Palaeontology and Evolution

Question 1

What is palaeontology?

Answer 1

The study of fossils

Question 2

What are the 5 time scales from largest to smallest?

Answer 2

Eon, Era, Period, Epoch, Age

Question 3

What are the 4 eons?

Answer 3

Hadean, Archaean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic

Question 4

What are the 3 eras in the Phanerozoic eon?

Answer 4

Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic

Question 5

What are the 6 periods in the Paleozoic era?

Answer 5

Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian

Question 6

What are the 3 periods in the Mesozoic era?

Answer 6

Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous

Question 7

What are the 3 periods in the Cenozoic era?

Answer 7

Paleogene, Neogene, Quaternary

Question 8

What are the 3 epochs in the Paleogene period?

Answer 8

Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene

Question 9

What are the 2 epochs in the Neogene period?

Answer 9

Miocene and Pliocene

Question 10

What are the 3 epochs in the Quaternary period?

Answer 10

Pleistocene, Holocene, Anthropocene

Question 11

What events typically mark the end of an era?

Answer 11

Mass extinctions

Question 12

How does radiometric dating determine absolute ages?

Answer 12

By measuring the radioactive decay of certain isotopes

Question 13

How did we determine the age of the earth and the solar system?

Answer 13

Using radiometric dating to calculate the age of meteorites as being 4.5 billion years old, and earth and the rest of the solar system would be about the same age

Question 14

Where are the oldest rocks on earth?

Answer 14

Northern Quebec, 4.4 billion years old

Question 15

Where are the oldest known fossils on earth?

Answer 15

Shark Bay, Australia, stromatolites that are 3.5 to 3.8 billion years old

Question 16

Why there is there a geographic bias in the fossil record?

Answer 16

Marine environments have much higher representation because of better fossilization conditions

Question 17

Why is there a taxonomic bias in the fossil record?

Answer 17

Most fossils are marine species with shells, and most known species are not marine species with shells

Question 18

Why is there a temporal bias in the fossil record?

Answer 18

Older rocks are much rarer than newer rocks

Question 19

What are plate tectonics?

Answer 19

The earth’s crust is divided into plates that float on semi-liquid magma

Question 20

What were the changes in foraminiferan tests observed by Kucera and Malmgren?

Answer 20

The tests became increasingly cone shaped over a period of 3 million years, showed anagenesis after a 2.5 million year stasis period

Question 21

What were the changes in trilobites observed by Sheldon?

Answer 21

Various species in different genera were changing gradually in the same feature - number of ribs on the rear dorsal exoskeleton over 3 million years

Question 22

What were the changes observed in sticklebacks by Bell?

Answer 22

Morphology changes that showed gradual changes in multiple directions

Question 23

What were the changes observed in suckers by Wilson and Barton?

Answer 23

Gradual drop in vertebrae number over 600 years, and a gradual change in fin ray number over 8000 years