Final exam prep questions Flashcards
Which of the following best describes dinosaur diversity in the polar regions during the Mesozoic?
Polar regions were warmer than they are today, but still underwent long periods of darkness. Dinosaurs were able to live there, but may have migrated during the winter.
Put these dinosaurs in chronological order from the earliest to appear, to the last to appear:
Allosaurus
Coelophysis
Eoraptor
Tyrannosaurus rex
Eoraptor, Coelophysis, Allosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex
Put these geological periods in chronological order, from oldest to youngest:
Cambrian
Cretaceous
Permian
Triassic
Cambrian, Permian, Triassic, Cretaceous
ankylosaurs and stegosaurs are in what group
Thyreophora
Natural selection is the process by which
reproductive success of certain traits leads to changes in a population
Which of the following represents the longest unit of geological time?
Mesozoic
Permian
Cretaceous
Phanerozoic
Phanerozoic
Which of the following is associated with Pangaea?
Similar dinosaurs present worldwide
Aridity (dry climate) and rapid fluctuations in climate
The first dinosaurs, like Eoraptor and Eodromaeus were:
Small, bipedal carnivores
Currents in which of the Earth’s layers are responsible for driving plate tectonics?
The asthenosphere
Is the presence of a dental battery in hadrosaurs and ceratopsians a synapomorphy linking these taxa?
No: hadrosaurs are ornithopods and ceratopsians are marginocephalians, and the common ancestor of these groups did not have a dental battery
Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life: Why do you think it would be hard to get Dinosaur DNA?
DNA molecules are delicate and break down over time
Surviving the Impact: Which animals do you think would have been well-adapted to survive the Chicxulub impactor heat pulse?
Birds
Mammals
Crocodiles
Tying An Impact Crater To An Extinction Event: There is one more piece of information that you need to confirm that this impact crater is related to the iridium layer. What is it? The impact crater has to be…
right age
Proof of meteor
iridium, Shocked Quartz, Tektites
Dinosaur Extinction Causes: What are some likely extinction causes? (3)
Climate change from volcanism
Climate change from plate tectonics
Meteorite Impact
Climate change from sea levels
Climate change from volcanism
Climate change from plate tectonics
Meteorite Impact
Global Climate Change: Can you think of some possible causes for environmental changes on a global scale? (5)
Opening of new oceans
Closing of ocean current passage ways
Volcanism putting more CO2 into the atmosphere
Mountain building that changes air currents
Sea level changes
How Long Does a Species Last: On average, how long does a species last before it goes extinct?
1 million to 10 million years
Which of the following is theorized to have resulted from the Chicxulub meteorite impact?
huge firestorms
Which of the following did not live during the Cretaceous? Coniferous plants Flowering plants Birds Trilobites
Trilobites
Two Extinctions: When were these extinction events? (2) Permian-triassic triassic-cretaceous Triassic-jurassic permian-cambrian
Permian-triassic
Triassic-jurassic
When pangae began to break apart? End of jurassic period End of triassic period End of creataceous period End of permian period
End of triassic period
Do you remember the distinguishing features of archosauromorphs? (2)
A fenestra in the skull in the front of the orbit
A single fenestra in the bones of the upper jaw
A fenestra in the skull in the behind of the orbit
A single fenestra in the bones of the lower jaw
A fenestra in the skull in the front of the orbit
A single fenestra in the bones of the lower jaw
When dinosaurs died out? The end cretaceous extinction The end permian extinction The end Cretaceous extinction The end triassic extinction
The end Cretaceous extinction
Greatest mass extinction of all time? The end cambrian extinction The end Permian extinction The end jurassic extinction The end cretaceous extinction
The end Permian extinction
Late Permian Extinction: What do you think caused this mass extinction? Metero Greenhouse gases sea level rises volanic activity
Greenhouse gases
Were dinosaurs lepidosauromorphs or archosauromorphs?
Archosauromorphs
Dimetrodon to Mammals: What is the feature that makes an animal like Dimetrodon more similar to mammals than dinosaurs?
Has a two fenestra behind the eye
Has a single fenestra behind the eye
Has no fenestra behind the eye
Has a single fenestra behind the eye
Which of the following was an adaptation possessed by the first dinosaurs? (3) Perforated acetabulum Antorbital fenestrae Quadrupedal stance Hinge-like ankles
Perforated acetabulum
Antorbital fenestrae
Hinge-like ankles
Which of the following types of carnivores lived during the Triassic?
Allosaurus
T-rex
Pseudosuchians
Pseudosuchians
To which of the following groups do dinosaurs belong? (3) Lepidosauromorphs Archosauromorphs Diapsids Amniotes
Archosauromorphs
Diapsids
Amniotes
Laurasian Coelurosaurs: Which of the following coelurosaurs are known only from Laurasia? There are multiple correct answers.
Oviraptorosaurs
Therizinosaurus
Ornithomimids
Tyrannosaurus
Oviraptorosaurs
Therizinosaurus
Ornithomimids
Tyrannosaurus
Gondwana and Laurasia Dinosaurs: At the end of the Cretaceous Period, which of these dinosaur groups could be found in both Gondwana and Laurasia?
Stegosaurus
Titanosaurs
Oviraptorosaurs
Titanosaurs
A group that includes ornithischians with body armour?
Hadrosaurs
Ornithopods
Thyreophorans
Thyreophorans
Impact on Biodiversity: How would higher, more stable temperatures and a higher sea level impact dinosaur biodiversity? Do you think that these things would increase or decrease the number of dinosaur species?
increase
Late Cretaceous Marine Fossils: Why do you think these fossils are preserved here?
Deposited in large seaways
Antarctica’s Climate: Why would the climate of Antarctica have been so much warmer during the distant past?
Altered ocean circulation
Laurasia
Present day asia, Europe, and North America
Gondwana
South america, australia, africa, antarctica, madagascar, and india
A Million Years of Movement: If we know that the statue of liberty and the empire state building moved 3 metres in 100 years, how far would they move in a million years?
30 kilometers
Which of the layers of earth are solid? (2)
mantle
lithosphere
crust
inner core
crust and inner core
Alfred Wegener: What was the prevailing theory at the time to explain these occurrences?
..were submerged…
Land bridges were submerged just below sea level
During the Cretaceous, which of the following was a major factor that contributed to higher global sea levels? Thermal expansion Mid-ocean volcanism Absent polar ice caps Widespread jungles
Thermal expansion
Mid-ocean volcanism
Absent polar ice caps
Which of the following continents were once parts of the supercontinent Gondwana?
Australia and Africa
North America and South America
Africa and Europe
Australia and Africa
The lithosphere includes rocks from which two layers of the earth?
The crust and mantle
Which of the following scientists made the first strong case for the theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
Which of the following is a piece of evidence that supports the theory of plate tectonics? (3)
Similarities in the shapes of continental coastlines
The existence of mid-ocean ridges
Volcanic activity
Fossils of the same animal on different continents
Similarities in the shapes of continental coastlines
The existence of mid-ocean ridges
Fossils of the same animal on different continents
Late Cretaceous Dinosaurs: Select the dinosaurs that would have been alive at the end of the Cretaceous Period. (3) Tyrannosaurus Stegosaurus Triceratops Pachycephalosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Triceratops
Pachycephalosaurus
Which of these sets of dinosaurs do you think lived in the same place at the same time?
Triceratops and pachycephalosaurus
Stegosaurus and T-rex
Triceratops and pachycephalosaurus
What is the Era we live in today?
Cenozoic
Mammals and Dinosaurs: Did the first mammals appear before or after the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the Mesozoic Era?
Before
Phanerozoic eon divided into which 3 eons
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic
Thinking About Time and Life: What span of time do you think is shorter?
The time from when the first multicellular life appeared to today
Do you think that sedimentary rocks can be used in radiometric dating?
no
The first mammals evolved:
At about the same time as the first dinosaurs were evolving
When did the earth form?
4.6 billion years ago
Which of the following happened during the Hadean Eon?
moon
From which of the following can a radiometric date typically be obtained?
volcanic ash
Dinosaurs first evolved during what era? Pick the best possible answer
Mesozoic
Do you think that feathers are a synapomorphy of birds?
no
What is a shared derived character, or synapomorphy, of pachycephalosaurs?
Thick, domed skull
Which of the following is an example of convergent evolution?
The similarities in the wings of bats, birds, and pterosaurs
On a phylogenetic tree, what does a node show?
The point at which species shared a common ancestor
What is synapomorphy?
Any derived character that is present in two or more species and their common ancestor
Which of the following is not shared between Archaeopteryx and some non-avian dinosaurs?
A toothless beak
What is the idea that “all other things being equal, the simplest answer is usually the right one” called?
Parsimony
Fins in fish and whales are?
Convergent
Five fingers in humans and bats is?
Shared common ancestor
Bipedalism in humans and birds is?
Convergent evolution
What is a shared derived character, or synapomorphy if pachycephalosaurus?
Thick, dome skull
Which of the following statements is true?
One or more populations make up a species
Taxonomy
Naming a species
Named dinosaurs: how many species of non-avian dinosaurs do you think have been named so far?
10,000
1,000
100
1 million
1,000
Number of species on Earth: How many species do you think there actually are on Earth?
10, 000, 000
1, 000
100, 000
1, 000, 000
10, 000, 000
How does the biological species concept define a species?
As a group of organisms that can interbreed
In order to name a new dinosaur species, which of the following do you need to do? (3)
Describe the unique features of the new dinosaur
Designate a holotype
Find the entire fossil
Publish a peer-reviewed journal
Describe the unique features of the new dinosaur
Designate a holotype
Publish a peer-reviewed journal
