Chapter 15

Question 1

Padeomorphosis

Answer 1

The retention in an adult of juvenile features of its evolutionary ancestors.

Question 2

Stromatolite

Answer 2

Layered rock that results from the activities of prokaryotes that bind thin films of sediment together.

Question 3

Exaptation

Answer 3

Structures that evolve in one context but become co-opted for another function.

Question 4

Phylogeny

Answer 4

The evolutionary history of a species or group of species. (Pylon: tribe, genesis: origin).

Question 5

Homologies

Answer 5

Similarities due to shared ancestry.

Question 6

Convergent Evolution

Answer 6

The evolution of similar features in different evolutionary lineages, which can result from living in very similar environments.

Question 7

Analogy

Answer 7

Similarity due to convergent evolution rather than descent from a common ancestor with the same trait.

Question 8

Systematics

Answer 8

A discipline of biology that focuses on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships.

Question 9

Taxonomy

Answer 9

System of naming and classifying species.

Question 10

Binomial

Answer 10

2 part scientific name for a species.

Question 11

Genus

Answer 11

First part of binomial, it is a group of closely related species.

Question 12

Specific Epithet

Answer 12

second part of binomial, distinguishes species within a genus.

Question 13

Clade

Answer 13

A group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants.

Question 14

Monophyleytic

Answer 14

Pertaining to a group of taxa that consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants, equivalent to a clade. (Single tribe).

Question 15

Outgroup

Answer 15

A species from a lineage that is known to have diverged before the lineage that includes the species we are studying, the ingroup.

Question 16

Parsimony

Answer 16

The adoption of the simplest explanation for observed phenomena.

Question 17

Molecular Systematics

Answer 17

Uses DNA or other molecules to infer relatedness.

Question 18

Molecular Clock

Answer 18

A method for estimating the time required for a given amount of evolutionary change, based on the observation that some regions of genomes evolve at constant rates.

Question 19

Horizontal Gene Transfer

Answer 19

A process in which genes are transferred from one genome to another through mechanisms such as plasmid exchange and viral infection.

Question 20

Homeric Genes

Answer 20

master control gene that controls overall body plan by controlling developmental fate of groups of cells.

Question 21

Allometric Growth

Answer 21

The variation in the relative rates of growth of various parts of the body, which helps shape the organism.