Exam 27: Phylogenies and the History of Life

Which of the following key adaptations is found in many animals from the Burgess Shale fauna but not found in the Doushantuo and Ediacaran faunas?

Which of the following could be seen in the Mesozoic,but not the Paleozoic?

Figure 27.9 -All of the following events can trigger an adaptive radiation except _____.

Figure 27.7 -We know the streamlined bodies shown in Figure 27.7 are homoplasious.If the following groups also had streamlined bodies,which of the groupings would give the MOST support to this body type being homologous?

What is still lacking in the hypothesis of an asteroid impact as the cause of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction?

Some beetles and flies have antler-like structures on their heads,much like male deer do.The existence of antlers in beetle,fly,and deer species with strong male-male competition is an example of _____.

You have obtained the following data on genetic similarity among five species.The higher the number,the closer the relationship between the two species (so a species is related to itself 100%).What approach can you take to construct a phylogeny using these data?

You get back into your time machine with your wacky professor and take off again.As your time machine lands,you see an unusual landscape before you.As you open the door you realize you cannot breathe.You quickly shut the door,realizing you are in the _____.

Deletions in mice in the Hoxa3 gene,on the A cluster,result in abnormal formation of glands in the neck.Deletions in the homologous Hoxd3 gene,on the D cluster,result in abnormal formation of the neck skeleton.The protein-coding sequences of Hoxa3 and Hoxd3 are about 50% the same.Researchers inserted a functional copy of the coding sequence of Hoxd3 in place of the coding sequence of a nonfunctional Hoxa3.They left all promoters,enhancers,splicing signals,and processing signals of Hoxa3 in place.Normal neck gland development was restored.What can you conclude? (J.M.Greer,J.Puetz,K.R.Thomas,and M.R.Capecchi.2000.Maintenance of functional equivalence during paralogous Hox gene evolution.Nature 403: 661-65. )

Which of the following organisms would be most likely to fossilize?

Why would gene duplication events,such as those seen in the Hox gene complex,set the stage for adaptive radiation?

Figure 27.9 -What does the circled part of the phylogenetic tree above indicate?

Which of the following statements best describes the rationale for applying the principle of parsimony in constructing phylogenetic trees?

Which statement best describes why the Cambrian explosion was important?

Which of the following would be useful in creating a phylogenetic tree of a taxon?

What is thought to be the significance of the duplication of homeotic genes?

In plant communities today,leaf morphology is correlated with mean annual temperature,so paleobotanists use fossil leaf morphology to estimate the mean annual temperature of paleoclimates.However,the angiosperm fossil record contains an overabundance of samples fossilized near lakes or rivers where vines are especially common.Since vine leaves have a somewhat different association with temperature,use of data from vine-rich locations leads to mean average temperature estimates that are lower than actual recorded temperatures in modern plant communities.This potential bias in paleobotanical climate estimates is due to which type of bias in the fossil record? (R.J.Burnham,N.C.A.Pitman,K.R.Johnson,and P.Wilf.2001.Habitat-related error in estimating temperature from leaf margins in a humid tropical forest.American Journal of Botany 88: 1096-1102. )

Given that phylogenies are based on shared derived characteristics,which of the following traits is useful in generating a phylogeny of species W,X,Y,and Z?