Evolution

Question 1

Who first conceived the theory of evolution?

Answer 1

Charles Darwin

Question 2

What are the 4 basic principles of evolution/life

Answer 2

1. traits must be heritable
2. variation / genetic mutation must exist
3. variations of a trait must provide an advantage for evolution to occur
4. competition for limited resources

Question 3

Combining the 4 principles of evolution, what is the theory of evolution?

Answer 3

the DIFFERENTIAL SUCCESS of certain VARIATIONS of a HERITABLE trait because of COMPETITION for limited resources

Question 4

how does constitution of a new species occur?

Answer 4

organism accumulates so many new traits, that it is very different from the ancestor –> new species

Question 5

How is it possible for a new species to evolve without the extinction of the ancestor?

Answer 5

small population of the ancestral species branches off because it is exposed to new environmental conditions that favoured new traits

Question 6

What determines if a trait will be successfully passed on to later generations?

Answer 6

NATURAL SELECTION: competitive selective process by which detrimental traits are discarded and advantageous traits are retained (i.e. how well a trait improves an organism’s reproductive success)

Question 7

How are organisms grouped together?

Answer 7

based on their most recent shared common ancestors

Question 8

What is an example of dinosaurs that have been grouped together?

Answer 8

ornithischia: hadrosaurs, pachycephalosaurs, ankylosaurs, stegosaurs

Question 9

What species did the dinosauria evolve from?

Answer 9

amniote tetrapod

Question 10

What is a character?

Answer 10

any heritable trait that can be described and labeled

Question 11

What is a shared derived character?

Answer 11

• character that may present in 2 or more groups and their common ancestor
• not present in any more distantly related groups

Question 12

What is another name for a shared derived character?

Answer 12

synapomorphy

Question 13

What is an example of synapomorphy in ornithischians?

Answer 13

predentary

Question 14

What is the biggest challenge to determining evolutionary relationships?

Answer 14

convergent evolution

Question 15

What is convergent evolution? provide an example.

Answer 15

• evolution of similar traits in 2 different lineages/species
• example: spinosaurus (theropod, saurischian) and ouranosauraus (igaunodont, ornithischian) both have a sail on their backs

Question 16

When does convergent evolution usually happen?

Answer 16

when 2 lineages must adapt to similar environments and to similar modes of lige

Question 17

What is an example of the convergent evolution of wings in flying vertebrates?

Answer 17

birds, pterosaurs, bats all evolved wings from the FORELIMBS but in different ways

pterosaurs: membrane wing, one long finger
bats (mammals): membrane wing, several fingers
birds: feathered wing, fused hand bones into single unit

Question 18

the ouranosaurus has a sail like what dinosaur

Answer 18

Spinosaurus

Question 19

which dinosaur does the ouranosaurus have the most common traits with and what are they

Answer 19

iguandonts
- grinding teeth and beak
-back facing pubis
- predentary bone

Question 20

define parsimony

Answer 20

the idea that “all other things being equal, the simplest answer is usually the right one”

Question 21

occam’s razor is also known as

Answer 21

parsimony

Question 22

describe the processes involved in making phylogenic trees

Answer 22

1. use computer program to determine evolutionary relationships between species
2. analyze the list of characters -> character matrix
3. application of the principle of parsimony to arrange organisms in a way that there are fewer instances of convergent evolution
4. family tree is made

Question 23

phylogenic trees are made of ___ and ____

Answer 23

nodes and branches

Question 24

____ is where two branches diverge

Answer 24

node

Question 25

what does a node tell us

Answer 25

shows the point at which two linages shared a common ancestor

Question 26

species that share a common ___ is called a ____

Answer 26

node... clade

Question 27

true or false - clades have a size limit

Answer 27

false - there is no size limit

Question 28

what is the criteria for a clade

Answer 28

must contain the ancestor of a group and all its descendants

Question 29

what class are four limbed animals part of

Answer 29

can be traced back to a fish ancestor -> class Pisces

Question 30

what is the modern name for class pisces

Answer 30

Osteichthyes

Question 31

define missing links

Answer 31

organisms that show evolutionary connection between two major groups of organisms by expressing traits of both groups

Question 32

who is the earliest advocate for the theory of evolution

Answer 32

Thomas Henry Huxley

Question 33

what did Huxley find out

Answer 33

he recognized that birds evolved from dinosaurs -> Achaeopteryx are a missing link between dinosaurs and birds

Question 34

where were Achaeopteryx fossils preserved

Answer 34

lake deposits

Question 35

why is the Archaeopteryx similar to both birds and dinosaurs

Answer 35

long wing feathers and tail feathers = bird teeth, clawed fingers and a long series of tail vertebrae = dinosaurs

Question 36

true or false - birds are part of the dinosaur family tree

Answer 36

true

Question 37

what is the first non avian bird to be discovered with feathers

Answer 37

sinosauropteryx

Question 38

define the differences between the modern bird and non avian bird

Answer 38

modern bird used feathers for flight, non avian birds used feathers for insulation

Question 39

true or false - Yutyrannus was found to have no feathers

Answer 39

false - it does have feathers

Question 40

what group does the Yutyrannus belong to

Answer 40

tyrannosauroid

Question 41

____ are the only clade dinosaurs alive today

Answer 41

birds

Question 42

true or false - birds are sauropods

Answer 42

false - they are therapods

Question 43

the clade name for flying dinosaurs is a) Aves b) Avialae c) Pisces d) Avis

Answer 43

b

Question 44

is the Archaeopteryx part of the Aves or Avialae group

Answer 44

Avialae

Question 45

the Haplocheirus is a a) hadrosaur b) tyrannosaurid c) alvarezsaur

Answer 45

c

Question 46

the Dilong is a a) hadrosaur b) tyrannosaurid c) alvarezsaur

Answer 46

b

Question 47

what are the three dramaeosaur mentioned in the Ascent of birds are

Answer 47

Confuciusornis, Archaeopteryx, Xiaotingia

Question 48

what kind of dinosaur is the Bohaiornis

Answer 48

enantiornthine

Question 49

what are the two ornithurine dinosaurs mentioned in the Ascent of Bird

Answer 49

Asparavis and Ichthyornis

Question 50

Archaeopteryx is more closely related to _____ than modern birds

Answer 50

dramaeosaurid therapods

Question 51

what are the three hadrosaurs in the dinosaur park formation of alberta and what was found about them

Answer 51

Parasaurolophus(single elongated crest), corythosaurus(single crest) and lambesaurus (double crest)

Question 52

what is a characteristic of the lambeosaurine hadrosaurs

Answer 52

have hollow crests on the top of their heads - shared derived character

Question 53

what dinosaur is an early ceratopsian from the early cretaceous of china

Answer 53

liaceratops

Question 54

ceratopsians with a nasal horn is called ....

Answer 54

ceratopsid ceratopsians

Question 55

what is a shared derived character of pachycephalosaurs

Answer 55

thick domed skull

Question 56

true moles are more closely related to _____ than true moles

Answer 56

elephants

Question 57

parsimony is also known as

Answer 57

Occam's Razor

Question 58

are feathers a shared derived feature of birds

Answer 58

no because we know many dinosaurs have been found with feathers as well