Chapter 16
Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life · 10 exercises
Problem 1
The number of species on an island depends on the size of the island and its distance from a mainland. This statement would most likely be made by ____. a. an explorer b. a biogeographer c. a geologist d. a philosopher
4 step solution
Problem 2
The bones of a bird's wing are similar to the bones in a bat's wing. This observation is an example of ___. a. uniformity b. evolution c. comparative morphology d. a lineage
4 step solution
Problem 4
A trait is adaptive if it ____. a. arises by mutation b. increases fitness c. is passed to offspring d. occurs in fossils
3 step solution
Problem 5
In which type of rock are you most likely to find a fossil? a. basalt, a dark, fine-grained volcanic rock b. limestone, composed of sedimented calcium carbonate c. slate, a volcanically melted and cooled shale d. granite, which forms by crystallization of magma cooling below Earth's surface
4 step solution
Problem 6
Which of the following is a fossil? a. an insect encased in 10 -million-year-old tree sap b. a woolly mammoth frozen in Arctic permafrost for the last 50,000 years c. mineral-hardened remains of a whalelike animal found in an Egyptian desert d. an impression of a plant leaf in a rock e. all of the above can be considered fossils
6 step solution
Problem 7
7\. If the half-life of a radioisotope is 20,000 years, then a sample in which three-quarters of that radioisotope has decayed is_____ years old. a. 15,000 b. 26,667 c. 30,000 d. 40,000
4 step solution
Problem 8
Did Pangea or Gondwana form first?
3 step solution
Problem 10
On the geologic time scale, life originated in the ____. a. Archean b. Proterozoic c. Phanerozoic d. Cambrian
4 step solution
Problem 11
Match the terms with the most suitable description. _______fitness _______ fossils _______natural _______selection _______half-life _______catastrophism _______uniformity a. measured by reproductive success b. geologic change occurs continuously c. geologic change occurs in unusual major events d. evidence of life in distant past e. survival of the fittest f. characteristic of a radioisotope
6 step solution
Problem 12
Forces that cause geologic change include _____ (select all that are correct). a. erosion b. natural selection c. volcanic activity d. tectonic plate movement e. wind f. meteorite impacts
3 step solution