CHAPTER 25 Name______
THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH
25.1 The Origin of Life
1. Describe how natural selection may have worked in an early RNA world.
2. Describe how natural selection may have favored the proliferation of stable protobionts with self-replicating, catalytic RNA.
25.2 Major Events in the History of Life on Earth
3. Explain how radiometric dating can be used to determine the absolute age of rock strata. Explain how magnetism can be used to date rock strata.
25.3 Key Events in Life’s History
4. Name the reactions that have produced O2 on Earth. Describe the accumulation of atmospheric O2 over time and the effects of this accumulation on living things.
5. State the evidence that suggests that the common ancestor of multicellular eukaryotes lived 1.5 billion years ago.
6. Explain the possible significance of Snowball Earth in the history of life on Earth.
7. Briefly describe the Cambrian explosion.
8. Describe the key evolutionary adaptations that arose as life colonized land.
25.4 Continental Drift, Mass Extinctions, and Adaptive Radiations
9. Describe the conditions in the interior of a supercontinent such as Pangaea.
10. Explain how continental drift led to Australia’s unique flora and fauna.
11. Describe the mass extinctions that ended the Permian and Cretaceous periods. Discuss a hypothesis that accounts for each of these mass extinctions, and summarize the evidence for each hypothesis.
12. Define adaptive radiation. Describe, with suitable examples, three circumstances under which adaptive radiation may occur.
25.5 Evo-Devo
13. Define evo-devo, heterochrony, and paedomorphosis.
14. Explain how the evolution of changes in temporal and spatial developmental dynamics can result in evolutionary novelties.
CHAPTER 26
PHYLOGENY AND THE TREE OF LIFE
26.1 Phylogenies Show Evolutionary Relationships
1. Distinguish between phylogeny and systematics.
2. Explain the following characteristics of the Linnaean system of classification:
a. Binomial nomenclature
b. Hierarchical classification.
3. Explain the justification for the proposal to replace Linnaean classification with phylocode designations for monophyletic taxa.
4. Explain the statement: “A phylogenetic tree represents a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships.”
26.2 Phylogenies using Morphological and Molecular Data
5. Explain why it is crucial to distinguish between homology and analogy before selecting characters to use in the reconstruction of phylogeny. Describe how homology and analogy can be distinguished from each other.
6. Define molecular systematics. Explain some of the problems that systematists may face in carrying out molecular comparisons of nucleic acids.
26.3 The Construction of Phylogenetic Trees
7. Distinguish between shared ancestral characters and shared derived characters.
8. Explain why shared derived characters are useful in establishing a phylogeny, while shared ancestral characters are not.
9. Distinguish an ingroup from an outgroup.
10. Discuss how systematists use the principles of maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood in reconstructing phylogenies.
26.6 New Information for the Tree of Life
11. Describe the evidence that suggests there is a universal tree of life.
CHAPTER 27 BACTERIA AND ARCHAEA
27.1 Structural and Functional Adaptations Contribute to Prokaryotic Success
1. Explain why it might be said that the history of life on Earth is one long “age of prokaryotes”.
2. Describe the structure, composition, and functions of prokaryotic cell walls.
3. Describe how prokaryotes carry out photosynthesis and cellular respiration when they lack compartmentalized organelles such as chloroplasts and mitochondria.
4. Explain why prokaryotes are unable to grow in very salty or sugary foods, such as cured meats or jam.
27.2 Reproduction, Mutation, and Recombination in Prokaryotes
5. List three factors that give rise to high levels of genetic diversity in prokaryotes.
6. Describe three processes that produce recombinant DNA in prokaryotes.
Learning Objectives for Campbell/Reece Biology, 8th Edition, © Pearson Education, Inc. 1 of 1