The Earth Through Time, 10Th Edition s1

The Earth Through Time, 10th Edition

by Harold L. Levin

Chapter 16—Life of the Cenozoic

Multiple Choice Questions

Select the best answer.

1. Grasses and prairies expanded during the __________Epoch.

a. Eocene

b. Cenozoic

c. Miocene

d. Pliocene

e. Holocene

2. What feature about grass resulted in mammals modifying their teeth?

a. Grass contains siliceous secretions

b. Grass grows low to the ground

c. Grass is a flowering plant

d. Grass is coated with soil particles

e. Both a. and d.

3. What evolutional modification did herbivorous mammals go through to escape predators on open grasslands?

a. Nose became longer

b. Limbs and foot bones lengthen

c. Tails shortened

d. Developed multiple stomachs

e. None of the above

4. Which plankton type is used extensively to correlate Cenozoic rocks?

a. Coccolithophores

b. Dinoflagellates

c. Diatoms

d. Foraminifera

e. None of the above

5. Which of the following is not a phytoplankton?

a. Coccolithophores

b. Dinoflagellates

c. Diatoms

d. Foraminifera

e. None of the above

6. What is the name of the dominant Cenozoic reef building organism?

a. Scleratinids

b. Atoll

c. Fringing reefs

d. Rudistids

e. Sea lily

7. What is it called when a reef forms around a volcanic island and only the reef remains at the surface?

a. Scleratinids

b. Atoll

c. Fringing reefs

d. Barrier

e. Guyot

8. What is the cause for volcanic islands to sink?

a. thermal expansion

b. landslides

c. thermal contraction

d. meteorite impact

e. volcanic eruption

9. Which of the following is one of the dominant mollusks in the Cenozoic fossil record?

a. Sponge

b. Starfish

c. Sand dollar

d. Bivalves

e. Ammonite

10. Which of the following marine animals declined in abundance and diversity during the Cenozoic?

a. Starfish

b. Elephants

c. Teleosts

d. Gastropods

e. Brachiopods

11. From the Florissant Fossil Beds 1,100 different species if insects and spiders have been recovered. What rock type preserved these organisms?

a. Volcanic ash

b. Lava flow

c. Limestone

d. Conglomerate

e. Novaculite

12. What is the dominant fish type in the Cenozoic?

a. Terebratiulids

b. Cartilaginous

c. Teleosts

d. Pectinoids

e. Veneroids

13. Cenozoic amphibians include frogs. In what time period did frogs achieve their modern appearance?

a. Paleogene

b. Neogene

c. Triassic

d. Jurassic

e. Permian

14. Many reptiles became extinct at the end of the Mesozoic. Which of the following made it into the Cenozoic?

a. Turtles

b. Lizards

c. Snakes

d. Tuatara

e. All of the above

15. Venomous snakes appeared during the __________________.

a. Miocene Epoch

b. Eocene Epoch

c. Holocene Epoch

d. Pleistocene Epoch

e. Oligocene Epoch

16. What bone is used to show the link between birds and theropods?

a. Toe

b. Furcula

c. Tail

d. Hip

e. Skull

17. The Cenozoic has a number of large flightless terrestrial birds. These birds are better represented in the fossil record because they have _____________.

a. slight thin bones

b. more bones

c. more soft parts

d. less bones

e. more robust skeletons

18. Mammals have _____________ teeth.

a. five

b. only molars

c. differential

d. very long teeth

e. no

19. How many bones do a vertebrate have in their neck?

a. 7

b. 5

c. 6

d. 3

e. 8

20. Early mammals are believed to be __________.

a. insect eaters

b. fish eater

c. larger than the dinosaurs

d. deaf

e. None of the above

21. Which group of mammals lay eggs?

a. Marsupials

b. Monotremes

c. carnivores

d. herbivores

e. Placental

22. Which group of placental mammals spend most or all their time in the water?

a. Insectivores

b. Ungulates

c. Ruminants

d. Cetaceans

e. Proboscideans

23. Marsupials and placental mammals of North and South America showed convergent evolution. However, marsupials declined after the formation of the _________________.

a. Atlantic Ocean

b. Panamanian land bridge

c. Bering land bridge

d. Antarctica

e. Pacific Ocean

24. Which of the following is a montreme?

a. platypus

b. octopus

c. possum

d. raccoon

e. mammoth

25. What living placental mammal is anatomically similar to the ancestor that gave rise to primates?

a. Chimpanzee

b. Elephant

c. Tree shrew

d. Beaver

e. Banana slug

26. Edentate mammals are characterized by ____________________.

a. the abundance of teeth

b. walk of four legs

c. walk on two legs

d. the lack of teeth

e. having claws

27. Rodents are distinguished by their _________________.

a. gnawing – nibbling specialization

b. size

c. color

d. sound

e. All the above

28. Some Ice Age beavers were the size of a(n) __________________.

a. alligator

b. bear

c. cougar

d. donkey

e. elephant

29. On what basis are rabbits and rodents separated?

a. Size of their ears

b. Fur/no fur covered tails

c. Running motion

d. Number of incisors

e. None of the above

30. Bats are the only mammals that have achieved _________________.

a. gliding

b. eat fruit

c. powered flight

d. hang upside down

e. None of the above

31. Which order of flesh eating mammal went extinct?

a. Bear

b. Creodonta

c. Orca

d. Carnivora

e. Human

32. The extinct Smilodon belongs to which flesh eater group?

a. Dogs

b. Cats

c. Horses

d. Reptiles

e. Amphibians

33. Carnivorous play an important role in the evolution of their prey by removing less well adapted. This reduces the likelihood that __________.

a. desirable traits will be passed on to the next generation

b. a species will survive

c. undesirable desirable traits will be passed on to the next generation

d. carnivores will survive

e. None of the above

34. Which of the following belong to the Ungulates?

a. Whales

b. Camels

c. Horses

d. Elephants

e. All of the above

35. Horse evolution involved which of the following traits?

a. decrease in ear size

b. decrease in size

c. increase in size

d. longer tails

e. None of the above

36. Modern horses went extinct in ____________but were reintroduce by the Spanish explorers in the 1500’s.

a. Spain

b. Europe

c. North America

d. South America

e. New Zealand

37. Which of the following belongs to the Proboscideans?

a. Mastodons

b. Whales

c. Camels

d. Horses

e. Snakes

38. Mammoths and Mastodons had different teeth. The teeth of mammoths were adapted to _______________.

a. eat twigs and branches in the forest

b. eat fish

c. grazing on grass

d. each fruit

e. All the above

39. What is the closest living relative to whales?

a. Hippopotami

b. Elephants

c. Giraffes

d. Sharks

e. Snakes

40. Large mammals went extinct in North America ____________ years ago.

a. 1000

b. 110,000

c. 11,000

d. 2,500

e. 200,000

Answers to Questions

1. c 11. a 21. b 31. b

2. e 12. c 22. d 32. b

3. b 13. d 23. b 33. c

4. d 14. e 24. a 34. e

5. d 15. a 25. c 35. c

6. a 16. b 26. e 36. c

7. b 17. e 27. a 37. a

8. c 18. c 28. b 38. c

9. d 19. a 29. d 39. a

10. e 20. a 30. c 40. b