Deck 25: The History of Life on Earth

Question 1

The coal beds we now mine for energy are largely the remains of

A) plants that grew in swamps during the Carboniferous period.
B) algae that grew in marshes during the Devonian period.
C) giant insects and amphibians of the Permian period.
D) plants that grew in the oceans during the Carboniferous period.
E) None of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements about carbon dating is true?

A) Radioactive decay of ¹⁴C is balanced by its production from neutrons reacting with ¹⁴N in the upper atmosphere.
B) Dead organisms continue to exchange carbon compounds with the environment.
C) Carbon dating can be used to date organisms more than a million years old.
D) The half-life of ¹⁴C is less than 1,000 years.
E) None of the above

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following is the longest period of time?

A) The length of the entire Mesozoic era
B) The half-life of ⁴⁰K
C) Five million years
D) The half-life of ¹⁴C
E) The time since the Cambrian explosion

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The cause of the mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic era probably was

A) continental drift.
B) the collision of Earth with a large meteorite.
C) changes in Earth's orbit.
D) massive glaciation.
E) changes in the salt concentration of the oceans.

Question 5

Which of the following is not true of the giant flying dragonflies of the Carboniferous and Permian?

A) Some species grew to have wing spans as wide or wider than many modern birds of prey.
B) They were the largest flying predators of the time.
C) Such large flying insects could exist because of the higher concentrations of atmospheric oxygen compared to the present.
D) Their predators were giant reptiles.
E) Fossils of one large species, Meganeurosis permiana, have been found in the Permian rocks of Kansas.

Question 6

The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,700 years. If 10 percent of the original carbon-14 is left in a structure, that structure is _______ years old.

A) less than 2,850
B) about 5,700
C) between 11,400 and 17,100
D) between 17,100 and 22,800
E) about 57,000

Question 7

Paleontologists have subdivided the Cenozoic era into epochs because

A) Homo sapiens evolved at the start of the Cenozoic.
B) the continents had achieved their present positions.
C) the number of species stopped increasing at this time.
D) our knowledge of the evolutionary events of the Cenozoic is more extensive than for other eras.
E) starting with the Cenozoic, the fossil record is no longer a necessary source of information about evolutionary relationships.

Question 8

The mass extinction at the end of the Ordovician period was probably caused by

A) the collision of Earth with a large meteorite.
B) massive volcanic eruptions.
C) massive glaciation on the southern continents and associated climatic changes.
D) the uniting of all continents to form Pangaea.
E) changes in Earth's orbit.

Question 9

¹⁴C can be used to determine the ages of fossil organisms because

A) all organisms contain many carbon compounds.
B) ¹⁴C has a regular rate of decay to ¹⁴N.
C) the ratio of ¹⁴C to ¹²C in living organisms is always the same as that in the atmosphere.
D) the production of new ¹⁴C in the atmosphere just balances the natural radioactive decay of ¹⁴C.
E) All of the above

Question 10

The primary reason that dragonflies grew so much larger 300 million years ago than they do today is that

A) they lacked predators then.
B) they were able to exploit an aquatic niche that no longer exists.
C) there was more oxygen in the air then.
D) there was more nitrogen in the air then.
E) Earth was much colder then.

Question 11

Which of the following was not known to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century geologists?

A) Fossil organisms found in more recent strata resemble modern organisms more than those found in more ancient strata.
B) Fossils of similar organisms are found in widely separated places on Earth.
C) Radioactivity can be used to determine the age of rocks.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 12

If the half-life of a radioactive substance is 600 years, what fraction of the original material is left after 1,800 years?

A) One-half
B) One-fourth
C) One-eighth
D) One-sixteenth
E) None of the above

Question 13

The first person to realize that the relative ages of rocks can be determined by examining strata was

A) Charles Darwin.
B) Alfred Russel Wallace.
C) Stephen Jay Gould.
D) Nicolaus Steno.
E) Alfred Wegener.

Question 14

Rocks that are formed when grains accumulate at the bottom of bodies of water are called _______ rocks

A) igneous
B) sedimentary
C) strata
D) tertiary
E) deep

Question 15

Which of the following statements about Earth's history is true?

A) A paleontologist can determine the age of a rock by its appearance alone.
B) In all sedimentary rock, the oldest layers lie at the bottom, and successively higher strata are progressively younger.
C) Sedimentary rock forms via the accumulation of grains at the bottoms of rivers and other bodies of water.
D) The continents have always been where they are today.
E) None of the above

Question 16

The total of all species of organisms in a given region is known as the region's

A) biota.
B) flora.
C) fauna.
D) flora and fauna.
E) biogeography.

Question 17

The half-life of a particular radioactive isotope of element X is 100 years. If you know that 400 years ago a fossil contained 10 mg of this isotope, you would expect to find about _______ in that fossil today.

A) 5 mg
B) 2.5 mg
C) 0.6 mg
D) 0.3 mg
E) 0.15 mg

Question 18

In undisturbed strata of sedimentary rock, the oldest rocks

A) lie at the top.
B) lie at the bottom.
C) are in the middle.
D) are distributed among the strata of younger rocks.
E) None of the above

Question 19

The concentration of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere

A) has increased steadily through time.
B) has decreased steadily through time.
C) has been both higher and lower in the past than at present.
D) was lower during most of the Permian than at present.
E) was at its highest levels in the Cambrian.

Question 20

Which of the following times was marked by the largest mass extinction of life in the history of Earth?

A) The end of the Cretaceous
B) The end of the Devonian
C) The end of the Permian
D) The end of the Triassic
E) The end of the Silurian

Question 21

Which of the following gases has substantially increased in concentration in the last 200 years?

A) Oxygen
B) Carbon dioxide
C) Nitrogen
D) Argon
E) Hydrogen

Question 22

Rocklike structures formed by the oxygen-generating cyanobacteria are known as

A) strata.
B) stromatolites.
C) igneous.
D) lithospheric.
E) rift valleys.

Question 23

Mass extinctions often accompany major _______ in sea level. Such extinctions have been particularly felt among _______ animals.

A) rises; terrestrial
B) rises; marine
C) rises; freshwater
D) drops; terrestrial
E) drops; marine

Question 24

The first person to put forth the idea that Earth's con-tinents are in continual but slow motion was

A) Charles Darwin.
B) Alfred Russel Wallace.
C) Stephen Jay Gould.
D) Nicolaus Steno.
E) Alfred Wegener.

Question 25

Which of the following statements about continental drift is true?

A) When it was proposed, the idea received almost immediate acceptance.
B) Continents move because as magma rises, it exerts tremendous pressure on the plates that float on top of it.
C) Deep rift valleys have been generated from the same process that causes continental drift.
D) Both a and b
E) Both b and c

Question 26

Which of the following geological periods is the most recent (closest to the present)?

A) Devonian
B) Cambrian
C) Jurassic
D) Silurian
E) Cretaceous

Question 27

Which of the following represents a correct chronological ordering of Earth's geological history, from the most ancient to the most recent period?

A) Cambrian, Cretaceous, Devonian, Permian
B) Cretaceous, Devonian, Permian, Cambrian
C) Cambrian, Devonian, Permian, Cretaceous
D) Permian, Cambrian, Cretaceous, Devonian
E) Cretaceous, Permian, Devonian, Cambrian

Question 28

Which of the following geological periods is the most ancient?

A) Devonian
B) Cambrian
C) Jurassic
D) Silurian
E) Cretaceous

Question 29

Larger single-celled organisms require a higher oxygen concentration than smaller ones do because the large cells

A) have a faster metabolic rate per unit mass.
B) have a slower metabolic rate per unit mass.
C) have a lower surface area-to-volume ratio.
D) have a greater surface area-to-volume ratio.
E) divide more quickly than small cells do.

Question 30

In undisturbed sedimentary rock, strata from which period would be immediately below rocks from the Ordovician?

A) Devonian
B) Cambrian
C) Jurassic
D) Silurian
E) Cretaceous

Question 31

Which of the following represents the correct sequence of events, from earliest to latest?

A) Permian mass extinction, decline in oxygen levels, drying of lowland swamps
B) Permian mass extinction, drying of lowland swamps, decline in oxygen levels
C) Decline in oxygen levels, Permian mass extinction, drying of lowland swamps
D) Drying of lowland swamps, decline in oxygen levels, Permian mass extinction
E) Drying of lowland swamps, Permian mass extinction, decline in oxygen levels

Question 32

Which of the following is not considered a plausible hypothesis for the causes of mass extinctions?

A) Extraterrestrial events, such as meteorite or asteroid collisions
B) Glaciations
C) Massive volcanic activity
D) Competition among organisms
E) All of the above are considered plausible hypotheses.

Question 33

With respect to changes in climate over the course of life on Earth, we are currently living in a _______ period, and the average temperature has _______ over the last 100 years.

A) warm; increased
B) cool; increased
C) warm; decreased
D) cool; decreased
E) warm; been relatively constant

Question 34

Which of the following statements about oxygen and ancient Earth is true?

A) The atmosphere of early Earth contained almost as much free oxygen as present-day Earth, but most of this oxygen was lost in the Cambrian.
B) Early bacteria generated free oxygen as a by-product of the chemical splitting of water.
C) The oxygen-generating cyanobacteria have gone extinct.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 35

As compared to anaerobic metabolism, aerobic metabolism is advantageous to cells because it

A) proceeds at a more rapid rate.
B) is more efficient.
C) permits the growth of larger, more complex cells.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 36

The heat that drives plate tectonics is driven by

A) radiant energy from the sun.
B) chemical energy from bacteria.
C) chemical energy from inorganic enzymatic cycles.
D) radioactive decay inside Earth's crust.
E) kinetic energy from meteorite collisions.

Question 37

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Earth's magnetic field never changes.
B) Radioisotope dating of rocks, combined with fossil analysis, is the most powerful method of determining geological age.
C) Geological periods are divided into eras.
D) In order to date igneous rocks, geologists search for places where sedimentary rocks have intruded into the bed's igneous rocks.
E) All of the above

Question 38

Based on the experiment in which Drosophila flies were raised at a higher than normal oxygen concentration, which of the following statements is most likely true?

A) Fly body size is constrained because there are not enough alleles that increase body size.
B) Fly body size is constrained because alleles that increase body size are selected against at normal oxygen levels.
C) At normal oxygen concentration levels, fly body size is under strong directional selection.
D) Fly body size would likely increase if flies were raised at lower than normal oxygen concentrations.
E) Increased oxygen levels appear to have little effect on fly body size, even after many generations.

Question 39

The appearance of multicellular organisms coincided with increased levels of _______ in Earth's atmosphere.

A) sulfur
B) hydrogen
C) nitrogen
D) carbon
E) oxygen

Question 40

Which of the following statements about radioisotope dating is false?

A) The isotopes in sedimentary rocks contain reliable information about the dates of their formation.
B) Igneous rocks are formed when molten material cools.
C) The decay of potassium-40 to argon-40 has been used to date most of the ancient events in the evolution of life.
D) Paleomagnetic dating relates the ages of rocks to patterns in Earth's magnetism.
E) All of the above are true; none is false.

Question 41

Which of the following organisms would you not expect to see during a walk in a Permian forest?

A) Dragonflies
B) Amphibians
C) Club mosses and horsetails
D) Flowering plants
E) Gymnosperms

Question 42

Vascular plants first appeared during the

A) Cambrian.
B) Ordovician.
C) Silurian.
D) Carboniferous.
E) Permian.

Question 43

After the eruption of a major volcano, the concentrations of _______ are likely to increase greatly, and the temperature is likely to _______.

A) oxygen; drop
B) oxygen; rise
C) sulfur dioxide; drop
D) sulfur dioxide; rise
E) carbon dioxide; rise

Question 44

All of the plants living at a particular time or place are called

A) the biota.
B) the flora.
C) the fauna.
D) the igneous species.
E) Gondwana.

Question 45

During the Permian period, all of the continents came together to form one supercontinent known as

A) Pangaea.
B) Gondwana.
C) Laurasia.
D) Crinoid.
E) Ork.

Question 46

Fishlike amphibians began to occupy land during the

A) Cretaceous.
B) Cambrian.
C) Devonian.
D) Silurian.
E) Holocene.

Question 47

Which of the following conditions would most likely increase the likelihood of an animal being fossilized?

A) Living in an oxygen-rich environment
B) Having an exoskeleton
C) Living in an area where geological processes often transform rocks
D) Both a and b
E) None of the above

Question 48

Approximately _______ species in the current biota have been described.

A) 3,000
B) 30,000
C) 300,000
D) 1.8 million
E) 10 million

Question 49

Approximately _______ fossil species have been described.

A) 3,000
B) 30,000
C) 150,000
D) 1.7 million
E) 10 million

Question 50

The first flying animals were _______, which first appeared in the _______ period.

A) birds; Carboniferous
B) birds; Cretaceous
C) bats; Jurassic
D) insects; Carboniferous
E) insects; Permian

Question 51

The period of time between when life first evolved on Earth and the definite appearance of multicellular life was about _______ years.

A) 200 million
B) 500 million
C) 1 billion
D) 3 billion
E) 5 billion

Question 52

Vertebrates with well-protected eggs that can be laid in dry places are known as

A) trilobites.
B) ediacaran.
C) crinoides.
D) amniotes.
E) dinosaurs.

Question 53

Life first evolved on Earth _______ years ago.

A) more than 5 billion
B) between 3 billion and 5 billion
C) between 2 billion and 3 billion
D) between 1 billion and 2 billion
E) less than 1 billion

Question 54

Which of the following statements about the Cambrian is true?

A) The Burgess Shale is a Cambrian fossil bed.
B) The first multicellular life occurred during the Cambrian.
C) The Cambrian marks the end of the Paleozoic era.
D) Oxygen concentrations were low during the Cambrian.
E) None of the above

Question 55

Abnormally high concentrations of _______ have been found in rocks dating from the end of the Cretaceous.

A) lithium
B) mercury
C) iridium
D) nickel
E) tungsten

Question 56

The Cambrian explosion started _______ the Cambrian and lasted for _______ of years.

A) before; tens of thousands
B) before; millions
C) during; hundreds
D) during; tens of thousands
E) during; millions

Question 57

Which of the following did not take place in the Devonian?

A) A mass extinction marking the end of the period
B) The appearance of the first gymnosperms
C) An acceleration in the rates of evolutionary change in many groups of animals
D) The appearance of the first known fossils of insects, spiders, and mites
E) All of the above occurred in the Devonian.

Question 58

Which of the following statements about the Cambrian is false?

A) Arthropods were abundant and diverse during this period.
B) There was abundant multicellular terrestrial life.
C) Large continents had already formed.
D) Oxygen concentrations were approaching current levels.
E) All of the above are true; none is false.

Question 59

The possible collision of a large meteorite with Earth 65 million years ago may explain

A) the existence of Gondwana.
B) continental drift, according to Alfred Wegener.
C) the mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs.
D) contemporary atmospheric conditions on Earth.
E) None of the above

Question 60

At the end of which of the following periods did oxygen concentrations decrease from about 30 percent to 15 percent?

A) Cambrian
B) Cretaceous
C) Permian
D) Devonian
E) None of the above

Question 61

Which of the following statements about the Mesozoic is true?

A) Atmospheric levels of oxygen fell during the Mesozoic.
B) The same groups of animals that were dominant during the Permian were also dominant throughout the Mesozoic.
C) Pangaea came together during the Mesozoic.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 62

Which of the following did not occur during the Pleistocene?

A) Multiple ice ages
B) Humans reached North America.
C) Humans reached Australia.
D) The ranges of many animals and plants shifted to the equator.
E) All of the above occurred.

Question 63

The current geological period is the

A) Tertiary.
B) Quaternary.
C) Triassic.
D) Devonian.
E) Pleistocene.

Question 64

The period of time in which most of the land was divided into two large land masses and in which lizards, several groups of mammals, and flowering plants first appeared was the

A) Cretaceous.
B) Permian.
C) Triassic.
D) Devonian.
E) Jurassic.

Question 65

The most dramatic mass extinction in Earth's history, which destroyed about 96 percent of the species,

A) killed off the dinosaurs.
B) occurred at the end of the Cretaceous.
C) occurred at the end of the Permian.
D) Both a and b
E) Both a and c

Question 66

The Permian extinction occurred approximately _______ million years ago.

A) 40
B) 65
C) 150
D) 250
E) 550

Question 67

The first snakes evolved during the _______ period.

A) Cretaceous
B) Permian
C) Triassic
D) Devonian
E) Cambrian

Question 68

Which of the following places the events in correct chronological order, from earliest to latest?

A) First frogs, earliest fossil flowering plants, Permian extinction
B) First frogs, Permian extinction, earliest fossil flowering plants
C) Earliest fossil flowering plants, first frogs, Permian extinction
D) Permian extinction, first frogs, earliest fossil flowering plants
E) Permian extinction, earliest fossil flowering plants, first frogs

Question 69

The Cenozoic era began about _______ years ago.

A) 1 million
B) 15 million
C) 65 million
D) 225 million
E) 1 billion

Question 70

Which of the following represents the correct ordering of the categories, from largest to smallest?

A) Epoch, period, era
B) Epoch, era, period
C) Era, epoch, period
D) Era, period, epoch
E) Period, era, epoch

Question 71

Humans reached North America approximately _______ years ago.

A) 500
B) 1,500
C) 15,000
D) 100,000
E) 1 million

Question 72

Which of the following experienced major radiations during the Cenozoic?

A) Non-avian dinosaurs
B) Mammals
C) Flowering plants
D) Both a and b
E) Both b and c

Question 73

The layers of rocks, also known as _______, are often found in a chronological sequence, with the oldest rocks at the _______.

Question 74

Which of the following statements about the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous is false?

A) A meteorite was involved.
B) Many marine invertebrates and insect species died out.
C) Almost all land animals larger than about 25 kilograms, including dinosaurs, became extinct.
D) It was the largest mass extinction in Earth's history.
E) All of the above are true; none is false.

Question 75

Rodents, marsupials, and hoofed animals first appeared in North America during the _______ period.

A) Tertiary
B) Permian
C) Triassic
D) Devonian
E) Cretaceous

Question 76

During which period did the following events occur: recovery of the biota after a major mass extinction; increase in the species richness of invertebrate groups; appearance of the first turtles and frogs; and beginnings of a large radiation of reptiles?

A) Permian
B) Cambrian
C) Jurassic
D) Cretaceous
E) Triassic

Question 77

The preserved remains of ancient organisms, known as _______, can tell us a great deal about the morphology of extinct species.

Question 78

Which of the following places the events in correct chronological order, from earliest to latest?

A) 100 million years ago, first mammals appear, dinosaurs go extinct
B) 100 million years ago, dinosaurs go extinct, first mammals appear
C) Dinosaurs go extinct, first mammals appear, 100 million years ago
D) First mammals appear, 100 million years ago, dinosaurs go extinct
E) First mammals appear, dinosaurs go extinct, 100 million years ago

Question 79

The symbiosis between legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria began in the

A) Tertiary.
B) Permian.
C) Triassic.
D) Devonian.
E) Cambrian.

Question 80

During which period did Pangaea begin to separate?

A) Cambrian
B) Triassic
C) Jurassic
D) Permian
E) Quaternary