Deck 19: The History of Life on Earth

Question 1

If a 10-mile-wide comet hit Earth, how would this likely affect the history of life?

A) A mass extinction would occur, followed by lots of evolutionary change among descendants of the survivors.
B) A slow climate warming and drying would begin, decreasing the biological diversity on Earth.
C) Continental drift would be reversed, and all the continents would slowly be pushed together again.
D) Most species would become extinct, and the rest would remain more or less unchanged.

Answer 1

A mass extinction would occur, followed by lots of evolutionary change among descendants of the survivors.

Question 2

If you open a can of chicken noodle soup and immediately examine it microscopically, you will find no microorganisms. If you let the open can sit on the shelf for a few weeks and then examine it, you will find lots of microorganisms. The origin of these microorganisms is most likely:

A) improper sterilization of the soup prior to canning.
B) prebiotic evolution.
C) endosymbiotic microspheres.
D) airborne microorganisms.

Answer 2

airborne microorganisms.

Question 3

It is known that RNA can sometimes act as an enzyme for the synthesis of:

A) lipids.
B) proteins.
C) more RNA.
D) more DNA.

Answer 3

more RNA.

Question 4

All of the following are considered possible scientific explanations for the origins of life on Earth except:

A) building blocks for organic molecules existed in Earth's early environment.
B) early organisms may have evolved near deep-sea volcanic vents.
C) organic molecules may have reached Earth on meteorites.
D) organisms reached Earth from distant galaxies.

Question 5

Which kingdom of Domain Eukarya is probably the ancestor of all the other kingdoms?

A) Plantae
B) Bacteria
C) Animalia
D) Protista

Question 6

Which kingdom of Domain Eukarya is more or less undefined? That is, if an organism isn't obviously in one of the other Eukarya kingdoms, it is placed in which of the following kingdoms?

A) Animalia
B) Plantae
C) Protista
D) Fungi

Question 7

If the early Earth's atmosphere contained little or no free O₂, then where did most of the 20 percent O₂ in our modern atmosphere come from?

A) oxidation of metals
B) respiration
C) photosynthesis
D) the breakdown of carbon dioxide

Question 8

Many of the oldest known fossils most closely resemble which modern organisms?

A) protists
B) viruses
C) archaea
D) blue-green algae

Question 9

An organelle is found to have its own DNA and to make some of its own ribosomes and protein without the help of DNA in the cell's nucleus. Such organelles probably evolved from what were once:

A) pigmented plastids.
B) internal, biologically active chemicals.
C) pinching in of the plasma membrane.
D) internal symbiotic organisms.

Question 10

The most ancient vertebrates fossils are of the jawless fish. The oldest rocks in which these fossils are found are strata of the Ordovician period, just above the Cambrian. It must, therefore, be true that:

A) jellyfish are not present in Precambrian rocks.
B) animals with gill slits lived in the Ordovician.
C) graptolites evolved into jawless fish.
D) vertebrates with true jaws first appeared in the Jurassic, just above the Ordovician.

Question 11

Most modern phyla of animals appear as fossils at the beginning of the:

A) Permian.
B) Cambrian.
C) Devonian.
D) Cretaceous.

Question 12

The presumed ancestral group of land plants is the:

A) gymnosperms.
B) protists.
C) green algae.
D) bryophytes.

Question 13

During the Silurian, the oxygen gas concentration in the atmosphere is postulated to have reached an amount equivalent to more than 10 percent of its present-day concentration. Thus, nearly all lethal ultraviolet radiation was eliminated from the atmosphere, making dry land available for newly evolved forms. Which of the following major events in the evolution of animals and plants probably occurred at this time?

A) The amphibians developed watertight skins and eggs.
B) The crayfish become the first land organisms.
C) The first major groups of seed plants appeared.
D) Primitive bryophytes and fern-like plants appeared.

Question 14

The explosion of early marine arthropods can be considered a preadaptation for life on land because that shell can:

A) absorb light.
B) resist drying.
C) allow a diversity of body types.
D) protect against predators.

Question 15

Some groups of dinosaurs are known to have run very rapidly, a deduction based on measuring their stride and comparing this to body size. They also lived in arctic regions. These facts suggest to some that these dinosaurs were warm-blooded. This supports the theory that modern ________ are direct descendants of the dinosaurs.

A) crocodiles
B) salamanders
C) iguanas
D) birds

Question 16

The first terrestrial animals were:

A) amphibians.
B) ancestors of modern insects.
C) marsupials.
D) molluscs.

Question 17

What adaptations allowed reptiles to inhabit much drier environments than amphibians?

A) internal fetal development
B) skin that helped them get extra oxygen
C) waterproof eggs
D) mammary glands

Question 18

Which of the following represents the longest time frame?

A) period
B) epoch
C) era
D) 1,000 years

Question 19

During which period did the vertebrates begin to evolve?

A) Cambrian
B) Devonian
C) Silurian
D) Permian

Question 20

The first cells that evolved on Earth were probably:

A) heterotrophs that consumed organic nutrients.
B) heterotrophs that consumed inorganic nutrients.
C) autotrophs that consumed organic nutrients.
D) autotrophs that consumed inorganic nutrients.

Question 21

A geologist used radiocarbon dating to date a layer of rock at 250 million years old. This stratum was formed between which two eras?

A) Proterozoic and Cenozoic
B) Paleozoic and Cenozoic
C) Paleozoic and Mesozoic
D) Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Question 22

The Cambrian explosion:

A) decreased the amount of diversity of animal life on Earth.
B) decreased the amount of air in the Earth's atmosphere.
C) included an increase in the activity of volcanoes.
D) increased the diversity of animal life on the Earth.

Question 23

Because of continental drift, you are likely to find similar Mesozoic fossils in South America, in Australia, and in:

A) Europe.
B) central Asia.
C) north Africa.
D) Antarctica.

Question 24

Similar 250-million-year-old fossils in Brazil and west Africa can be best explained by:

A) lowering of sea level.
B) coevolution.
C) closing of the mid-Atlantic ridge.
D) continental drift.

Question 25

One of the difficulties in understanding the evolution of life on Earth is our inability to appreciate the enormous spans of time involved.

Question 26

Scientists have succeeded in producing RNA in the laboratory that can self-replicate without human intervention, duplicating one of the first steps in the origin of life.

Question 27

The early large supercontinent called Pangaea contained all of Earth's landmass during the ________ era.

Question 28

The landmass that eventually broke apart into Africa, Asia, and India was ________.

Question 29

For today's fossil fuels, humans depend on the organic remains of organisms that lived during the ________ geological period.

Question 30

Cone-bearing plants are known as ________.

Question 31

The separation of Africa and South America over time is referred to as ________ drift.

Question 32

The appearance of the element ________ in the atmosphere allowed an ozone layer to develop that blocked ultraviolet rays from the sun.