Module 8

Question 1

Immutability of species

Answer 1

The idea that each individual species on the planet was specially created by God and could never fundamentally change

Question 2

Microevolution

Answer 2

The theory that natural selection can, over time, take an organism and transform it into a more specialized species of that organism

Question 3

Macroevolution

Answer 3

The hypothesis that processes similar to those at work in microevolution can, over eons of time, transform an organism into a completely different kind of organism

Question 4

Strata

Answer 4

Distinct layers of rock

Question 5

Fossils

Answer 5

Preserved remains of once-living organism

Question 6

Paleontology

Answer 6

The study of fossils

Question 7

Structural homology

Answer 7

The study of similar structures in different species

Question 8

Natural selection

Answer 8

The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring

Question 9

Where did Darwin do most of the work that led to his hypothesis of evolution?

Answer 9

Onboard the HMS Beagle

Question 10

Did Darwin ever recant his scientific beliefs?

Answer 10

No

Question 11

What was the main idea that Thomas Malthus’s work gave to Darwin?

Answer 11

The idea that organisms are in a constant struggle for survival. Without this, Darwin wouldn’t have come up with natural selection

Question 12

What was the main idea that Sir Charles Lyell’s work gave to Darwin?

Answer 12

The idea that the present is the key to the past. He thought that the entire geological column could be explained by referring to the same processes that we see happening today

Question 13

What age-old concept was Darwin able to dispel with his research?

Answer 13

The idea of the immutability of the species. By showing the evidence for microevolution, Darwin was able to show that species did change

Question 14

From a genetic point of view, what is the main difference between microevolution and macroevolution?

Answer 14

In microevolution, the same genetic code exists throughout the change. The changes that occur are simply the result of variation within that genetic code. In order for macroevolution to occur, information must be added to the genetic code, essentially creating a new genetic code

Question 15

Is the geological column evidence for, against, or inconclusive to macroevolution? Why?

Answer 15

It is inconclusive because if you believe that the geological column was formed according to the speculations of Lyell, it is evidence for macroevolution because it shows that life forms early in earth’s history were simple and gradually got more complex. If you believe that the geological column was formed by natural catastrophe, then it is evidence against macroevolution. Since geologists have seen rock strata formed each way, it is impossible to tell which belief is scientifically correct

Question 16

Is the fossil record evidence for, against, or inconclusive to macroevolution? Why?

Answer 16

It is against because there are no clear intermediate links in the fossil record. The very few that macroevolutionists can produce are so similar to one of the two species they supposedly link; it is more scientifically sound to consider them a part of that species

Question 17

Is structural homology evidence for, against, or inconclusive to macroevolution? Why?

Answer 17

It is against because the similar structures are not a result of inheritance from a common ancestor. The similar structures are determined by quite different genes

Question 18

Is molecular biology evidence for, against, or inconclusive to macroevolution? Why?

Answer 18

It is against because the vast majority of the data shows no evolutionary patterns in the sequences of amino acids of common proteins

Question 19

Name two creatures that macroevolutionists claim are intermediate links and explain why they are not really intermediate links.

Answer 19

Australopithecus afarensis is supposed to be an intermediate link between man and ape. However, every bone that we have found of this creature indicates it is an ape. Archaeopteryx is supposed to link birds and reptiles, but once again the fossils tell us it is just a bird

Question 20

What is the Cambrian explosion?

Answer 20

The fact that every major animal phylum in creation can be found in Cambrian rocks. Thus, it is like there was an “explosion” of life

Question 21

Why is the Cambrian explosion a problem for macroevolution?

Answer 21

It presents two problems for macroevolution. One is that there is no way macroevolutionists can understand how macroevolution proceeded so quickly during those times, and two is that there are just no intermediate links

Question 22

What are the four ways bacterium can become resistant to an antibiotic?

Answer 22

Conjugation, transformation, transduction, or mutation

Question 23

If a bacterium has a mutation that makes it resistant to an antibiotic, does information get added to its genetic code?

Answer 23

No information is added

Question 24

What main problem with Darwin’s hypothesis did neo-Darwinism hope to solve?

Answer 24

A way to provide a mechanism by which information could be added to the genetic code of an organism

Question 25

What problem with Darwin’s hypothesis did punctuated equilibrium attempt to solve?

Answer 25

Punctuated equilibrium attempts to explain away the fact that the fossil record is free from of any real intermediate links

Question 26

How would an adherent to punctuated equilibrium explain the lack of intermediate links in the fossil record?

Answer 26

He would say that since the transition from species to species takes such a short amount of time, there is virtually no chance of an intermediate link being fossilized

Question 27

What problems mentioned in this module still exist for those who think the evidence supports punctuated equilibrium?

Answer 27

Structural homology and molecular biology still say that macroevolution (even by punctuated equilibrium) could not have happened

Question 28

What is the neo-Darwinist hypothesis of macroevolution?

Answer 28

It states that it is from mutation that a different gene gets into the genetic code

Question 29

What does punctuated equilibrium explain that Darwinist and neo-Darwinist theories cannot?

Answer 29

The lack of intermediate links in a fossil record

Question 30

What process occurs in conjugation?

Answer 30

A bacterium that has a certain gene passes that gene to a bacterium that does not have that gene

Question 31

What process occurs in transformation?

Answer 31

A bacterium that does not have a certain gene absorbs it from a dead bacterium that had the gene

Question 32

What process occurs in transduction?

Answer 32

A virus that affects a population of bacteria passes genetic information from one bacterium to another as a result of the infection spreading