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 limps / 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

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?

65 mya

End of Cretaceous K/T Extinction