Practice Exam IV

1) ______is known as the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult stage.

2)Amphibian means ______.

3)During the contraction of a muscle, the ______is reduced in size.

4)The order Squamata contains three traditional subgroups. One of these ______is NOT monophyletic, because the remaining two ______and ______are phylogenetically nested within a lineage of the first.

5)A branching diagram that represents the evolutionary history of a group of organisms is called a ______.

6)The ______is an extinct class of fish characterized by heterocercal tails and bony armor plating.

7)The most diverse group of living vertebrates is the ______with more than 27,000 extant species.

8)Birds are considered to be a ______group because they include their most recent common ancestor and all its descendants.

9)______is a transitional organism between fish and tetrapods that was notable for having fins with wrists.

10)______is the order that includes all Caecilians.

11)Vertebrates within the order Testudines are notable for having a dorsal ______and a ventral ______.

12)______was the transitional organism between reptiles and birds whose fossil remains were found in a German quarry in 1861.

13)The three types of muscle are ______, ______, and ______.

14)Vertebrates make use of a ______circulatory system, while most invertebrates use a(n) ______circulatory system.

15)The evolution of a squamosal-dentary jaw articulation in mammals allowed other jaw bones to be modified for the function of ______. They are now found in the mammalian ______.

16)______are cells that hold pigment, and in some organisms can be rearranged to alter color patterns.

17)The heterocercal tail of many chondricthyes is an adaptation to increase ______during swimming.

18)Several mammalian groups have either antlers or horns. Which of these are shed yearly? ______

19)Vertebrates that have females who produce eggs but retain them within their reproductive tract until hatching are called ______.

20)The medulla region of the adrenal gland produces two hormones, ______and ______.

21)The three steroid hormones, collectively called ______are involved in sexual maturation, reproduction, and the development of secondary sexual characteristics.

22)______displays are highly ritualized, and are meant to determine the winner of an aggressive encounter without the need for combat.

23)Four distinct stomach epithelial layers are found in vertebrates, but ______is found only in mammals.

24)In mammals, the ______are sweat glands used primarily to cool the animal.

25)______describes a pattern where two closely related species are more different in some trait (e.g. body size, or mating calls) when they occur together (sympatry) than they are when they occur individually (allopatry).

26)______is known as the tear-drop shape of the wing that helps to create lift.

27)To counteract the effects of pitch and roll during swimming, fish use their ______and ______fins.

28)Owls ears are ______in both size and position on the head, allowing for directional hearing and triangulation of prey location.

29)The most common type of pair bonds seen in vertebrates is ______.

30)The ______states that a wing with camber produces a low pressure zone above the wing and a high pressure zone below the wing, thus producing lift.

31)The bird stomach is divided into two portions; the ______produces the digestive juices and the ______grinds the food by muscle action.

32)The true stomach in ruminants is known as the ______.

33)Salmon are known as ______; that is they are born in fresh water, mature in salt-water, and return to fresh-water to breed. Some eels are ______; being they are born in salt-water, mature in fresh-water, and return to the sea to breed.

34)Neurons can be divided into 3 classes: ______, ______, and ______.

35)______is a form of asexual reproduction where the egg develops into a new individual without being fertilized.

36)______vision produces a broad overlap of fields of vision that allows for more depth perception (think predators). ______vision provides a wide field of vision but with less depth perception.

37)______is the tendency to move side to side, ______is the up and down movement, and ______is movement from right to left.

38)When a local species goes extinct as a result of competition, this is an example of ______.

39)There are four basic types of cryptic coloration, name them ______, ______, ______, and ______.

40)______organisms have offspring that are well developed and soon after birth are capable of taking care of themselves to some extent.

41)______signals are effective over long distances, and can be used when there is no direct line of sight between the sender and receiver.

42)A ______is the area around a high priority, limited resource, and is defended such that other potential competitors are excluded.

43)Some fish, alligators, and turtles exhibit ______(abbreviation), where the sex of their offspring is determined by temperature.

44)In mammals, ______are the primary dispersers, while in birds ______are the primary dispersers.

45)______is the manufacture of complex substances from simpler substrates with the consequent utilization of energy.

46)______coloration is a form of structural coloration where some wavelengths are reflected well and some are not. This causes apparent changes in coloration as the view of the organism changes

47)______is the directed movement towards a goal, and is accomplished by processing various signals, such as the position of the sun, celestial cues, and physical landmarks.

48)In some small mammals, nonshivering thermogenesis is obtained via heat production in ______, which are cells with higher levels of mitochondria and that generate heat by oxidizing fatty acids.

49)The ______principle states that as animal groups increase in size, their navigational accuracy improves.

50)A major law of biology is that of metabolic allometry, which states that metabolic rate scales with body size to the power of ______(be specific).

51)Many vertebrates exhibit ______, or sex-specific phenotypic differences, particularly in secondary sexual traits that are used in mate recognition and courtship.

52)Species that can reproduce at any time throughout the year exhibit ______reproductive strategy. The opposite is known as ______.

53)______is a seasonal period of decreased activity (dormancy), though for many mammals exhibiting this life history trait, they awaken periodically during the winter. It is called ______if it occurs in the summer.

54)______is a round trip, which includes movement to and from an area. ______is a one-way trip to a particular location, but no return to the original area.

55)______is the use of bright colors as a warning of toxins.

56)______is the interaction between two or more individuals (sender and receiver) to transmit information that alters the receiver’s behavior.

57)The minimum metabolic rate for a fasting, resting organism with no thermal stress is ______.

58)The physiological state in which the energy expenditure is decreased by lowering body temperature and metabolic rate is known as ______.

59)The screening mechanism that improves the ability of the animal to locate specific food items is known as the ______.

60)______- ______is known as the Malthusian parameter, and it describes instantaneous rate of ______.

61)The three types of discrete population growth are known as ______, ______, and ______.

62)Exponential growth is known as density ______growth, whereas logistical growth is known as density ______growth.

63)______is the elimination of a species in a particular location, but the species continues to exist elsewhere.

64)______are large die-offs of species in a relatively short time span.

65)Current extinctions driven largely by three means of human interference – name them: ______, ______, and ______.

Essay/Short Answer

66. Name three main types of skull fenestration, BRIEFLY define what they are, and which extant vertebrate groups exhibit them.

67. Briefly compare the structure of the heart found in the following vertebrate, and describe the circulation path the blood follows.

HeartCirculation Path

Fish

Amphibian

Mammal

68. Identify several (3) major advances of the reptilian egg over the amphibian egg.

69. Name the 4 major characteristics of Chordates.

70. Different vertebrates have different reproductive strategies that can be classified into 1 of 2 main types: r-selected and K-selected. Describe the general characteristics seen in both.

71. Most vertebrates have both rods and cones in their retina. Compare and contrast the two, the conditions under which each functions optimally, and what sort of light (and images) they allow vertebrates to see

72. Interspecific competition can result in a number of possible outcomes at the ecological level. In class we discussed several possibilities. Three of these outcomes were means by which competition was reduced among competitors (allowing coexistence), and one was the ‘ultimate’ outcome of extended competition between species. Name these three outcomes, briefly describe them, and provide an example of each.

73. The entrance into hibernation involves three major physiological changes. Name them.

74. Describe what is meant by Batesian, Mullerian, and Martensian mimicry.

75. List three major ways of reducing heat loss in vertebrates.

76. According to optimal foraging theory, a longer travel time to a patch will result in a longer time spent in the patch. Conversely, a shorter travel time to a patch may result in a short stay. Why is this the case? For both scenarios draw a graph containing energy gain lines for both a short trip and a long trip to the patch to show these relationships.

80. What are the characteristics of the K/T extinction? Who did it impact and why?

81. What is the 6th mass extinction? Who or what caused it? What are the three main causes of the 6th mass extinction?