EEB 2245: EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE
121 Cards in this Set
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How old is the Earth?
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4.5 billion years old
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When does the geological time scale begin?
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3.8 billion years ago
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Is it possible to directly date fossils? How?
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It is possible to directly date fossils. Radiometric dating can be used to measure a fossil's age. This is done by measuring the ratio of Carbon 14 to Nitrogen 14.
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What is the half-life of Carbon-14?
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5,730 years
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Carbon dating can be be used to measure the age of a fossil up to ______ years.
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50,000
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What is the half-life of K-40?
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1.3 billion years
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What is the daughter of K-40?
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Ar-40
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What are stromatolites?
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Stromatolites are layered mounds of cyanobacteria.
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How old are stromatolites?
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3.4 billion years old
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Where can stromatolites be found today?
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Australia
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Why are stromatolites important?
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Stromatolites are important because they helped to create an aerobic environment on Earth through photosynthesis. This can be proven by iron-band formations in the Earth, showing how iron was converted into iron-oxide.
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How old is the earliest eukaryote fossil?
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1.4 billion years old
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According to chemical evidence, when did eukaryotes first appear?
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2.4 billion years ago
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What are the oldest known fossils of eukaryotes called?
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Acritarchs
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What are acritarchs?
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tiny green plants
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How old are acritarchs?
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900 million years old
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What - and when - was Rhodinia?
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Rhodinia was a super-continent which existed during the Proterozoic Eon 1.3 billion to 200 million years ago.
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What 5 features do all Metazoans have in common?
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All Metazoans:
1. have collagen
2. develop from embryos
3. are heterotrophic
4. are multicellular
5. have cholinesterase-based nervous systems
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When did the first metazoans evolve?
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THe first metazoans evolved about 640 million years ago.
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What were the first metazoans known as?
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The Ediacaran Fauna
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What kinds of fossils did the Ediacaran Fauna leave? Why?
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The Ediacaran Fauna left trace fossils because they had no hard parts, only soft, flat bodies.
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Give an example of an extinct and extant Ediacaran Fauna.
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Extinct: Dickinsonia.
Extant: Annelida, sponges, cnidarians
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What were the Tomotian Fauna?
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The Tomotian Fauna were the first metazoans with hard parts
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When did the Tomotian Fauna arise?
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600 million years ago
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What plant life existed during the Cambrian?
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Red, green, and brown algae
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What extinct taxa can be found in the Burgess Shale?
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Conodonts and Marella
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What is the evolutionary significance of Pikaia?
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Pikaia is most likely the first chordate
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What were conodonts?
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Conodonts were very tiny chordates known from hard, tooth-like microfossils.
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What caused an increase in diversity during the Cambrian? (List 2)
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1. The evolution of predation
2. The opening of niches, such as burrowing and swimming.
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What 5 kinds of fish existed during the Ordovician?
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Agnathans, chondrichthyes, teleosts, placoderms, and ostracoderms
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Describe the climate and seas during the end-Ordovician mass extinction.
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The temperature dropped and the sea levels changed.
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During which period did the first vascular plant, cooksonia, originate?
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Silurian
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During which period did Latimeria evolve?
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Devonian
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The Devonian Period is known as the "Age of _____".
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Fishes
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What are 2 important characteristics of Latimeria?
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1. The bases of Latimeria's fins have a series of muscles and bones
2. The fins were able to support Latimeria's weight
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What was ichthyostega?
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Itchyostega was an early amphibian
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During which period did icthyostega evolve?
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Devonian
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Describe Icthyostega's multiple breathing mechanisms
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Gills, through the skin, and possibly also through lungs
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Describe Icthyostega's rib cage
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Ventrally-wrapped to support organs on land
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Is is likely that Icthyostega could hear on land? Why?
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No. There was no hole in its skull and no ear membrane to receive sound.
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What were CO2 and O2 levels like during the Devonian? Why is this important?
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Co2 levels were high and O2 levels were low, especially in the water. This contributed to the evolution of fish that can gulp air.
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During which period did roots, stems, and leaves first evolve?
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Devonian
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What plants dominated forests during the Carboniferous?
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Club mosses, seed ferns (lycopsids), and early gymnosperms
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What critical evolution allowed animals to become entirely terrestrial?
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The Amniotic egg
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During which period did amphibians begin to diversify?
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Permian
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What are therapsids?
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Mammal-like reptiles that led to modern mammals.
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During which period did therapsids dominate?
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Permian
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What previously common index metazoan went extinct at the end of the Permian?
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Trilobite
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What 2 environmental perturbations occurred at the end of the Permian?
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1. Volcano eruptions
2. Sea level fluctuations
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What is taxonomic diversity?
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Biodiversity
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What is taxonomic disparity?
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Diversity of body shapes
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List 5 distinguishing features of early (Triassic) dinosaurs.
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1. Upright posture (mostly bipedal)
2. S-shaped neck
3. At least 3 sacral vertebrae
4. Open acetabulum in hip
5. Possibly warm-blooded
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What were 2 prominent characteristics of early (Triassic) pterosaurs?
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1. No head crest
2. A long tail
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What Triassic lineage led to modern lizards?
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Lepidosaurs
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What is happening to Pangea during the Triassic?
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Pangea begins to divide into two super-continents, Laurasia an Gondwanaland
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During which period might the first mammals evolved?
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Jurassic
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Describe Eubrontes
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A Jurassic saurischian. It is CT's state dinosaur. It is an ichnotaxon, known only from footprints.
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How do pterosaurs diversify during the Jurassic?
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Pterosaurs expand into niches, such as insect-eating and filter-feeding
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Describe 3 features that Archaeopteryx shares with modern birds.
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1. Bird-like feathers
2. Opposable rear toe
3. Wishbone
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Describe 4 features that Archaeopteryx shares with dinosaurs.
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1. Small breastbone
2. Clawed fingers
3. Bony tail
4. Small teeth
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During which period did angiosperms evolve?
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Cretaceous
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During which period can the last fossils of Latimeria be found?
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Cretaceous
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How do late (Cretaceous) pterosaurs differ from earlier pterosaurs? (List 2)
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1 Head crests
2. No tails
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When did the largest mass extinction occur?
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At the end of the Permian period
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What 2 major groups went extinct during the end-Cretaceous mass extinction?
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Pterosaurs and ornithiscians
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What caused the end-Cretaceous mass extinctino?
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Volcanism and the impact of asteroids.
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The Cenozoic Era is the age of (plant) and (animal).
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Angiosperms and mammals
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What are the 3 mammal groups?
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Monotremes, Marsupials, Placentals
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What 4 features are shared by all mammals?
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hair, mammary glands, heterodonty, and perfectly occluded teeth
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What is an explanation for the diversification of mammals after the end-cretaceous extinction?
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The mass extinction event of the cretaceous period opened many niches for mammals to fill.
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What is ecological displacement?
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The out-competition of particular niches
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What is ecologial replacement?
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The exploitation of empty niches
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How long ago did the continents reach their modern positions?
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During the Tertiary period 2.6 million years ago
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During which period and epoch did placental mammals evolve?
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Tertiary period - Paleoscene epoch
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During which period and epoch did the first primate evolve?
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Tertiary period - Eocene epoch
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During which period and epoch did horses with 4 toes evolve?
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Tertiary period - Eocene epoch
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During which period and epoch did the first anthropoid evolve?
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Tertiary period - Ogliocene epoch
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During which period and epoch did probosidians evolve?
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Tertiary Period, Ogliocene epoch
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During which period and epoch did the first hominoid evolve?
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Tertiary period - Miocene epoch
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During which period and epoch did the first Homo evolve?
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Tertiary period - Pliocene epoch
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During which period and epoch did horses with 1 toe evolve?
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Tertiary period - Pliocene epoch
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What are the 5 epochs of the Tertiary period? (Latest to most recent)
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Paleocene, Eocene, Ogliocene, Miocene, Pliocene
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What are the 7 levels of taxonomic classification?
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Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
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Describe the Great American Interchange.
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An important event in which land and freshwater fauna migrated from North American to South America and vice versa. This resulted in an interchange of organisms into different environments.
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4 major glacial events and 3 interglacial events occurred during which period?
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Quaternary
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List the 3 major Eons in order of latest to most recent.
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Archaean, Proterozoic, Phanterozoic
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List the 4 major Eras in order of latest to most recent.
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Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
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List the 11 major Periods in order of latest to most recent.
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Quaternary, Tertiary, Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, Permian, Carboniferous, Devonian, Silurian, Ordovician, Cambrian
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List the 7 epochs of the Cenozoic in order of latest to most recent.
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Paleocene
Eocene
Ogliocene
Miocene
Pliocene
Pleistocene
Holocene
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What are 4 features that all primates have in common?
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Nails, grasping hangs (opposable thumbs), stereoscopic vision, independent movement of dgits
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What is the taxonomic classification of humans, starting with Class?
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Anthropoidea Hominidea Hominidae Homo Sapiens
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List 3 Anthropoid Features
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Post-orbital closures, no grooming claws, lacking structures in skull
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List 5 early hominoid features
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Large canines, gap between canines and incisors, pronounced brow ridges, pronounced saggital crest, no tail
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Proconsul was presumably the first _______.
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...
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In what epoch did Proconsul first appear?
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Miocene
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Was Proconsul bipedal or quadrupedal?
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quadrupedal
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Gigantopithecus was a hominoid of the late [epoch].
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Miocene
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Where in the world did Gigantopithecus originate?
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China
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How much did Gigantopithecus weigh?
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between 400 and 600 pounds
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What shape birth canal did Australopthecus afarensis have?
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Oval
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Did Australopthecus afarensis have an opposable toe?
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...
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What was Australopthecus afarensis' cranial capacity?
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Between 380 and 450 cm3
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In what epoch did Australopthecus afarensis evolve?
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Pliocene
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List 4 important characteristics of Australopthecus africanus.
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1. Flatter face
2. Reduced brow ridges
3. No tooth gap
4. Canines not pointed
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What was the cranial capacity of Australopthecus africanus?
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400 to 530 cm3
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All Homo share 2 innovations. What are they?
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A larger head and a round birth canal
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Where in the world was Homo habilis distributed?
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East Africa
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When was Homo habilis extant?
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2.2 to 1.4 million years ago
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What was the cranial capacity of Homo habilis?
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610 to 800 cm3
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Where in the world was Homo erectus distributed?
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Africa, Europe, China, and Java
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When was Homo habilis extant? (In years and epoch)
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1.6 million to 200,000 thousand years ago in the Pleistocene epoch
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What was the cranial capacity of Homo habilis?
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Between 900 and 1100cm3
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Describe social features of Homo habilis. (9)
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1. Fire
2. Small teeth (cooking)
3. Home bases
4. tools
5. genocide of Neanderthalensis
6. systematic hunters
7. first hominid to move out of Africa
8. up to 6 feet tall
9. able to handle colder climates
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What was the cranial capacity of Homo neanderthalensis?
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1450 to 1500 cm3
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Where in the world was Homo neanderthalensis distributed?
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Homo neanderthalensis could be found from Spain to Asia
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When was Homo neanderthalensis extant?
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250,000 to 30,000 years ago
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What are 2 physical and 1 social features of Homo neanderthalensis?
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Prominent brow and noses and ceremonial burials
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What is the cranial capacity of Homo sapiens?
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1400 cm3
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Describe Homo florisiensis
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Known as "the Hobbit". Was found in Indonesia on Floris Island. it used fire and tools.
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What are 4 exant species of Hominoidea?
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Orangutans, gorillas, chimps, and humans
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What is the only extant lineage of Hominidae?
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Homo sapiens
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EEB 2245: EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE