Chapter 14-Evolution: A Retreat from Science

Question 1

Who was the man who wrote “Principles of Geology,” and created the false doctrine of uniformitarianism?

Answer 1

Charles Lyell

Question 2

What is the idea that the present is the only key to the past, and that all things continue by natural processes at the same rates as they always have done?

Answer 2

Uniformitarianism

Question 3

What is the idea that the fittest and strongest of each species were more likely to survive and reproduce than weaker, poorly adapted animals, and acts to preserve existing kinds, not create new kinds?

Answer 3

Natural selection

Question 4

What is the “science” which sought to improve the human species by selectively breeding humans to produce a “master race”?

Answer 4

Eugenics

Question 5

What is defined as the changes within a particular kind of organism, referring to variations in the gene pool within a population?

Answer 5

Speciation

Question 6

What is the concept which is defined as the process by which new kinds of creatures emerge from existing kinds over time, and has never been observed in nature?

Answer 6

Macroevolution

Question 7

What is the study of fossils called?

Answer 7

Paleontology

Question 8

Geologists of Charles Darwin’s day expected the fossil record to prove evolution by providing fossils of ___________________, or “missing links,” which would be fossils that connect one kind of organism with another kind by a series of tiny steps.

Answer 8

Transitional forms

Question 9

Paleontologists Stephen J. Gould and Niles Eldredge proposed the __________________ in 1972, which suggested that evolution occurs in sudden spurts, followed by long periods without noticeable change.

Answer 9

Punctuated equilibrium process

Question 10

What is the simple-to-complex sequence of fossils called?

Answer 10

Geologic column

Question 11

What kind of fossils are considered characteristics of a specific period and are used to identify rock layers in the field?

Answer 11

Index fossils

Question 12

What is a technique used by evolutionists that is based on the fact that atoms of certain elements break down into atoms of other elements at relatively constant rates?

Answer 12

Radiometric dating

Question 13

Who was the British naturalist who rejected the Christian faith and declared himself an agnostic, and published a book known as “The Origin of Species,” and created the idea of natural selection?

Answer 13

Charles Darwin

Question 14

What is the hypothesis of evolution that states that there should be a gradual progression of extremely simple cells to more “advanced” creatures, with a gradual increase in variety and diversity?

Answer 14

“Cambrian explosion”

Question 15

Rocks of the Devonian Period contain fossils of an unusual 6-foot-long fish called the _______________, which is a general term used to describe any fish of the Crossopterygii.

Answer 15

Coelacanth (sē’ le kanth’)

Question 16

What is the fossil bird that is often presented as an evolutionary link between dinosaurs and modern birds?

Answer 16

Archaeopteryx

Question 17

The ____________, is actually a collection of unrelated animals that share a similar overall body plan.

Answer 17

“Horse series”

Question 18

What book by Charles Darwin was written 12 years after his publication of “Origin,” and discussed the origin of mankind where he pointed out similarities between man and “other animals” and came to the false conclusion that man is simply the most evolved form of animal?

Answer 18

The Descent of Man

Question 19

What was the fossil discovered by Charles Dawson, and had a human-like skull, apelike jaw, and was later found out to be a complete hoax?

Answer 19

Piltdown Man

Question 20

What was the famous “early human” that was “reconstructed” from a single tooth found in 1922, but was found that the tooth belonged to an extinct pig?

Answer 20

Nebraska Man

Question 21

What “missing link” was a medium-sized ape originally “reconstructed” from a few teeth, heavy jawbone, and fragments of facial bones, but was later revealed to have been a form similar to modern orangutans?

Answer 21

Ramapithecus

Question 22

What was the “missing link” that had a Taung skull of a juvenile ape, and was later dismissed as merely an extinct ape?

Answer 22

Australopithecus africanus

Question 23

What kind of “Australopithecus” was once regarded as a “human ancestor,” was discovered by the Leakey family, was a skull broken into 400 different pieces, but is now considered an extinct ape?

Answer 23

Australopithecus boisei

Question 24

What kind of “Australopithecus” is probably the most famous, which was originally based on a chimpanzee-sized fossil nicknamed “Lucy,” and with the skull being chimpanzee-like, it IX considered to be an extinct ape?

Answer 24

Australopithecus afarensis

Question 25

What fossil is actually a mixture of human fossils and ape fossils?

Answer 25

“Homo habilis”

Question 26

What was the fossil of a skullcap and femur that were found nearly 50 feet apart, was found by Dubois, who assumed they belonged to the same individual, and claimed they represented a transitional form between apes and humans, but was later found that it’s “apelike” characteristics were over exaggerated?

Answer 26

Java man

Question 27

What was a fossil that was found in China near the city of Beijing, and was later realized that it’s similarities to an ape were over exaggerated?

Answer 27

Peking man

Question 28

The Java man and Peking man’s “apelike” characteristics were found to be over exaggerated, making them classified as:

Answer 28

Homo erectus

Question 29

What was the fossil found in Germany, that was said to possess “apelike” features such as heavy brows and sloping foreheads, but they possessed stronger muscles and bones and a bigger brain, and the skeletons were also assembled in an artificially stooped posture to make them seem “subhuman,” but is now said to be fully human?

Answer 29

Neanderthal man

Question 30

What was a “link” fossil that was discovered in 1868 in southwest France, and is now known as identical to modern humans although they often had larger than average brains?

Answer 30

Cro-Magnon man

Question 31

All of the fossil humans can be regarded as:

Answer 31

Homo sapiens

Question 32

What is the study of similarities and differences in the body structure of organisms that was founded around 1800 by Georges Cuvier?

Answer 32

Comparative anatomy

Question 33

Comparative anatomy was founded by _______________, the French scientist who showed that the bodies of man and animals have certain basic similarities in their overall designs.

Answer 33

Georges Cuvier

Question 34

What refers to similarities among organisms adapted to the same environment but different in internal structure?

Answer 34

Analogy

Question 35

What refers to similar organs which are also similar in internal structure?

Answer 35

Homology

Question 36

Much of the newest evidence against Darwinism comes from the field of _________________, the science which seeks to discover how the mechanisms of living cells work.

Answer 36

Molecular biology

Question 37

Who was the 18th century theologian who remarked that everything has a purposeful design; living systems did not occur by chance?

Answer 37

William Paley

Question 38

Who was the Austrian mink who showed through genetics that variety within kinds generally results from preexisting genetic variety and that there are fixed limits to biological change?

Answer 38

Gregor Mendel

Question 39

What are random errors in an organism’s genetic code?

Answer 39

Mutations

Question 40

What is the breeding within a small, isolated group that revealed latent characteristics, and natural selection caused them to become predominant among the finches on the Galápagos island?

Answer 40

Inbreeding

Question 41

What is the commonly cited example of natural selection in action that ranges in color from black to light gray with a few dark spots?

Answer 41

Peppered moth

Question 42

What is another “proof” of evolution that states that an unborn baby, while developing in its mother’s womb, goes through various stages of development that resemble different animals, providing a “replay” of man’s evolution from a simple invertebrate to his present form?

Answer 42

Embryonic recapitulation

Question 43

The hypothesis of embryonic recapitulation was developed by German evolutionist named _______________, who deliberately falsified the pictures he published of certain embryos.

Answer 43

Ernst Haeckel

Question 44

The philosophy of evolution is based upon _____________ that cannot be scientifically verified.

Answer 44

Assumptions

Question 45

What involves thinking seriously and rigorously about the phenomena of the physical universe and forming general principles to explain them?

Answer 45

Theoretical speculation

Question 46

What involves looking very closely at the physical universe for the purpose of gathering scientific knowledge about it?

Answer 46

Observation

Question 47

What is a special kind of observation that involves testing theoretical speculations in a controlled and systematic way?

Answer 47

Experimentation

Question 48

What is the quasi-religious idea that states that the earth and all the living things that inhabit it constitute a single living thing; some proponents even imply that the earth purposely directs the processes of evolution for “her” own benefit?

Answer 48

Gaia hypothesis