Question 1

Ecologists have coined a new term for the current era.The "Anthropocene" is named after humans because we are currently living in an age of mass _______ brought about by human activity such as overharvesting, habitat destruction, and pollution.

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Question 2

A group of oxygen-generating bacteria, the _______, form rocklike structures known as stromatolites.

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Question 3

The preserved remains of ancient organisms, known as _______, are more abundant for organisms that are numerous and/or hard-bodied.

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Question 4

Great evolutionary radiations of corals and shelled squid (like cephalopods) occurred during the _______ period.

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Question 5

The mass extinction responsible for the demise of the nonavian dinosaurs occurred about 65 million years ago at the end of the _______ period.

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Question 6

The rapid climate change we are currently experiencing is primariy due to the human-caused build up of atmospheric _______.

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Question 7

Among terrestrial species, those adapted to _______ conditions (such as higher elevations) are expected to be particularly vulnerable to climate change.

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Question 8

¹⁴C decays to ¹⁴N with a half-life of about 5,700 years.Suppose you find a fossil in which the amount of ¹⁴C is only 1⁄16 of what one would find in a living organism with the same carbon content.Approximately how old is the fossil?

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Question 9

Giant insects have not appeared in the fossil record since the end of the _______ period, due at least in part to declines in the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere that followed the mass death of swamp vegetation around the globe.

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Question 10

Evidence that meteorites collided with Earth at times of mass extinctions comes from the presence of _______, a metal that is rare on Earth but common in some meteorites.

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Question 11

The _______ period (characterized by the evolution of many new forms of multicellular marine life in response to the availability of atmospheric oxygen) is the most ancient period of the Paleozoic era.

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Question 12

At very small population densities, local extinctions can be caused by accidents such as not being able to find a mate.Examples of such phenomena are referred to collectively as the _______ effect.

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Question 13

During the most recent geological era, the _______, certain plants such as legumes formed symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

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Question 14

The current geological period, the Quaternary is divided into two epochs: the _______ and the Holocene.

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Question 15

As a result of continental drift, the continent of _______ (which was attached to Antarctica when most other continents were part of Gondwana and Laurasia) has its own unique fauna compared to the rest of the modern terrestrial world.

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Question 16

At the global level, changing environmental conditions are currently characterized by a(n) increase in temperature caused by increased levels of _______ in the atmosphere.

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Question 17

Plate tectonics have resulted in the merging and splitting of land masses many times in Earth's history.This phenomenon, known as _______, has profound consequences for the evolution and extinction of organisms.

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Question 18

In 2006, paleontologists announced that fossils of Tiktaalik roseae, an important link between fish and tetrapods, had been discovered in freshwater sediments in the Canadian Arctic that were 375 million years old.How were geologists able to determine the age of these sediments?

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Question 19

Why is it useful to be able to date past events absolutely as well as relatively?

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Question 20

Fruit flies grow larger after several generations of being raised in _______ conditions.

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Quiz 24: The History of Life on Earth