Name______Date______Period_____

Evolution Website Assignment

Go to the website:

First go to the exhibit titled: “Similarities and Differences: Understanding Homologies and Analogies” on the bottom left corner.

  1. Homologies are similarities inherited from ______
  1. Analogies are similarities due to ______
  1. The wings of a dragonfly is homologous to the wings of ______.
  1. TAKE A SIDETRIP (follow roadside icon found in right column): Name a homology that is not in terms of anatomy.
  1. Even though Thylacosmilus and Smiladon both had saber teeth, what was an important way that they differed?
  1. Since these sabertooth evolved independently, they are ______structures.
  1. Explain how 2 distantly related flower species could undergo convergent evolution to both have red, tubular flowers.
  1. Name 4 ways that sharks differ from dolphins.
  1. Are the similarities between dolphins and sharks (fins, body shape) homologous or analogous?
  1. Are sugar glider and flying squirrel “wings” homologous or analogous? Explain.
  1. SIDETRIP: Examples of homology.

What 2 vegetables have been produced by artificial selection of a wild mustard plant.

  1. SIDETRIP: Examples of analogy.

What animal has a thumb that is analogous rather than homologous to the human thumb. (In other words, name an animal that has a thumb although its common ancestor to humans did not)

Return to the original page ( Then go to the Comic Strip: “Survival of the Sneakiest” .

  1. Explain how the comic strip shows that “Survival of the Fittest” doesn’t always mean survival of the strongest.

Return to the original page ( Then go to “Getting into the Fossil Record”. Choose level 2.

  1. Define paleontologist.
  1. Fossils can be body parts such as ______, ______and ______.
  1. Fossils can also be traces of organisms such as ______, ______and ______.
  1. In order to form a fossil, it is important that an organism be buried quickly because ______.
  1. Name 2 biotic factors that organisms are exposed to after death.
  1. Name 2 abiotic factors that organisms are exposed to after death.
  1. Explain what mold fossils and cast fossils are (click on photos to find answer).
  1. Name 3 ways that organisms can be trapped and fossilized besides being buried by sediment.
  1. Why is the rainforest/jungle an unlikely place to hunt for fossils?
  1. Is arocky intertidal ocean zone a good place to find fossils? Why or why not.
  1. ______rock is the most likely rock to contain fossils.

Go back to the original page ( Choose 1 more section to read. Summarize what you learned below.

25. Summary of selected section: