Study Material

Who developed Theory of Island Biogeography? + Where and when was it published?

Robert MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson.

Published in “Evolution” - 1963

What is theory of Island Biogeography?

Relationship between island area + # of spp. present on an island.

As habitat reduces - number of spp. decrease

50% = 10%

90% = 50%

99% = 75%

Local Extinction(Extirpated)? Example?

Spp. no longer found in specific area of its former range. Can be found elsewhere

Ex. Gray Wolf

Exological extinction? Example?

Since there are so little # - spp. no longer serves its ecological function

Ex. Tigers (in some areas)

Biological Extinction? Example?

No longer exists on Earth

Ex. dodo bird

What are the 8 causes of spp. extinction?

1. Low reproduction

2. Specialized ecological niche

3. feed at higher trophic levels

4. narrow distribution

5. Rare

6. Fixed migration pattern

7. commercially viable

8. large territories required

What is the scientific name of Giant Panda?

Ail uro poda melan oleu ca

99% of its diet is bamboo

Devil’s Hole pupfish scientific name? Where is it found? What is the temp of the water? How many individuals exist today?

Cyprinodon diabolis

Found in the Mojave Desert

34⁰ Celsius.

35 individuals in 2013

Common and scientific name of the “living fossil”

The coelacanth

Lat imer ia   cha lum nae

What can you say about coelacanth? Whats the difference in fins between this and bony fish?

Lat imer ia   cha lum nae

Females bigger than males

found 150-700 meters deep

Oldest fossils are + 400 million years old

Fin ray vs Lobe fin

Tetrapods?

Vertebrates with 4 limbs / descended from vertebrates with 4 limbs 

When was the Indonesian coelacanth found?

Latimeria menadoensis what found in 1997 and has a higher population than Latimeria chalumnae

Steller’s sea cow scientific name? What happened? Who first described it?

Hydro dam alis gigas

North Pacific 13kya

Hunted to death by Georg Wilhelm Steller, who discovered it in 1741-1742

During the European discovery of Alaska LED BY Captain Vitus Bering

What other spp. were discovered by Georg Wilhelm Steller

Steller’s jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Alaskan common alpine heather (Cassiope stelleriana)

German physician and naturalist during the Bering expedition (led by captain Vitus Bering).

Georg Wilhelm Steller

Stephens Island Wren scientific name?

Xenicus lyalli

Where are Stephens Island wren? What happened? When did they become extinct?

New Zealand

Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans), about 1,000 years ago, eliminated this small, flightless bird from more than 99% of its original habitat before the Europeans came.

The birds survived only on tiny Stephens Island, in the Cook Strait,

1894: New Zealand government built a lighthouse on Stephens Island.

How old is Earth?

~4.5 billion years old

First life on Earth? What was it?

~3.5 billion years old.

cyanobacteria - generated oxygen through the process of photosynthesis,

Stromatolites?

structures produced by the activities of certain types of bacteria. (cyanobacteria)

Fossilized stromatolites can be as old as ~ 3 billion to 2.5 billion years.

microbial mats

The cyanobacteria which build stromatolites grow in thin layers

Geological period:

1. Ordovician → ~ 500 million years ago

2. Devonian → ~ 345 million years ago

3. Permian (greatest mass

extinction) → ~ 250 million years ago

4. Triassic → ~ 180 million years ago

5. Cretaceous (dinosaurs became extinct) → ~ 65 million years ago.

When did dinosaurs go extinct?

End of Cretaceous K/T Extinction - 65 mya

When did dinosaurs evolve?

They evolved ~230 mya 

How long did dinosaurs dominate the Earth?

They dominated terrestrial earth for ~160 my

Dinosaurs gave rise to what? When did they appear in the fossil record? When did they diversify?

The birds

150 mya

~65 mya

in 2009 how many dinosaur spp were discovered? How many discovered each year?

~1400 dinosaur spp.

~ 15 new dino spp. named each year

a large bipedal carnivorous dinosaur from Madagascar

Majungasaurus

The English scientist described the first dinosaur sp. (Megalosaurus – a giant carnivore) in what year?

William Buckland

1824

Dinosaurs were first named and recognized as a distinct group by the British scientist? What year?

Richard Owen in 1842

What did Richard Owen do in 1838

described the giant extinct marsupial Diprotodon optatum, the first fossil mammal from Australia.

What did Richard Owen do in 1839

described and identified the extinct giant moa birds of New Zealand.

What did Richard Owen do in 1842

named and defined the dinosaurs as a distinct group.

What did Richard Owen do in 1859

described the extinct marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex – the largest carnivorous marsupial in Australia.

Who found evidence of the asteroid collision theory?

Louis and Walter Alvarez in 1980

What evidence of the asteroid collision theory was used?

Iridium spike around the world

Where was impact of the collision theory?

1991-1992 → Evidence points to the giant Chicxulub crater (partially buried under the Yucatan peninsula in S. Mexico) as the impact site.

Canadian geologist Alan Hildebrand.

When did the first mammals evolve?

~220 mya

What was the name of the supercontinent?

Pangaea

Where was Mayan society located?

Yucatan Peninsula (S. E. Mexico)

Mayan text were engraved on what?

Stone stelae

Study of ancient inscriptions

Epigraphy

Who was the leader in the field of Mayan epigraphy? Since when?

David Stuart

Since 1980

Name of highly trained professionals with complex writing system

Scribes

Cause for decline in mayan civilization?

Deforestation - agriculture + used to make stucco ++ soil erosion ++ limited resources + overpopulation = constant warfare

What was the main crop grown by mayans? What domesticated animals were available?

Corn.

Turkeys + ducks + dogs

Name of deep wells that Maya would dig up?

Cenotes

Largest Mayan city with a population of ~70k before collapse in ~800 A.D.

Tikal

What happened to Maya civilization ~ 2,500 B.C. – 1,400 B.C.

first settlements

What happened to Maya civilization 500 B.C.

first major ceremonial buildings.

What happened to Maya civilization 400 B.C.

first evidence of writing in this region.

What happened to Maya civilization 250 B.C.

City of Tikal (Guatemala); pyramids; complex society.

What happened to Maya civilization 250 A.D.

Classic Maya period begins; kings, dynasties, monuments, astronomy, common script.

What happened to Maya civilization 600 A.D.

most spectacular period begins; huge pyramids were built.

What happened to Maya civilization 700 A.D.

peak population numbers.

What happened to Maya civilization 800 A.D.

society begins to disintegrate; cities are abandoned.

What happened to Maya civilization 909 A.D.

last date recorded on any monument.

Three forms of wealth?

Biological;

Cultural;

Material.

Earliest philosopher/scientist to reasonably classify animal spp.

Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.)

Who developed bonomial nomenclature? Name of published and what year?

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

1753 (Species plantarum)

Systema naturae

How many living spp. and scientific names in 2005?

~1.75 million living spp. 
~300k fossils

Largest vertebrates spp.?

Fish ~25,000 spp.

How many spp of mammals?

4,500 spp

What % of animal spp are invertebrates? What is the largest group?

97%

Insects - 1million spp

Scientific name of Loatian rock rat?

Laonastes aenigmamus

Scientific name of Komodo dragon? When was it discovered?

Varanus komodoensis

1912

Scientific name of okapi? When was it discovered?

Okapia johnstoni

1901

Scientific name of saola?

Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

How many wild flowering plants are there? How many thousand are eaten by humans?

~240,000 spp.

Few thousand eaten by humans

What plant feature was modified during plant domestication?

Fruit/Seed size - wild peas

Bitterness - almonds

What is the name of the bitter chemical in almonds?

Amygdalin

almond tree scientific name?

Amygdalus communis

What is a natural chemical defense produced by plants? Whats the name of the plant that produces it?

Caffeine

Coffea arabica. - Cultivated in Ethiopia 1500 years ago

Examples of spp. with dispersal gene mutations

Wild peas

Wheat/barley

(easier to cultivate by humans)

Norway Rat scientific name?

Rattus norvegicus

What is the most widely cultivated wheat spp.

Triticum aestivum

Bread a hybrid spp of?

Emmer wheat (T. turgidum) and wild grass sp. (Aegilops squarrosa).

Wild cabbage scientific name? Where is it native?

Brassica oleracea 

native to Europe

What 4 modifications were made to wild cabbage?

1. large terminal bud and leaves (modern cabbage);

2. enlarged lateral buds (Brussels sprouts);

3. flower stems and clusters (cauliflower and broccoli);

4. prominent leaves (kale); etc.

Tomato scientific name?

Solanum lycopersicum

Potato scientific name? When and where were they introduced?

Solanum tuberosum

South America to Spain 1570

Ex. of plants that can fertilize themselves?

plum, peach, apple, and cherry trees; wheat and barley varieties; types of peas, etc.

What 3 countries independently developed Agriculture?

1. S. W. Asia – The Fertile Crescent;

2. China;

3. Mesoamerica (S. E. and South-Central Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador).

Major crops in Fertile Crescent?

Cereals (grasses): wheat, barley, etc.

Legumes: pea, lentil, chickpea.

Major crops in China?

Cereals: millet, rice.

Legume: soybean.

Major crops in Mesoamerica?

Cereal: corn.

Legumes: common bean, squash.

Name of scientist that selectively bred silver foxes? Where was he from?

Russian geneticist D. K. Belyaev

Scientific name of silver fox?

Vulpes vulpes

What is the scientific name of Aurochs? What are they?

Bos primigenius

When did Aurochs go extinct? Where did it live?

1627

Lived in European forests

The Sami (lapp) people of people of N.Scandinavia and N. Finland → nomadic herders of semi-wild reindeer are an example of what?

Pastoral Nomadism

What sugar is in milk?

lacTOSE

What enzyme digests milk?

lacTASE

What does lactase break lactose into?

Glucose and Galactose

Animal domestication?

genetic changes in both domestic animals and the humans associated with these animals.

Genes for making lactase are located on a segment of human DNA called

LCT

Countries with lactose intolerance?

Thailand / Asia/ Native people

What african population does not have lactose intollerance?

Fulani (W. Africa)

What african population does have lactose intollerance?

Yoruba (W. Africa)

What is the name and scientific name of the ancestor of the domesticated chicken?

Gallus gallus