Chapter 15 Study Guide

Academic Biology Chapter 15 Study Guide Evolution

Directions: Read each statement carefully and determine if the statement is True of False. If it is false, correct the statement by changing the italicized word(s).

______1. A fossil usually contains only the hard tissue of an organism.

______2. Most organism fossilized in older layers of sedimentary rock are more complex in body structure than those fossilized in younger layers.

______3. Layers of rock can often be dated by the types of fossils they contain.

______4. The most compelling evidence supporting the theory of evolution is genetic evidence.

______5. Eras are the largest division of time in geologic history.

______6. According to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, variations exist within any population.

Directions: Use the following answers to correctly classify each structure(s).

A. Homologous Structures B. Analogous Structures C. Vestigial Structures

_____ Human ear muscles _____ Insect wings and bird wings _____ Dog forelimb and human _____ Python leg bones and whale hip forelimb bones _____ Human appendix and tailbone _____ Bird wing and bat wing

Directions: Explain the relationship between the terms in each of the following.

1. Relative age, absolute age ______

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2. Microevolution, macroevolution ______

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3. Evolution, natural selection ______

______Directions: Use the pictures of forelimbs to answer the questions below.

1. Are the forelimbs of the organisms above analogous or homologous structures? ______

2. Complete the table below and answer its corresponding questions.

Number of bones Approximate Function of Limb in upper limb number of bones (above elbow) in lower limb (below elbow)

a) Is there a relationship between lower limb bone number and limb function? If so, what?

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b) Why do you think the bone number of birds and bats are lower that that of the others?

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c) Based upon forelimb structure, which organism do you think is least related to the others?

______Directions: Read each question and choose the best answer.

1. Darwin recognized that only c. all living things descended ______can evolve? from a recent common a. breeds ancestor on the Galapagos b. individuals Islands c. populations d. individuals modify their d. geology behavior to survive and the pass those modifications on to 2. According to the principle of their descendants superposition, the lowest layer in a cross section of a rock sequence 5. According to Darwin’s theory of natural a. is the most recent selection b. is the oldest a. individuals are modified by c. has the fewest fossils adverse environmental d. contains only the fossils of conditions burrowing animals b. the environment affects all organism in a population in the 3. If Lamarck’s hypothesis of species same way modification were true, the children of a c. populations of all organisms person who developed large muscles by grow unchecked under natural lifting weights would be born with conditions a. smaller-than-average muscles d. organism that have more b. normal-sized muscles favorable traits tend to leave c. normal-sized muscles that more offspring. would become larger only if the children also lifted weights 6. In an evolutionary sense, and individual d. larger-than-average muscles. organism has high fitness if it a. has a large number of acquired 4. Darwin used the phrase “descent with traits modification” to mean that b. can run long distances without a. new species descended from becoming exhausted preexisting species, and c. reproduces more successfully species must be able to change than other individuals over time d. evolves into another organism b. organisms that descend from rather than becoming extinct high elevations are modified as they acquire new traits Directions: After the reading the scenario below, answer the questions that follow.

In 1976, a German scientist, A. von Frisch, was studying burying beetles on the island of Java in Indonesia. These beetles make their living by gathering rotting leaf litter and vegetation and burying it in underground burrows, hence their name. This scientist’s observations noted that burying beetles can range in size from 2 centimeters to 10 centimeters and, not surprisingly, the size of their burrow and the amount of vegetation gathered was directly proportional to their size. When he returned 20 years later to perform follow up experiments on the beetles, he discovered that average population density of the beetles had nearly doubled, but the size range of the beetles dropped significantly, wherein 1996, their sizes ranged from 1 centimeter to 3 centimeters. His data and observations can be seen below.

Measurements found in 1976 1996 plots of 1 m2 Beetle population density 19.7/m2 37.1/m2 Beetle body length 2-10 cm 1-3 cm (average length = 7.3 cm) (average length = 1.4 cm) Average vegetation volume 233.5/m2 42.9/m2

1. How has the variation of beetle body length changes over the 20 years from 1976-1996?

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2. What is the correlation between the average vegetation volume available and the body length of beetles?

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3. During his 1996 visit, von Frisch noted the massive industrial development that had gone on in Java since his last visit. Countless acres of jungle had been bulldozed to make room for a growing populace. If you were von Frisch, what possible explanation could you offer for the change in beetle body length over these twenty years? (Keep in mind Darwin’s 5 points during your explanation).

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