods that occur when ice dams break below glacial lakes (e.g. the Bonneville Flood of Utah), gigantic lava flows (e.g. the Deccan traps of India), and meteor impacts (e.g. at the end of the Cretaceous). Are modern geologists uniformitarians, or catastrophists, or both?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Describe two ways in which the discovery of radioactivity has contributed to our understanding of the history of life on Earth.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	This chapter concentrated on the original version of the Theory of Special Creation, sometimes called "young-earth creationism" because of its insistence that the earth must be no more than 6000 years old. There are now other modified theories of creationism, including several varieties of "old-earth creationism" that accept that the earth is 4.6 billion years old. Old-earth creationists sometimes allow that species may change slightly, but deny common descent. Is old-earth creationism consistent with the evidence reviewed in this chapter?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	How old is the earth? How do we know? How old are the first known traces of life on Earth? How old is the first recognizable fossil of an organism, and what is it?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	According to Methodological Naturalism, the only valid hypotheses and explanations for natural phenomena are those that involve _________.   natural causes natural selection supernatural causes the assumption that the natural world is all there is

	Leuba's 1914 survey and Larson's 1996 surveys both found that about 40% of a large pool of randomly selected scientists reported belief in God. However, both Leuba and Larson also did a second survey restricted to what Leuba called "greater scientists" - prominent scientists who were highly respected in their fields. Leuba found only 30% of "greater scientists" believed in God. Larson repeated this survey in 1998, using membership in the National Academy of Sciences to identify "greater" scientists. Only 7% of the NAS members reported belief in God. Broken down by specialty, 15% of mathematicians reported belief in God (15%), compared to 5.5% of biologists, and 7% of physical scientists (physicists, geologists, chemists). 65% of biologists reported disbelief in God, compared to 79% of physical scientists. (Larson did not report the percentage for disbelieving mathematicians.) Among NAS members, are biologists more likely or less likely than other scientists to believe in God? Are biologists more likely or less likely than other scientists to be atheists? Comment on the patterns that these surveys show.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Give the term or phrase described by each sentence. Using the pull-down menus, match each item in the left column to the corresponding item in the right column. Radiometric dating Ring species Law of succession Transitional fossil Fossil record Vestigial trait 24.1 The total of all known fossils that have been described scientifically. A B C D E F 24.2 A rudimentary, functionless remnant of a trait that is better developed and functional in close relatives. A B C D E F 24.3 The tendency of fossils, or living animals, to closely resemble earlier fossils from the same area. A B C D E F 24.4 A fossil species that combines traits of two different lineages that are thought to be related. A B C D E F 24.5 A species that is spread over a large geographic area in a circular distribution, the endmost populations of which come into contact with each other but do not interbreed. A B C D E F 24.6 Estimation of the age of a volcanic rock using parent/daughter ratios of certain radioactive elements. A B C D E F

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