Name Period
Section 15-1 Review
THE FOSSIL RECORD
VOCABULARY REVIEW Explain the relationship between the terms in each of the following pairs of terms.
1. Mold, cast
2. Fossil, law of superposition
3. Relative age, absolute age
4. Extinct, mass extinction
MULTIPLE CHOICE Write the correct letter in the blank.
5. Fossils are formed
a. from animals but not plants.
b. primarily from the soft tissue of an organism.
c. most often in sedimentary rock.
d. in ways that reveal the structure but not the behavior of an organism.
6. Fossils are
a. remains or traces of preexisting organisms.
b. all extinct organisms.
c. deeply buried sedimentary rock strata.
d. from animals but not plants.
7. When hard minerals fill an imprint of an organism, they eventually form a model of the organism called a
a. cast. b. mold c. tissue d. stratum
8. According to the law of superposition, the lowest layer in a cross section of a rock sequence
a. is the most recent c. has the fewest fossils
b. is the oldest d. contains only the fossils of burrowing animals
9. The fossil record indicates that the first organisms to appear on Earth were
a. marine invertebrates c. reptiles
b. land plants d. prokaryotes
10. A comparison of recently formed fossil types with types of living organisms shows that
a. new organisms arise in areas where similar forms already live.
b. modern organisms are very different from extinct forms that inhabited the same area.
c. organisms that become extinct do not resemble modern organisms.
d. a new organism cannot arise in an area until a similar form has already become extinct.
SHORT ANSWER Answer the questions in the space provided.
11. Describe what fossils are, and list 3 different kinds.
12. How does biogeography contribute to an understanding of evolution?
13. Explain the evidence that indicates that species evolve over time.
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS Indicate the relative ages of the fossilized organisms listed below by placing them in the correct strata on the diagram of a cross section of sedimentary rock below.
first fishes, early horses, first prokaryotes, modern humans, first land plants, first dinosaurs
Section 15-2 Review
THEORIES OF EVOLUTION
VOCABULARY REVIEW Define the following terms.
1. biological evolution
2. natural selection
MULTIPLE CHOICE Write the correct letter in the blank.
3. If Lamarck’s hypothesis of species modification were true, the children of a person who developed large muscles by lifting weights would be born with
a. smaller-than-average muscles
b. normal-sized muscles
c. normal-sized muscles that would become larger only if the children also lifted weights
d. larger-than-average muscles
4. When Darwin saw fossil shells of marine organisms in the mountains, he reasoned that
a. powerful storms scooped the animals out of the ocean and left them in the mountains
b. ancient rock beds that were beneath the sea were elevated to from mountain ranges
c. the ancient oceans were so deep that they covered the mountains
d. the organism that left the fossils migrated from the ocean to the mountains
5. Darwin’s theory of descent with modification states that
a. newer forms appearing in the fossil record are the modified descendants of older species
b. organism that descend from high elevations are modified as they acquire new traits
c. all living things descended from a recent common ancestor on the Galapagos Islands
d. individuals modify their behavior to survive and then pass those modifications on to their
descendants
6. According to Darwin’s theory of modification by natural selection,
a. individuals are modified by adverse environmental conditions
b. the environment affects all organisms in a population in the same way
c. populations of all organisms grow unchecked under natural conditions
d. organisms that have favorable traits tend to leave more offspring
7. In an evolutionary sense, an individual organism has high fitness if it
a. has a large number of acquired traits
b. can run long distances without becoming exhausted
c. reproduces more successfully than other individuals
d. evolves into another organism rather than becoming extinct
SHORT ANSWER Answer the questions in the space provided.
8. Why are acquired traits unimportant in the process of evolution?
9. What is the relationship between evolution and natural selection?
10. Critical Thinking If Lamarck and Darwin had debated why giraffes have such long necks, how would their explanations have differed?
STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS Use the figure to answer the following questions.
11. Which of the parent birds shown below (A or B) appears to have greater fitness? Explain your answer.
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