WILLIS

Question 1

what is synonymt in taxonomy?

Answer 1

when the same species is named more than once, inflating counts

Question 2

what are collector curves used for?

Answer 2

to assess whether species discovery is reaching a plateau (mammals plateau but not insects)

Question 3

what is a better conservation priority than just species richness?

Answer 3

clasistic spread - preserving evolutionary distinct taxa

Question 4

what is an evolutionary distinct taxon?

Answer 4

a species with few or no close living relatives, representing long branches in the tree of life

Question 5

why is species diversity hard to track through time?

Answer 5

the fossil record is highly incomplete - possibly only 1% of species are ever preserved

Question 6

which taxonomic ranks are better preserved in fossils?

Answer 6

higher taxa e.g. families are more consistently represented than species

Question 7

what are the 3 main models for diversification?

Answer 7

additive (linear increase), exponential (doubling over time), logistic (S-curve with carrying capacity)

Question 8

what is darwin’s concept of carrying capacity (K)?

Answer 8

a limit to species diversity imposed by ecological constraints

Question 9

how do marine and terrestrial diversification patterns differ?

Answer 9

marin diversity shows logistic (plateau) patterns whereas terrestrial shows unchecked exponential growth

Question 10

what happened at the end-permian extinction?

Answer 10

loss of palaezoic fauna; modern fauna later diversified rapidly

Question 11

what is the significance of mass extinctions in evolutionary history?

Answer 11

they cause temporary biodiversity crashes, followed by rapid diversification of new groups

Question 12

can extinct groups return after mass extinction?

Answer 12

no but ecological niches are re-filled by new taxa

Question 13

what is the coupled logistic equation?

Answer 13

the idea that fauna are competing for eachother’s space

Question 14

what is a paraphyletic group?

Answer 14

a taxon that includes an ancestor and some but not all descendents

Question 15

why might families be misleading in studying diversity through time?

Answer 15

they mask species-level changes and may group ecologically diverse species

Question 16

why are fossil species hard to define?

Answer 16

due to subjective splitting and poor preservation of distinguishing features

Question 17

what is macroevolution and how does it differ from microevolution?

Answer 17

macro refers to large-scale evolutionary changes above the species level, including speciation, extinction and long term patterns of lineage change
micro involves small-scale changes within pops (allele frequency shifts)

Question 18

what are the 3 main growth models used to describe biodiversity change over time?

Answer 18

additive (linear) - constant rate of change over time
exponential - rate of diversification increases proportionally to existing diversity
logistic - diversity increases rapidly then levels off due to constraints e.g. ecological limits

Question 19

describe seposki’s logistic model of marine biodiversity?

Answer 19

Sepkoski proposed marine diversity followed a logistic pattern due to diversification limits. He modeled this using three evolutionary faunas (Cambrian, Paleozoic, Modern), each dominating in different eras, showing replacement rather than accumulation

Question 20

what are seposki’s 3 evolutionary faunas?

Answer 20

Cambrian Fauna – Trilobites (short-lived).

Paleozoic Fauna – (rose then declined post-Permian).

Modern Fauna – Bivalves, echinoids (dominant since Mesozoic)

Question 21

what factors contributed to the transitions between seposki’s faunas?

Answer 21

Mass extinctions (e.g., end-Permian), ecological innovations, and evolutionary arms races contributed. Each transition often followed a major extinction and was driven by adaptive radiation

Question 22

what is tiering in marine ecosystems and why is it important in macroevolution?

Answer 22

Tiering refers to the vertical positioning of organisms in the water column or sediment (e.g. infaunal, epifaunal, pelagic). Increasing ecological tiering over time suggests niche diversification and complexity, influencing macroevolutionary trends

Question 23

what is the red queen hypothesis?

Answer 23

suggests that species must constantly evolve to survive against ever-evolving compoenents (biotic factors)
extinction is largely drive by biotic interactions like competition and coevolution

Question 24

what is the court jester hypothesis?

Answer 24

states tha abiotic factors are the primary drivers of extinction and diversification, acting more episodically that the red queen’s continuous pressure

Question 25

How do the Red Queen and Court Jester models differ in predicting extinction patterns?

Answer 25

Red Queen implies constant background extinction; Court Jester implies extinction is more pulsed or clustered, often corresponding to environmental upheaval

Question 26

What role does continental movement play in marine biodiversity patterns?

Answer 26

Continental drift alters habitat availability, climate, ocean circulation, and barriers to dispersal, impacting speciation and extinction rates. It ties into the Court Jester model

Question 27

What are ecological guilds, and why do they matter in macroevolutionary studies?

Answer 27

Guilds are groups of organisms that exploit similar resources in similar ways. Tracking guild composition over time helps understand functional diversity, ecosystem stability, and resilience through evolutionary time

Question 28

How does increasing tiering and ecological complexity relate to evolutionary faunas?

Answer 28

Over time, marine communities became more vertically structured and diverse in function. The Modern Fauna exhibits the most complex tiering, reflecting advanced ecological strategies and a departure from early, simpler ecosystems

Question 29

what is allopatric speciation?

Answer 29

Speciation due to geographic isolation by a physical barrier (e.g., mountains, oceans); no gene flow occurs

Question 30

what is paraptric speciation?

Answer 30

Speciation with adjacent populations; partial isolation and limited gene flow allow divergence

Question 31

what is sympatric speciation?

Answer 31

Speciation within the same geographic area, usually due to disruptive selection and non-random mating

Question 32

what is peripatric speciation?

Answer 32

Speciation in a small, isolated population at the edge of the range; strongly influenced by genetic drift and chance

Question 33

what is a genetic revolution?

Answer 33

a rapid shift in genetic composition due to chance sampling in small isolated populations, allowing previously rare alleles to spread

Question 34

which type of speciation aligns best with genetic revolution?

Answer 34

peripatric speciation

Question 35

why are speciation events hard to observe directly?

Answer 35

they are rare, geologically rapid and often occur in isolated populations/ locations

Question 36

give a rapid speciation example:

Answer 36

house mice on the faeroe islands, speciated in <300 years

Question 37

what is phyletic gradualism?

Answer 37

evolution is slow and continuous with intermediate forms; new species arise through gradual transformation

Question 38

what is punctuated equilibrium?

Answer 38

long periods of stasis interrupted by brief, rapid speciation events

Question 39

how does punctuated equilibrium relate to peripatry?

Answer 39

both propose rapid speciation in small isolated populations

Question 40

what biases affect fossil interpretation?

Answer 40

investigator expectations, sedimentation gaps and ecological + geographic incompletedness

Question 41

what does stasis suggest about evolutionary change?

Answer 41

it may be constrained by genetic homeostasis; major change happens during speciation events

Question 42

Does macroevolution decouple from microevolution?

Answer 42

Yes—macroevolutionary patterns often result from rare, rapid events not captured by microevolution alone

Question 43

what are the main uses of cladograms in evolutionary biology?