Deck 33: Evolving Earth

Question 1

The geological time scale is based on

A) the relative ages of sequences of rock strata.
B) carbon-14 dating.
C) occasional dated bands of volcanic rock.
D) magnetic polarities of rock sequences.
E) characteristics of fossils in rocks.

Answer 1

the relative ages of sequences of rock strata.

Question 2

The intervals of the geological time scale (eras and periods) are not equal. This is because their length is based on

A) radiometric dating, and radioactive isotopes do not decay at a constant rate.
B) fossilisation processes, which have not occurred in the same manner, nor at the same rate, in all parts of the earth.
C) the positions of the continents, and the rate of movement of continental plates over the earth's surface has not been constant.
D) sediments, which accumulate at different rates dependent on the environment.
E) significant biological events, such as extinctions, which have not occurred at regular intervals.

Answer 2

significant biological events, such as extinctions, which have not occurred at regular intervals.

Question 3

Before the development of radiometric dating techniques scientists were unable to

A) determine the relative order of significant biological events in the fossil record.
B) estimate the absolute age of the abrupt changes in the fossil record.
C) make comparisons between fossil sequences in different parts of the earth.
D) only compare fossil sequences at different levels of sediment.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 3

estimate the absolute age of the abrupt changes in the fossil record.

Question 4

When volcanic and sedimentary rocks are forming, they become magnetised. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

A) Rock magnetism cannot be directly measured.
B) Magnetic reversals are recorded in the rocks.
C) A chron represents the time between two successive magnetic reversals.
D) Magnetic reversals occur at fixed intervals of time.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 5

The Palaeozoic era includes six periods. These are the

A) Carboniferous, Cretaceous, Devonian, Jurassic, Permian and Triassic.
B) Cambrian, Carboniferous, Cretaceous, Devonian, Ordovician and Permian.
C) Cambrian, Carboniferous, Devonian, Ordovician, Permian and Silurian.
D) Devonian, Jurassic, Ordovician, Permian, Silurian and Triassic.
E) Permian, Devonian, Silurian, Triassic and Cambrian.

Question 6

Radiocarbon dating

A) requires carbon-12.
B) relies on knowledge of the half-life of argon.
C) can obtain accurate results on any fossil.
D) has assisted in dating events during the Quaternary.
E) depends on the decay of potassium-40.

Question 7

The following are events in the history of the supercontinent Gondwana.
1)Gondwana was part of the single supercontinent, Pangaea.
2)Gondwana fragmented into a number of southern continents.
3)Gondwana was located in the equatorial region.
4)Gondwana separated from Pangaea.
Which of the following places these events in the correct order, from oldest to most recent?

A) 1, 4, 2, 3.
B) 3, 1, 4, 2.
C) 1, 3, 4, 2.
D) 1, 4, 3, 2.
E) 3, 4, 1, 2.

Question 8

Which of the following can best be explained by plate tectonics?

A) Most of the endemic eutherian mammals in Australia are either rodents or bats.
B) Fossil evidence suggests that flamingos were once widespread across both northern and southern continents, including Australia, whereas their descendants are restricted to parts of Africa, South and Central America, India and Southern Europe.
C) The Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus) lives in shallow freshwater streams and lakes. Its closest living relatives are found in Africa (Protopterus) and South America (Lepidosiren).
D) Several species of frogs from south-eastern Australia are also found in Tasmania.
E) Eucalypts dominated the New Zealand landscape in the early Mesozoic period.

Question 9

The oldest evidence of life on earth is provided by

A) fossilised tracks and burrows.
B) bands of ironstones rich in iron oxides.
C) stromatolites.
D) trilobites.
E) Ediacaran Fauna.

Question 10

The Ediacaran fauna

A) contains photosynthetic organisms that are unlike any living forms.
B) shows that multicellular animals evolved in the Pre-Cambrian.
C) consists mainly of shelled invertebrates.
D) contains representatives of all the major phyla of metazoans.
E) are fossils of soft bodied animals which lived for a long time before the development of vertebrates.

Question 11

The most common fossils of marine multicellular animals from the Lower Cambrian are

A) an extinct group of arthropods, the trilobites.
B) soft-bodied animals, similar to marine worms, jellyfishes and anemones.
C) stalked echinoderms called crinoids.
D) shelled molluscs called ammonoids.
E) radiolarians, with a skeleton of silica.

Question 12

The fossil record provides evidence for major events in the evolution of life including
1) The first land plants.
2) The extinction of the trilobites.
3) The rapid radiation of flowering plants.
4) The first mammals.
5) The 'Age of fishes'.
The first vertebrates colonised the land in the same period as

A) 1.
B) 2.
C) 3.
D) 4.
E) 5.

Question 13

Which of the following were common predators in the shallow marine seas of the Ordovician?

A) Large marine reptiles
B) Cartilaginous fishes
C) Jawless fishes
D) Cephalopods
E) Lungfish

Question 14

Fossil evidence suggests that the oldest terrestrial animals were

A) arthropods.
B) amphibians.
C) reptiles.
D) brachiopods.
E) cephalopods.

Question 15

The oldest plant fossils

A) are small non-vascular plants.
B) are small non-photosynthetic plants.
C) are small vascular plants without leaves.
D) resemble green algae.
E) are liverworts and mosses.

Question 16

The extensive coal beds mined today were laid down as marine sediments covered the extensive forests that flourished in the coastal swamps of the

A) Cretaceous period.
B) Cambrian period.
C) Carboniferous period.
D) Cenozoic era.
E) Devonian period.

Question 17

During the Palaeozoic, as the northern continents and Gondwana approached one another, there was a great evolutionary radiation of

A) Reptiles.
B) Fishes.
C) Gymnosperms.
D) Scorpions.
E) Amphibians.

Question 18

The Mesozoic is often referred to as the

A) 'Age of Reptiles'.
B) 'Age of Fishes'.
C) 'Age of Mammals'.
D) 'Age of Ammonites'.
E) 'Age of Vertebrates'.

Question 19

All of the following organisms were dominant, within their respective environments, at some time during the Mesozoic era. Which were the earliest to achieve dominance?

A) Dinosaurs.
B) Large marine reptiles.
C) Mammal-like reptiles.
D) Conifers.
E) Marine reptiles.

Question 20

Which of the following marine groups became extinct during the mass extinctions that mark the close of the Cretaceous?

A) Jawless fishes
B) Trilobites
C) Ammonoids
D) Crinoids
E) Gastropods

Question 21

The mass extinction of dinosaurs may be, in part, an illusion because some dinosaurs evolved into

A) mammals.
B) crocodiles.
C) turtles.
D) birds.
E) gastropods.

Question 22

During the Cenozoic era

A) mammals first appeared.
B) insect pollination of flowering plants developed
C) ice ages caused extinction of some large animals.
D) prosimians disappeared.
E) pelycosaurs appeared.

Question 23

Which of the following modern groups appears the oldest, from the fossil record?

A) Flowering plants
B) Sharks
C) Mammals
D) Birds
E) Prosimians

Question 24

Biogeographical regions are

A) characterised by geographical features.
B) characterised by endemic organisms.
C) characterised by climate.
D) convenient but arbitrary divisions.
E) characterised by plant types.

Question 25

Priapulus, a genus of worms, has a bipolar distribution. This is evident because

A) the same individuals migrate between the Arctic and the Antarctic.
B) the same species is only present in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
C) one species of Priapulus is found in the Arctic, while another closely related species is found in the Antarctic.
D) it is only found around the North and South Poles.
E) different species exist in the Northern hemisphere from the Southern hemisphere.

Question 26

The top 1000m of the ocean is called

A) the continental shelf.
B) the pelagic zone.
C) surface water.
D) the benthic zone.
E) the Boreal region.

Question 27

Wallace's line indicates

A) an abrupt change in climate between the tropical oriental region and the more arid Australian region.
B) the boundary between the Non-tropical and Palaeotropical regions.
C) a striking division of fauna and flora between the Indo-Malaysian and Austro-Malaysian regions.
D) the line of collision between the Eurasian and Australian continental plates.
E) the division between the Indo-West Pacific region and the temperate regions of the ocean.

Question 28

Botanists and zoologists recognise similar biogeographical regions because

A) both plants and animals have been subjected to the same evolutionary processes.
B) plants and animals exhibit similar patterns of endemism.
C) they have agreed on arbitrary regions for simplicity.
D) the main continental regions of the world are divided by climatic conditions.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 29

The geographical regions recognised for plants are similar to those recognised for animals. The Palaeotropical region of plants includes which of the following regions for animals.

A) Holarctic and Ethiopian.
B) Oriental and Neotropical.
C) Neotropical.
D) Ethiopian and Oriental.
E) Ethiopian.

Question 30

Fossils in rocks tell us of the past forms of life on earth. Trace fossils are

A) dinosaur bones.
B) shells of animals.
C) tubes of soft-bodied worms.
D) fossilised wood.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 31

The modern geologic time scale is based on

A) age measurements by radioactive carbon dating.
B) sequences of relative ages.
C) type of sediment.
D) age measurements by radioactive carbon dating and sequences of relative ages.
E) age measurements by radioactive carbon dating and type of sediment.

Question 32

Boundaries between eras of geological time

A) were based on abrupt changes in fossil records.
B) are divided into periods from oldest, the Mesozoic era, to the youngest, the Palaezoic era.
C) are dependent on the movement of tectonic plates.
D) are associated with magnetic reversal.
E) are identified by the animal species which appear.

Question 33

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A) The earth's lithosphere consists of a number of plates which develop oceanic ridges due to larva upwells from the earth's mantle.
B) Plate tectonics recognises that the earth's crust and mantle are divided into plates that move relative to each other.
C) Deep-sea trenches are formed when the earth descends back into the mantle.
D) Continents are of lower density than the earth's crust and so they tend to remain on the surface.
E) The floor of the deep-sea trenches are very old and provide important information on the Precambrian era.

Question 34

The oldest known supercontinent is

A) Gondwana.
B) Rodinia.
C) Laurentia.
D) Laurasia.
E) Pangaea.

Question 35

The oldest eukaryotes from fossil records

A) were from Archean cherts in the Pilbara district of Western Australia.
B) are about 3.5 billion years old and resemble cyanobacteria.
C) are stromatolites.
D) contain chloroplasts and resemble blue-green algae.
E) demonstrate that the earth became oxygen rich through photosynthesis about 3.5 billion years ago.

Question 36

Stratigraphy is

A) the study of stratosphere.
B) a method used to create autoradiographs.
C) the generation of stratigraphs.
D) the study of the relative positions of rock layers.
E) used to calculate the absolute age of clades.

Question 37

Deep sea trenches are formed by

A) volcanoes.
B) subduction.
C) erosion.
D) undersea currents.
E) deep sea sink holes.

Question 38

The largest mass extinction in the earth's history occurred at the end of the Permian. What percentage of species died out?

A) 25
B) 40
C) 50
D) 70
E) 90

Question 39

Descendants of a small rodent-type animal have been identified in North Asia and Europe. The relationship has been confirmed by DNA analysis which also demonstrated that the two species diverged around 20 million years ago. This suggests that

A) a continuous population has been separated by environmental fragmentation, producing two separate populations that evolved into separate species.
B) the two populations were separated by plate tectonics.
C) a common ancestor existed on Gondwana.
D) Eurasia separated after 20 million years ago.
E) Pangea separated before 20 million years ago.

Question 40

A region that includes northern fir forests found in Europe, Asia and North America would be the

A) Palaeotropical region.
B) Neotrpical region.
C) Palaearctic region.
D) Boreal region.
E) Nearctic region.

Question 41

The body of a mammal falls into a lake and is quickly covered by limestone sediment. However, the lake is aseptic and devoid of microbiological life. Could such a lake result in a fossil being formed, and if so what basic characteristics would it be likely to have?

A) Yes, it would be flattened.
B) No, but an imprint would remain.
C) Yes, it would be three-dimensional.
D) Yes, but it would be devoid of any intricate detail.
E) No, a fossil is not possible in an aseptic body of water.

Question 42

How should a silicified fossil be exposed from a limestone deposit?

A) Application of an alkaline
B) Application of acid
C) Soaking in a saline solution
D) Longitudinal cut in a controlled environment
E) Such fossils are best observed by leaving them contained within the material in which they were preserved and then examining them via non-invasive means such as MRI or archaeomagnetism.

Question 43

The cretaceous period encompasses which of the following epochs?

A) Palaeocene, Eocene
B) There are no epochs within the cretaceous
C) Holocene, Pleistocene
D) Pliocene, Miocene
E) Oligocene

Question 44

The oldest land vertebrates lived approximately 416 million years ago, during which period?

A) Carboniferous
B) Ordovician
C) Triassic
D) Permian
E) Devonian