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COFC GEOLOGY 105 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
"From what reptile group did mammals evolve? What are the differences between reptile and
mammals? - CORRECT ANSWER Evolved from Therapsids.
- Synapsid skull The main difference is that a reptile has a diapsid skull whereas a mammal has a synapsid skull." "How are monotremes, marisupals, and placentals different with respect to the birth of their
offspring? - CORRECT ANSWER Monotremes: egg laying mammals
Marisupals: Grow in pouch (Kangaroos)
- Short pregnancy
- Long nursing Placentals: Grow in plancenta (mammals)
- Long pregnancy
- Short nursing"
"What would the world be like if this mass extinction did not occur? - CORRECT ANSWER
The last 65 million years would go from hothouse to ice-house."
"What is so special about Purgatorius? - CORRECT ANSWER Ancestor to modern primates.
Humans are primates." "How has human activities altered the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere? How do these changes
alter the Earth's climate? - CORRECT ANSWER Humans put more CO2 in the atmosphere.
This decreases the Earth's albedo making the atmosphere warmer."
"How does the erosion and weathering of the growing Himalayas affect global climate? -
CORRECT ANSWER Growing the Himalayas increase albedo which takes CO2 out of the
atmosphere, making it colder."
"Under what climactic conditions do glaciers advance? Hint: summer and winter conditions. -
CORRECT ANSWER Glaciers advance when more snow accumulates in winter than melts in
summer." "What are the causes of the long term (millions of years) swings between hothouse and ice-house
conditions. - CORRECT ANSWER Volcanic eruptions"
"What is the Wilson Cycle and how does it impact global climate? - CORRECT ANSWER The
cyclical opening and closing of oceans caused by Earth's tectonic plates.
- Opening: open equator circulation means hothouse
- Closing: closed equator circulation means icehouse"
"Discuss the evolution of whales from land dwelling to aquatic animals. - CORRECT ANSWER
40 million years ago, Antarctic separation = more glaciers = sea level falls, shallow seas shrink = whales go into deeper water to find more food."
"Pakicetus - CORRECT ANSWER - 55-40 mya
- Looks like a rat /Labrador
- Long snout and teeth
- Hear underwater
- Better terrestrial walker than swimmer"
"Ambulocetus - CORRECT ANSWER - 49-48 mya
- Swimmer (alligator-ish); webbed hands
- Walking whale (hands and feet)
- Lon snout
- Better swimmer than walker"
"Dorundon - CORRECT ANSWER - 41 mya
- More whale-like
- Open ocean swimmer
- Flippers"
"Toothed Whales - CORRECT ANSWER - Fish eaters
- Melon heads
- Fat-filled jaw-bone cavity (echolocation)"
"Baleen Whales - CORRECT ANSWER - No teeth
- Live in very cold water
- "Fringe" teeth = sucking in water and pushing it out with tongue
- Large bodies and head"
"What led the evolution of baleen whales? - CORRECT ANSWER Oligocene, where the
atmosphere cooled which increased ocean productivity"
"Homo Sapiens - CORRECT ANSWER - 100,00 to 30,000 years ago
- Brain: bigger, more adaptable, faster learner, more complex
- Complex tool making for spearing
- Social: Communication, trade, large communities
- Diet: Diverse and adaptable food; needed less food than Neanderthals"
"How did Oldowan and Acheulean tools and tool use differ? - CORRECT ANSWER - Oldowan:
older and used for scraping meat off bones
- Acheulean: were for hunting"
"What are the primary differences between H. Erectus and H. Sapiens? - CORRECT ANSWER
- H. erectus: smaller brain, older, taller, slimmer, could outrun humans, shorter lived
- H. sapiens: larger brain, transition to naked skin, long-lived" "What is the current opinion about whether Neanderthals might have interbred with Homo
sapiens? - CORRECT ANSWER - h. sapiens migrated into their territory in Eruope when the
climate was cooling
- up to 4% of the DNA of people today outside of Africa came from them"
"What is the relationship between skin color, sun exposure, and vitamin-D intake? - CORRECT
ANSWER - dark skin: UV protection
- light skin: vitamin D deficiency--> bone disease" "What are the specific morphological differences between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens (cro-
magnons). - CORRECT ANSWER - H. sapiens and Neanderthals have different brains (ours
are larger)
- Neanderthals: shorter, stockier body to withstand cold, ate mostly large animals, small capacity
- H. Sapiens: more varied diet, cave paintings, superior tool making, traded"
"What characteristics are common to all chordates? - CORRECT ANSWER Notochord, gills,
vertebrae and tail"
"What characteristics do humans share with lobe-fin fishes? - CORRECT ANSWER Limb-
pattern, breathe air, lungs, stapes"
"What characteristics do humans share with Tiktaalik? - CORRECT ANSWER Neck and
wrist."
"What characteristics do humans share with amphibians? - CORRECT ANSWER Fingers and
toes."
"What characteristics do humans share with reptiles? - CORRECT ANSWER Shoulders and
legs more upright to walk ."
"Where did you get your inner ear bones? - CORRECT ANSWER Stapes near jaw to hear.
Jawbones in reptiles to ear bones in mammals:
- Jawbone got larger but the old bones got new role--> ear-bone."
"What type of skull do humans, birds, living reptiles, and mammals have? - CORRECT
ANSWER Humans- Synapsid
Birds- Synapsid Living Reptiles- Diapsid Mammals-Synapsid"
"Anthropoids - CORRECT ANSWER - Humans, apes and monkeys
- Round brain
- non-mobile ears
- flat face w/o muzzle
- dexterous hands"
"Prosimians - CORRECT ANSWER - Primates like Lemurs
- Some claws
- Nocturnal
- Vertical clinging and leaping"
"Lemurs - CORRECT ANSWER - Early Paleocene
- Huge eyes
- Omnivores
- Tree dwellers
- Small/medium size"
"Human evolution order - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Ardipithecus Ramidus
- Australopithecus Afaransis (Lucy)
- Homo habilis
- Homo erectus
- Homo Heidelbergensis
- Homo Neanderthals
- Homo Sapiens"
"Primates - CORRECT ANSWER Prosimians, Anthropoids/Hominids"
"What would the world be like of this mass extinction did not occur? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Dinosaurs would possibly still exists, and humans would never exists, because we evolved from mammals and they only evolved after dinosaurs went extinct."
"How did sea level change over the last 18,000 years? What caused these changes in sea level? -
CORRECT ANSWER - 18,000 years ago there were a lot of glaciers so the sea level was
decreased
- Recently, the glaciers have been melting, causing an increase in sea level"
"Under what climatic conditions do glaciers advance? - CORRECT ANSWER - If its cold in the
summer, not all the snow melts from the winter which allows the glaciers to grow."
"What is a glacier? - CORRECT ANSWER -Needs moisture and water to form
- A slowly moving mass of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow"
"why does the earth have season? - CORRECT ANSWER - As earth goes around the sun and
earth axis remains pointed towards Polaris, the northern and southern hemispheres alternately receive more and less direct sunlight" "How has humans activities altered the chemistry of earths atmosphere? how do these changes
alter the earths climate? - CORRECT ANSWER CO2 concentration in our atmospheres is
rapidly causing tempres to rise."
"What is the effect of shrinking sea ice on global temperatures? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Shrinking ice causes oceans to warm. When ocean temperatures rise, so does the earths temperature.
- Affects albedo- less sea ice, decreased albedo, radiation absorbs" "Examine the CO2 record from Mauna Loa volcano. Explain the overall trend and yearly
oscillation seen in the Mauna Loa CO2 data - CORRECT ANSWER - Overall trend of CO2 is
increasing rapidly."
"How does the melting of the glaciers affect Charleston? - CORRECT ANSWER - Seal level
rises and could eventually destroy our coastal community."
"Mammals dominate the cenozoic. Did mammals out compete the dinosaurs? - CORRECT
ANSWER -No, Dinosaurs became extinct because of the meteorite impact.
- Mammals were so small that they survived, giving them a chance of survival."
"Different types of Whales - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Pakicetus: 4 limbs, Earliest whale, lived
mostly on land in swamp environments.
- Ambulocetus:
- lives primary on land and in fresh water. half/half
- elongated head and body
- hind limbs used as a fin
- Dorudon:
- Deep water whale
- Direct ancestor to modern whales.
- lost hind limbs
- tail fin for propulsion"
"What led to the evolution of baleen whales? - CORRECT ANSWER - Too much competition to
catch primary food, Baleen whales ate crill and plankton which was abundant." "Modern Whales only have two limbs. What lines of evidence point to a whale ancestor that had
four limbs and lived on land? - CORRECT ANSWER - vesisital hip bone"
"Discuss the evolution of whale hearing. How do modern whales hear? - CORRECT ANSWER
- Echolocation is how they communicate. Through jaw bones, transmits sound through vibrations."
"Which modern whale group has a melon on its forhead? Why? What is it for? - CORRECT
ANSWER "
"Over time, some group of land-dwelling vertebrates have returned to life in the sea, as air
breathing swimmers. Name one group that is extinct, and one that is living. - CORRECT
ANSWER Living: Whales
Extinct: Marine Reptles such as Icythosaurs." "What is echolocation? What wales can echolocate? Be able to identify the skulls of these whales.
CORRECT ANSWER - Modern toothed whales: Have dome
- Modern Baleen whales: flat heads
- Echolocation: how they communicate"
"What morphologic features link whales to artiodactyls? - CORRECT ANSWER - Ankle bone,
groove in ankle bone in hippo links to whales"
"Why did whales move from tropical equatorial region to southern and northern polar realms? -
CORRECT ANSWER - Cold polar region had lots of fish in deeper waters
- Loss of hind legs allowed for them to be able to swim in deeper, colder waters"
"What is Ardipithecus ramidus? What are some new discoveries? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Transitional one to big hands and feet
- Hands/ feet nearly identical to chimp
- Canines to intimidate other males
- Lived in trees, could walk
- Sexual selection"
"What was the diet of Ardi- what is the evidence? - CORRECT ANSWER - Fruit: large teeth
indicate mixed diet of fruits and soft plants"
"What is Australopithecus afarensis? Where did they originate? - CORRECT ANSWER -
"Lucy": most complete skeleton ever found
- Stood upright climbed with human and ape features
- Originated in the woodlands, but walked outward to grasslands
- Short legs were not suited for long distance
- Herbivore" "What is the significance of the shape of the pelvic canal in comparison of a modern woman and
Lucy? - CORRECT ANSWER - A larger pelvic canal in modern women indicate larger brain to
be birthed" "Discuss those characteristics that mark the genus Homo. What makes our species a predominate
force on Earth? - CORRECT ANSWER - Brain capacity, decrease in teeth and jaw size
- Large pelvis
- Long distance walking and running
- Shorter gut
- Social and cooperative hunting, tool making and loss of body hair" "What is the earliest member of the genus Homo? How did this organism differ from its
australopithecine ancestors? - CORRECT ANSWER - Homo habilis
- First to eat meat
- It was an omnivore and had a reduced jaw and molar size"
"How did Oldowan and Acheulean tools differ? - CORRECT ANSWER Oldowan: older and
used for scraping meat off bones Acheulean: were for hunting"
"What are the primary differences between H. Erectus and H. Sapiens? - CORRECT ANSWER
- H. Erectus: smaller brain, older, taller, slimmer, could outrun us, shorter lived
- H. Sapiens: larger brain, transition to naked skin, long-lived"
"What is the current opinion about whether Neanderthals might have interbred with Homo
Sapiens? - CORRECT ANSWER -Homo Sapiens migrated into their territory in Europe when
the climate was cooling
- Up to 4% of the DNA of people today outside of Africa came from them"
"What is the relationship between skin color, sun exposure, and vitamin D? - CORRECT
ANSWER - Dark Skin: UV protection
- White skin: Vitamin D deficiency--> bone disease" "What are the specific morphological differences between Neanderthals and H. Sapiens? Where
and when might they have these opportunities to interbred? - CORRECT ANSWER - H.
Sapiens and Neanderthals have different brains (Ours are larger)
- Neanderthals had a shorter, stockier body to withstand cold, ate mostly large animals, small capacity
- Sapiens: more varied diet, cave paintings, superior tool making, traded"
"When and where did Homo Sapiens evolve? - CORRECT ANSWER - Africa
- Approximately 200,000 years ago"
"Why did Neanderthals go extinct? - CORRECT ANSWER - Rapid changes in climate let to
diminished populations
- Couldn't sustain themselves"
"Do New world monkeys or Old world monkeys more closely resemble the earliest hominids? -
CORRECT ANSWER Old world monkeys resemble the earliest hominids"
"Sivapithecids used to be considered early hominids, but have more recently been considered
more closely related to what living hominoid? - CORRECT ANSWER Orangutans"
natural selection - CORRECT ANSWER organisms better adapted to their environment tend
to survive and produce more offspring -main process that brings about evolution"
"why is evolution predictable in the short term, but not the long term, according to the grants? -
CORRECT ANSWER In the long term, evolution is unpredictable because environments
change unpredictably and environment determine the directions a species will evolve and to what degree"
"normal fault - CORRECT ANSWER divergent plate boundary
hanging wall moves down tensional forces pulling away"
"relative dating - CORRECT ANSWER used to find which rock is younger or older based on
the layers around it"
"absolute dating - CORRECT ANSWER used to tell the exact age of a rock using radioactive
isotopes -- half live"
"half life - CORRECT ANSWER the time it takes half a group of radioactive isotopes to decay
to the stable daughter isotopes"
"convergent evolution - CORRECT ANSWER similar changes in animals with different
lineage -ornithopods have feet and beaks like birds -bat, birds, pterosaurs have same bones and supporting wings -dolphins and bats use echolocation"
"transgression - CORRECT ANSWER sea level rise
facies and shoreline shift toward land sediments fine upwards sandstone ---> limestone"
"regression - CORRECT ANSWER sea level fall
facies and shoreling shift toward sea sediments coarsen upwards limestone ---> sandstone"
"principle of fossil succession - CORRECT ANSWER fossil assemblages succeed one another
through time in a regular and determinable order"
"ornithiscian dinosaurs - CORRECT ANSWER stegosaurus
pachycephalosaurus triceratops parasaurolophus iguanodon"
"marginocephelia - CORRECT ANSWER pachycephalosaurus &
triceratops"
"ornithopoda - CORRECT ANSWER parasaurolophus &
iguanodon"
"saurischian dinosaurs - CORRECT ANSWER sauropods and therapods"
"sauropods - CORRECT ANSWER apatosaurus -- diplodocids
camarasaurus -- macronarids"
"therapods - CORRECT ANSWER allosaurus
velociraptor archaeopterx confuciusornis"
"anapsid - CORRECT ANSWER no holes behind eye socket
-turtles"
"synapsid - CORRECT ANSWER one hole behind eye
-mammals"
"diapsid - CORRECT ANSWER two holes behind eye
-reptiles -dinosaurs"
"foramen magnum - CORRECT ANSWER hole in the back of the cranium"
“Describe a typical Mesozoic mammal. - CORRECT ANSWER Mammals stayed small with
dinosaurs around.
- Scavengers
- Carnivores, omnivores, insectivores
- Flying" "What were the possible function on the "sail/fin" on the backs of some pelycosaurs, such as
Dimetrodon? - CORRECT ANSWER Thermal regulation"
"Describe the earliest known mammal, Morganucodon. When did it live? What was the size,
morphology, and ecology? - CORRECT ANSWER 1st true mammal.
- Long snout
- Diversity of food choices
- Powerful, tiny jaws for crunching
- Tiny!
- Mammary glands
- Large brain
"Describe the effects of the meteorite impact on Earth's systems and how these effects would have
led to the mass extinction. - CORRECT ANSWER - Nuclear/perpetual night
- Global refrigeration monthly
- Delayed greenhouse warming
- Acid rain All of this made the Earth very dark, from all the debris in atmosphere, which stopped photosynthesis. This led to a decrease in O2. Ocean and land ecosystems collapse."
"What are shocked quartz and tektites and how are they formed? - CORRECT ANSWER
Shocked Quartz: microscopic quartz crystal grains. Tektites: Glass balls condensed from hot vapor When the meteorite hit, there was a sudden pulse of great pressure to the Earth. This impact produced tektites which crystallized in the air. Vaporize-> Crystallize -> Liquefy= found in deep ocean"
"What caused this mass extinction? - CORRECT ANSWER Deccan Traps, India volcanic
eruptions and the meteorite."
"What is Albedo? What is the Greenhouse effect? - CORRECT ANSWER Albedo: Percentage of
Earth's surface that reflects into the atmosphere Greenhouse effect: Trapping sun's heat into the atmosphere vs. emitting it into space"
"Why does Earth have seasons? - CORRECT ANSWER Earth's axis rotation and orbit around
the sun."
"How does plate tectonics affect global temperature and climate? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Continent-Continent collision: cools earth
- Subduction zones and sea floor spreading: warms earth with increased CO2 concentration"
"What were the climactic consequences of the isolation of Antarctica? - CORRECT ANSWER
When Antarctica separated, the ocean circulation cooled the Earth and caused freezing, thus increased albedo."
"How did the closure of Isthmus of Panama affect climate in the North America? Why? -
CORRECT ANSWER The closure changed global ocean circulation, warming Earth's climate
and creating the Gulf Stream.
The current took warm waters high into northern latitudes providing moisture to the atmosphere so that snow formed to build the glaciers of the ice age."
"How did sea level change over the last 18,000 years? What causes these changes in sea level? -
CORRECT ANSWER Sea level has climbed about 400 feet, caused by (hugely) glaciers
melting." "Examine the CO2 record from the Mauna Loa volcano. Explain the overall trend and yearly
oscillation seen in the Mauna Loa CO2 data. - CORRECT ANSWER Been a steady rise in CO
since 1950's"
"What is the effect of shrinking sea ice on global temperatures? Why? - CORRECT ANSWER
Shrinking sea ice means that the ice is melting. If the ice melts, then that means the atmosphere is warming. If the atmosphere is warming, then the sea level rises."
"How does the melting of glaciers affect Charleston? - CORRECT ANSWER Melting glaciers =
sea level rise. Charleston is already below sea level which means that in the future, Charleston will be underwater."
"Mammals dominate the Cenozoic. Did mammals out-compete the dinosaurs? - CORRECT
ANSWER No, dinos became extinct because of the meteorite impact
- mammals were so small they they survived, giving them the opportunity" "Describe some basic trends in horse evolution (legs, size, mouth, teeth). Describe the changes to
horse legs over the last 55 million years of evolution. - CORRECT ANSWER -Teeth became
high crowned
- Narrower, U-shaped mouths
- Forests to grasslands
- Longer legs with hoofs, reduction of digits"
"Describe an early horse with respect to legs, teeth, and diet. - CORRECT ANSWER - Small
- 4 toes
- browser: low crowned, pointed teeth, u-shaped jaws
- similar to modern goat"
"How did climate change affect the evolution of horses? - CORRECT ANSWER - Warmest
since Cambrian
- Grazers were needed
- broad linear muzzle
- high crown, big molars
- put neck down
- Dorundons survive and take over deeper waters, continue evolving"
"What is the relationship between Old World and New World monkeys? Which evolved first? -
CORRECT ANSWER - New world monkeys: evolved first, Eosimias oldest monkey, found in
South America
- old world monkeys: don't have grasping tails, close nostrils, found in Europe and Asia"
"What is the relationship between chimps and humans? - CORRECT ANSWER - Chimps walk
on 4 legs humans walk on 2 legs.
- Chimps are the closest human relative"
"Discuss the physical evidence and the importance of an upright stance in hominids. -
CORRECT ANSWER - Bipedalism: reduction of heat stress, energy efficient, better vision, free
hands
- Evidence: Laetoli footprints of Australopithecus Afaransis"
"How does teeth size (canine) and diet affect human evolution? - CORRECT ANSWER - Large
canines intimidated other males
- Shift in social behavior
- Smaller canines show cooperation between males
- diet went from tough vegetation to meat = bigger brain"
"What is Sahelanthropus? What is special about this species? - CORRECT ANSWER Earliest
hominoid
- 7.6-6 mya
- bipedal
- upright stance"
"What is Ardipithecus ramidus? List some of the new discoveries. - CORRECT ANSWER -
Transitional one to big hands and feet
- hands/feet nearly identical to chimp
- canines to intimidate other males
- lived in trees, could walk
- sexual selection"
"What is Australopithecus afarensis? Where did they originate? - CORRECT ANSWER -
"Lucy": most complete skeleton ever found
- Stood upright, climbed with human and ape features
- originated in the woodlands, but walked outward to grasslands
- short legs were not suited for long distances
- herbivore"
"What is the significance of the shape of the pelvic canal in comparison of a modern woman and
Lucy on Earth? - CORRECT ANSWER A larger pelvic canal in modern women indicate larger
brain to be birthed"
"Homo habilis - CORRECT ANSWER - 2.4-16 mya
- 1st species of homo genus
- 1st to have a home, living together
- 1st to increase in brain = meat eater
- Varied diet
- 1st group with primitive tools"
"Homo erectus - CORRECT ANSWER - Evolved at greatest climate fluctuation 1.8 mya
- 1st left Africa migrated to Europe
- Brain doubled in capacity
- 1st to use fire
- Smaller teeth and jaws
- Lost hair because of migration
- 1st to adapt variety of environments" "Discuss the characteristics that mark the genus Homo. What makes our species a predominate
force on Earth? - CORRECT ANSWER - Brian capacity, decrease in teeth and jaw size
- large pelvis
- long distance walking and running
- shorter gut
- social and cooperative hunting, tool making and loss of body hair"
"Where and when might have Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens had opportunity to interbreed? -
CORRECT ANSWER "
"When and where did Homo Sapiens evolve? - CORRECT ANSWER - Africa
- Approx. 200,000 years ago"
"Why did Neanderthals go extinct? - CORRECT ANSWER - Rapid changes in climate led to
diminished populations
- couldn't sustain themselves" "How have human activities altered the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere? How do these changes
alter the Earth's climate? - CORRECT ANSWER - huge worldwide population
- developing and industrializing countries
- increase in GHG
- increase in global temps."
