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Ornithology > MIdterm > Flashcards

MIdterm Flashcards

1
Q

What is a tetrapod?

A

a member of a common group that is united by common descent from an early land-colonizing vertebrate

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2
Q

What are Passeriformes?

A

perching birds

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3
Q

What are Oscines?

A

song birds that learn their songs

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4
Q

What are Suboscines?

A

song birds that do not learn or have complex songs

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5
Q

What are the stages of moult?

A
  1. Natal down
  2. Juvenal plumage
  3. Basic plumage
  4. Alternate plumage (breeding)
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6
Q

What are two methods of Taxonomy?

A
  1. Phenotypic similarity grouping (Linnaeus’ method)

2. Evolutionary Relationship grouping

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7
Q

What is a monophyletic group?

A

a group of organisms who all share a common ancestor

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8
Q

what are Homologous traits?

A

similarities due to common ancestry

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9
Q

What are analogus traits?

A

similarities due to convergent evolution

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10
Q

What does modern taxonomy involve?

A
  1. Fossils
  2. Traits of extant species
  3. DNA and other molecular markers
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11
Q

What is Taxonomy?

A

the science of naming and classifying organisms

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12
Q

What is the most distance outgroup from tetrapods?

A

amphibians

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13
Q

What are the draw backs of Linnaeus’ method?

A
  1. only 7 hierarchical groups

2. traditional grouping not always right

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14
Q

Birds are most closely related to what?

A

crocodiles

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15
Q

Why are reptiles not monophyletic?

A

birds split off from crocodiles and are not considered reptiles

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16
Q

What selective forces lead to terrestrial activity?

A
  1. The ability to move between ponds was favored for
    - escape from predators
    - escape from ponds that are drying up
    - juvenile dispersal (avoid inbreeding)
  2. Use of land was favored for its own merit, not just as a means of moving between ponds
    - ecological niches available on land
    - no predators on land
    - competitor-free and predator-free terrestrial environment had many advantages
17
Q

What adaptations did the early tetrapods need to survive?

A
  1. means of gas exchange
  2. means of locomotion
  3. stronger skeleton
  4. reproduction still dependent on aquatic habitat –> advantage larval and adult forms (metamorphosis)
  5. other adaptations: optics of eye, adjustments for feeding in air, changes in skin due to friction, etc.
18
Q

What kind of organisms first developed lungs?

A

An air-breathing fish (long nosed gar)

19
Q

What are the two major fish groups?

A
  1. Actinopterygian (ray-finned)

2. Sarcopterygian(fleshy-finned)

20
Q

When did Actinopterygian split off from sarcopterygian?

A

silurian period

21
Q

When did sarcopterygian split off from other tetrapods? Why is this significant?

A

Devonian - means all tetrapods are derived from sarcopterygians

22
Q

What characteristics do all species concepts agree on?

A
  • Morphological similarity
  • Ecological similarity
  • Reproductive isolation
  • Evolutionary cohesion
23
Q

What are some methods of studying speciation?

A
  • study geographic variation (try to infer historical change from this)
  • Study microevolution in real time + extrapolate to infer how change occurs over longer time periods
  • surveys of genetic variation within and between species.
  • laboratory breeding experiments
24
Q

What are the four models of speciation?

A
  • allopatric
  • peripatric
  • parapatric
  • sympatric
25
Q

what are the basic rules of labeling specimens?

A
  • the date is a number
  • month is a 3 letter abbreviation written out in full, or roman numerals
  • the year is always 4 digits
26
Q

What determines a species range?

A
  • abiotic factors (temp, rainfall/snow, landscape features)
  • biotic factors(distribution of food/predators)
  • history (dispersal, vicariance, speciation, human impact)
27
Q

what are suture zones? where is one of these zones in BC?

A

places where divergent biota meet

along the rocky mountains

28
Q

what are two ways to determine the diversity of a community?

A
  • Gather info on number of species

- Simpson’s diversity index (need # individuals per species)

29
Q

what are two ways to determine the similarity between two communities?

A
  • sorenson’s similarity coefficient (need presence/absence data)
  • Percentage similarity or Renkonen Index(need individuals per species at each site)
30
Q

What is simpson’s diversity index?

A

the probability that two individuals picked at random are different species

Ornithology (5 decks)

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