Exam 25: The History of Life on Earth

According to the theory of seafloor spreading, oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, form as oceanic crustal plates move over a stationary "hot spot" in the mantle. Currently, the big island of Hawaii is thought to be over a hot spot, which is why it is the only one of the seven large islands that has active volcanoes. What should be true of the island of Hawaii? I. Scientists in search of ongoing speciation events are more likely to find them here than on the other six large islands. II. Its species should be more closely related to those of nearer islands than to those of farther islands. III. It should have a rich fossil record of terrestrial organisms. IV. It should have species that are not found anywhere else on Earth. V. On average, it should have fewer species per-unit surface area than the other six islands.

Bagworm moth caterpillars feed on evergreens and carry a silken case or bag around with them in which they eventually pupate. Adult female bagworm moths are larval in appearance; they lack the wings and other structures of the adult male and instead retain the appearance of a caterpillar even though they are sexually mature and can lay eggs within the bag. This is a good example of ________.

The following question refers to this hypothetical situation. A female fly, full of fertilized eggs, is swept by high winds to an island far out to sea. She is the first fly to arrive on this island and the only fly to arrive in this way. Thousands of years later, her numerous offspring occupy the island, but none of them resembles her. There are, instead, several species, each of which eats only a certain type of food. None of the species can fly, and their balancing organs (halteres) are now used in courtship displays. The male members of each species bear modified halteres that are unique in appearance to their species. Females bear vestigial halteres. The ranges of all of the daughter species overlap. In each fly species, the entire body segment that gave rise to the original flight wings is missing. The mutation(s) that led to the flightless condition could have ________.

Which factor most likely caused animals and plants in India to differ greatly from species in nearby southeast Asia?

The following question is based on the observation that several dozen different proteins comprise the prokaryotic flagellum and its attachment to the prokaryotic cell, producing a highly complex structure. Certain proteins of the complex motor that drives bacterial flagella are modified versions of proteins that had previously belonged to plasma membrane pumps. This evidence supports the claim that ________.

Which of the following statements suggests natural selection as a mechanism in the evolution of ribozymes?

What is true of the fossil record of mammalian origins?

How did the Cretaceous and Permian extinctions affect the numbers of prey organisms?

How does continental drift explain the uniqueness of Australian fauna?

What is true of the Cambrian explosion?

A genetic change that caused a certain Hox gene to be expressed along the tip of a vertebrate limb bud instead of farther back helped make possible the evolution of the tetrapod limb. This type of change is illustrative of ________.

If the half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 years, then a fossil that has 1/16 of the normal proportion of carbon-14 to carbon-12 should be about how many years old?

Which period had the greatest increase in the number of extant species?

One hypothesis that has been proposed regarding the origin of life suggests that life evolved from an "RNA world" to today's "DNA world." Considering the properties of RNA and DNA molecules, which questions would direct an investigation of the most insightful test of this hypothesis?

The following question refers to this hypothetical situation. A female fly, full of fertilized eggs, is swept by high winds to an island far out to sea. She is the first fly to arrive on this island and the only fly to arrive in this way. Thousands of years later, her numerous offspring occupy the island, but none of them resembles her. There are, instead, several species, each of which eats only a certain type of food. None of the species can fly and their balancing organs (halteres) are now used in courtship displays. The male members of each species bear modified halteres that are unique in appearance to their species. Females bear vestigial halteres. The ranges of all of the daughter species overlap. Which of these fly organs, as they exist in the description, best illustrates an exaptation?

The first genetic material on Earth was probably ________.

Which of the following characteristics are expected in the first animals to have colonized land? I. They were probably herbivores (ate photosynthesizers). II. Animals had four appendages. III. Animals had the ability to resist dehydration. IV. Animals had lobe-finned fishes as ancestors. V. Invertebrates

If a fossil is encased in a stratum of sedimentary rock without any strata of volcanic rock (for example, lava or ash) nearby, then it should be ________.

Fossilized stromatolites

In 2013, researchers constructed a vesicle with replicated RNA. Why was this significant evidence for abiotic origin of life?