Ch. 5

Question 1

In biology, the ordering of organisms into categories, such as orders, families, and genera, to show evolutionary relationships.

Answer 1

Classification

Question 2

The phylum of the animal kingdom that includes vertebrates.

Answer 2

Chordata

Question 3

Animals with segmented, bony spinal columns; these include fishes, amphibians, reptiles (including birds), and mammals.

Answer 3

Vertebrates

Question 4

Similarities between organisms based on descent from a common ancestor.

Answer 4

Homologies

Question 5

Similarities between organisms based strictly on common function, with no assumed common evolutionary descent.

Answer 5

Analogies

Question 6

(homo, meaning “same,” and plasy, meaning “growth”) The separate evolutionary development of similar characteristics in different groups of organisms.

Answer 6

homoplasy

Question 7

A traditional approach to classification (and evolutionary interpretation) in which presumed ancestors and descendants are traced in time by analysis of homologous characters.

Answer 7

Evolutionary systematics

Question 8

An approach to classification that attempts to make rigorous evolutionary interpretations based solely on analysis of certain types of homologous characters (those considered to be derived characters).

Answer 8

Cladistics

Question 9

Referring to characters inherited by a group of organisms from a remote ancestor and this not diagnostic of groups (lineages) that diverged after the character first appeared; also called primitive.

Answer 9

Ancestral

Question 10

A group of organisms sharing a common ancestor. The group includes the common ancestor and all descendants.

Answer 10

Clade

Question 11

Referring to an evolutionary group (clade) composed of descendants all sharing a common ancestor.

Answer 11

Monophyletic

Question 12

Referring to an evolutionary group composed of descendants with more than one common ancestor (and thus not a true clade).

Answer 12

Polyphyletic

Question 13

Referring to characters that are modified from the ancestral condition and thus diagnostic of particular evolutionary lineages.

Answer 13

Derived (modified)

Question 14

Small- to medium- sized ground- living dinosaurs, dated to approximately 150 mya and thought to be related to birds.

Answer 14

Therepods

Question 15

Relating to specific character traits shared in common between two life- forms and considered the most useful for making evolutionary interpretations.

Answer 15

Shared derived

Question 16

A chart showing evolutionary revolutionary relationships as determined by evolutionary systematics. It contains a time component and implies ancestor- descendant relationships.

Answer 16

Phylogenetic tree

Question 17

A chart showing evolutionary relationships as determined by cladistic analysis. It’s based solely on interpretation of shared derived characters. It contains no time component and does not imply ancestor- descendant relationships.

Answer 17

Cladogram

Question 18

A depiction of species as groups of individuals capable of fertile interbreeding but reproductively isolated from other such groups.

Answer 18

Biological species concept

Question 19

The process by which a new species evolves from an earlier species. Speciation is the most basic process in macroevolution.

Answer 19

Speciation

Question 20

A depiction of species in which the key aspect is the ability of individuals to identify members of their own species for purposes of mating (and to avoid mating with members of other species). In theory, this type of selective mating is a component of a species concept emphasizing mating and is therefore compatible with the biological species concept.

Answer 20

Recognition species concept

Question 21

The concept that a species is a group of organisms exploiting a single niche. This view emphasizes the role of natural selection in separating species from one another.

Answer 21

Ecological species concept

Question 22

The position of a species within its physical and biological environments. A species’ ecological niche is defined by such components as diet, terrain, vegetation, type of predators, relationships with other species, and activity patterns, and each niche is unique to a given species. Together, ecological niches make up an ecosystem.

Answer 22

Ecological niche

Question 23

Differences in physical characteristics between males and females of the same species. For example, humans are slightly sexually dimorphic for body size, with males being taller, on average, than females of the same population. Sexual dimorphism is very pronounced in many species, such as gorillas.

Answer 23

Sexual dimorphism

Question 24

Within species; refers to variation seen within the same species.

Answer 24

Intraspecific

Question 25

Between species; refers to variation beyond that seen within the same species to include additional aspects seen between two different species.

Answer 25

Interspecific

Question 26

Species defined from fossil evidence, often covering a long time span.

Answer 26

Paleospecies

Question 27

(pl., genera) A group of closely related species.

Answer 27

Genus

Question 28

Traces or remnants of organisms found in geological beds on the earth’s surface.

Answer 28

Fossils

Question 29

The process in which parts of animals (or some plants) become transformed into stone like structures. Mineralization usually occurs very slowly, as water carrying minerals- such as silica or iron- seeps into the tiny spaces within a bone. In some cases, the original minerals within the bone or tooth can be completely replaced, molecule by molecule, with other minerals.

Answer 29

Mineralization

Question 30

The study of how bones and other materials come to be buried in the earth and preserved as fossils.

Answer 30

Taphonomy

Question 31

The organization of earth history into eras, periods, and epochs; commonly used by geologists and paleoanthropologists.

Answer 31

Geological time scale

Question 32

The movement of continents on sliding plates of the earth’s surface. As a result, the positions of large landmasses have shifted drastically during the earth’s history.

Answer 32

Continental drift

Question 33

Categories of the geological time scale; subdivisions of periods. In the Cenozoic era, epochs include the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene (from the Tertiary Period) and the Pleistocene and Holocene (from the Quaternary Period).

Answer 33

Epochs

Question 34

The more recently evolved portions of the cortex of the brain that are involved with higher mental functions and composed of areas that integrate incoming information from different sensory organs.

Answer 34

Neocortex

Question 35

A type (subclass) of mammal. During the Cenozoic, placentals became the most widespread and numerous mammals and today are represented by upward of 20 orders, including the primates.

Answer 35

Placental

Question 36

Having different kinds of teeth; characteristics of mammals, whose teeth consist of incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.

Answer 36

Heterodont

Question 37

(endo, meaning “within” or “internal”) Able to maintain internal body temperature by producing energy through metabolic processes within cells; characteristic of mammals, birds, and perhaps some dinosaurs.

Answer 37

Endothermic

Question 38

The relatively rapid expansion and diversification of life forms into new ecological niches.

Answer 38

Adaptive radiation