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Biology of Australian Vertebrates > Exam Revision > Flashcards

Exam Revision Flashcards

1
Q

Do the eggs of amphibians contain yolk?

A

Yes

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2
Q

What are the three orders within the class Amphibia?

A
  1. Anura (frogs & toads)
  2. Caudata (salamanders & newts)
  3. Gymnophiona (caecilians)
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3
Q

List three advantages of the amniotic egg.

A
  1. resistance to desiccation
  2. mechanical support
  3. calcium deposit
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4
Q

Are mammals anapsid, synapsid or diapsid?

A

synapsid

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5
Q

Are birds anapsid, synapsid or diapsid?

A

diapsid

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6
Q

Are reptiles anapsid, synapsid or diapsid?

A

Reptiles are diapsid, except for turtles, which are secondarily anapsid.

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7
Q

Do snakes have pectoral and/or pelvic girdles?

A

No, snakes have de-evolved both girdles.

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8
Q

What are two weight-saving adaptations seen in birds?

A
  1. keratinised beak instead of teeth
  2. skeleton containing air cavities
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9
Q

List two major mammal lineages that are absent in Australia.

A
  1. terrestrial Carnivora
  2. ungulates
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10
Q

What are the consequences of Australia’s historic lack of glaciers?

A

Glaciers grind down rocks and release nutrients into the soil. Since there have been few glaciers in Australia, the soil is nutrient poor, and plant and herbivore species are adapted to this low nutrient soil.

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11
Q

Ratites are an illustrative example of a lineage with Gondwanan origins. What are three main ratite species and where are they found?

A

Emus are found in Australia, whilst rheas are found in South America and ostriches are found in Africa.

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12
Q

Where is Alfred Russel Wallace’s ‘faunal boundary’ located?

A

Wallace’s Line runs between Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.

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13
Q

Which animal taxa made it to Australia across Wallace’s Line?

A
  1. pig-nosed turtle
  2. flying foxes
  3. Murid rodents
  4. Colubrid snakes
  5. oriental dollarbird
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14
Q

What is King’s Canyon?

A

King’s Canyon is a remnant of Gondwanan rainforest, found in a central Australian desert region.

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15
Q

How many bird species are there in Australia?

A

There are ~900 bird species in Australia. Australia is a global hotspot for avian endemism.

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16
Q

True or false? Passerines are a monophyletic group.

A

True

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17
Q

Are ratites passerine or non-passerine?

A

non-passerine

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18
Q

What adaptations to flightlessness do emus and cassowaries show?

A

Emus and cassowaries have heavier bones and more well-developed legs than flighted birds. They also lack a breastbone keel and feather barbules.

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19
Q

What is the diet of frogmouths and nightjars?

A

Frogmouths and nightjars are insectivorous.

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20
Q

Which bird lineage is most closely related to the pigeons?

A

cuckoos

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21
Q

Are seabirds passerine or non-passerine?

A

non-passerine

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22
Q

How do migratory shorebirds survive during long migrations?

A

Many shorebirds double their body weight with fat before they undertake a migration.

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23
Q

Are raptors passerine or non-passerine?

A

non-passerine

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24
Q

Are raptors monophyletic?

A

No - There are two distinct raptor radiations.

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25
Q

Are kingfishers passerine or non-passerine?

A

non-passerine

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26
Q

List three characteristics of parrots.

A

Any three of the following:
1. zygodactyl feet
2. hooked bill
3. colourful plumage
4. high intelligence
5. dexterity

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27
Q

How many species of passerine birds exist worldwide?

A

~5000

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28
Q

Are lyrebirds passerine or non-passerine?

A

passerine

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29
Q

Are fairy-wrens passerine or non-passerine?

A

passerine

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30
Q

What is the largest radiation of Australian passerines?

A

Australian honeyeaters (Meliphagidae)

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31
Q

Are whistlers passerine or non-passerine?

A

passerine

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32
Q

Are butcherbirds passerine or non-passerine?

A

passerine

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33
Q

What do you call the food store of a butcherbird?

A

a larder

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34
Q

Are bowerbirds passerine or non-passerine?

A

passerine

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35
Q

Are birds of paradise passerine or non-passerine?

A

passerine

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36
Q

Are finches passerine or non-passerine?

A

passerine

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37
Q

Do parrots and pigeons have Gondwanan, Laurasian or Pangaean origins?

A

Parrots and pigeons are likely to have Gondwanan origins.

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38
Q

Which passerine radiation originated in Australia?

A

the Oscine passerines

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39
Q

True or false? The south western Bassian region is a hotspot for biodiversity.

A

True

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40
Q

In which bioregion is the lovely fairy-wren found?

A

Tumbunan

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41
Q

In which bioregion is the red-backed fairy-wren found?

42
Q

In which bioregion is the red-winged fairy-wren found?

A

Bassian (west)

43
Q

In which bioregion is the superb fairy-wren found?

A

Bassian (east)

44
Q

In which bioregion is the white-winged fairy-wren found?

45
Q

What water-related adaptation is shared by the diamond dove and the flock bronzewing?

A

Both have beaks that act as straws.

46
Q

How do Gouldian finches benefit from small bush fires?

A

Fires burn away dead grass, thereby exposing grass seeds which the finches eat.

47
Q

Why is the Torres Strait a major fly-way for land birds?

A

The Torres Strait is scattered with many islands. Land birds prefer to fly over islands than over open sea.

48
Q

Why do Australian birds favour many small clutches over one large clutch?

A

The Australian climate is highly unpredictable. By raising many small clutches, Australian birds are ‘hedging their bets’.

49
Q

What environmental signal triggers breeding in zebra finches?

A

Zebra finches breed within three months of rain.

50
Q

Is Marsupialia a class, subclass or order?

51
Q

What is the diet of numbats?

A

Numbats are specialist termite-eaters.

52
Q

What is the key characteristic of diprotodont dentition?

A

Diprotodonts have two incisors in the bottom jaw.

53
Q

Which animals are the closest relatives of wombats?

54
Q

What is unusual about the musky rat kangaroo?

A

Musky rat kangaroos are macropods that don’t hop. They are quadrapedal.

55
Q

When did the ‘old endemic’ wave of rodents arrive in Australia?

A

It arrived during the Pliocene (5.3-2.6 million years ago).

56
Q

When did the ‘new endemic’ wave of rodents arrive in Australia?

A

It arrived during the Pleistocene (2.6 million years ago - 11,600 years ago).

57
Q

What kind of rodents make up the ‘new endemic’ wave?

A

All ‘new endemic’ species are from the genus Rattus.

58
Q

When did the third wave of rodents arrive in Australia?

A

The third wave (e.g. brown rat, black rat) arrived with humans travelling to Australia on ships during the second millennium CE.

59
Q

Where are Microbiotheria present?

A

Microbiotheria are found in both South America and Australia.

60
Q

How many native Australian mammal species are there?

61
Q

List four factors that have made Australia relatively depauperate in mammal species.

A
  1. arid climate
  2. megafaunal extinction
  3. dingo arrival
  4. European colonisation
62
Q

List three possible causes of the megafauna extinction in Australia.

A
  1. hunting by humans
  2. changes to the landscape for agriculture
  3. climate change
63
Q

In which bioregion do you find the New Guinea quoll?

64
Q

In which bioregion do you find the bronze quoll?

65
Q

In which bioregion do you find the western quoll?

66
Q

In which bioregions do you find the northern quoll?

A

Tumbunan and Torresian

67
Q

In which bioregion do you find the spotted-tailed quoll?

68
Q

In which bioregion do you find the red kangaroo?

69
Q

In which bioregion do you find the musky rat kangaroo?

70
Q

In which bioregion do you find the nail-tailed wallaby?

71
Q

What are the two most significant factors causing extinction of Australian mammals?

A
  1. predation by feral cats
  2. predation by red foxes
72
Q

Why are feral cat numbers more difficult to suppress than red fox numbers?

A

Feral cats are more discerning when choosing meals than foxes, so they often ignore poisoned bait.

73
Q

What are the two key characteristics of fossil mammals?

A
  1. definitive mammalian middle ear
  2. tribosphenic teeth
74
Q

Place the epochs within the Cenozoic era in chronological order.

A

Holocene
Pleistocene
Pliocene
Miocene
Oligocene
Eocene
Paleocene

75
Q

What are the two defining characteristics of modern mammals?

76
Q

What is the difference between the terms ‘marsupial’ and ‘metatherian’?

A

‘Marsupial’ refers only to extant species, whilst ‘metatherian’ includes extant and extinct species.

77
Q

What is the oldest monotreme fossil?

A

Teinolophos trusleri

78
Q

What is the oldest metatherian fossil?

A

(Probably) Sinodelphys

79
Q

Which marsupials are polyprotodont?

A

South American marsupials and Australian dasyurids

80
Q

True or false? Wombats have low-crown teeth.

81
Q

True or false? The definitive mammalian middle ear only evolved once.

A

False. The DMME evolved at least three separate times.

82
Q

What are the two major elements of tooth design?

A
  1. tool (blade/cusp) shape
  2. tool (blade/cusp) number
83
Q

Does a tooth cusp with a high radius of curvature require more or less force to break down food than a cusp with a low radius or curvature?

A

less force

84
Q

Does a blade with a small approach angle require more or less force to cut than a blade with a large approach angle?

A

more force

85
Q

In terms of diet, are vertebrates more or less difficult to break down than insects?

A

less difficult

86
Q

In terms of diet, are roots more or less difficult to break down than leaves?

A

less difficult

87
Q

Are all members of Carnivora carnivorous?

A

No. The giant panda is herbivorous.

88
Q

Put these diets in order from least to most complex associated gut: browser, grazer, omnivore.

A
  1. omnivore
  2. browser
  3. grazer
89
Q

Is molar progression associated with browsing or grazing?

90
Q

How does the nabarlek deal with its diet of abrasive ferns?

A

The nabarlek can continuously replace its molars throughout its entire lifetime.

91
Q

Why is the invasive plant known as Salvation Jane or Paterson’s curse harmful?

A

The weed is toxic to many grazing animals, including horses and pigs.

92
Q

Name a species that has been accidentally introduced to new territory via the ballast water of ships.

A

Northern Pacific seastar

93
Q

List two reasons why a species might be deliberately introduced to new territory.

A

Any two of the following:
1. aesthetic quality
2. companionship
3. recreational hunting
4. agriculture
5. biological control

94
Q

True or false? Australia is exceptionally vulnerable to invasive species.

95
Q

What are the top three threats to Australia’s threatened species?

A
  1. invasive species
  2. ecosystem modifications
  3. agriculture
96
Q

What are the top three threats to threatened species worldwide?

A
  1. agriculture
  2. overexploitation
  3. urban development
97
Q

What is the most damaging invasive species in Australia, in terms of number of plant and animal species listed as threatened due to its impact?

A

the European rabbit

98
Q

True or false? Invasive predators and native predators are equally successful at killing avian/mammalian native prey.

A

False. Invasive predators are more successful.

99
Q

Why are Australian animals so vulnerable to invasive species?

A

Due to longterm geographic isolation and the absence of certain animal lineages, Australian animals are evolutionarily naïve to many invasive species.

100
Q

Explain the theory of ‘Eurasian superiority’.

A

Eurasian species tend to do well when introduced to new territory, out-competing native species. This might be due to innate evolutionary superiority, or because they have had help from past Eurasian colonisation.

Biology of Australian Vertebrates (1 decks)

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