BIOL 102 FINAL EXAM GMU

You observe a type of iris (a kind of flower) and discover that it blooms in mid-May. This is an example of

discovery science

Hypothesis based science often uses:

deductive reasoning

You study two groups of people - one with brain cancer, the other with no brain cancer. You then figure out if there is a difference in cell phone use in the two groups. This is what kind of study?

case-control study

True or false: the theory of evolution is just an idea about evolution and has not been rigorously tested:

False

Recognized that the age of fossils increases the further down one goes in a layer of rocks:

Cuvier

Developed the idea of gradualism:

Hutton

He coined the word "biology". He also discussed evolution but had a weird mechanism:

Lamarck

Darwin trivia question: Darwin went to Cambridge to become a:

member of the clergy

An example of a fossil:

a) bones preserved in stone b) a body preserved in ice c) footprints in rock d) insects in amber e) all of the above

Tiktaalik has characteristics intermediate between:

fish and amphibians

The bones that make up the forearm of horses and humans are:

homologous

Which species has DNA that is most similar to ours?

mouse

Pekingese are really annoying dogs (my apologies if you own one) that were bred to sit on pillows. Pekingese are the result of:

artificial selection

After cleaning up air pollution, moths in England became:

lighter

Antibiotic resistance evolved due to what pattern of selection?

directional

In mice, black (B) coat color is dominant to brown (b). 16% of your mice are "bb". What percentage of mice are black?

84%

Which is not a requirement for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

a) large population size b) no net mutations c) random mating d) no natural selection -- e) there are no exceptions on this list

Really silly characteristics such as bright red color in birds are due to:

sexual selection

Almost all speciation is:

allopatric

True or false: humans evolved from living apes:

False

The taxonomic category between Class and Family is:

Order

The correct scientific name for the Great White Shark is:

Charcharodon charcharias

You put together a phylogenetic tree that shows dolphins and sharks in the same taxonomic group. Your tree is:

polyphyletic

For most of the history of life on earth, the dominant organisms were:

bacteria

The biggest extinction event we know about happened at the end of the:

Paleozoic

True or false: The blue ridge mountains continue in the highlands of Scotland:

True

These cells set up a current in sponges:

choanocytes

True or false: an anticancer drug has been found in a Caribbean sponge:

True

Jellyfish have what kind of symmetry:

radial

The tentacles of comb jellies are covered with:

colloblasts

The organism that causes shistosomiasis belongs to which phylum?

Platyhelminthes

True or false: Leeches are again being used in medicine:

True

The most intelligent invertebrates are:

octopus and squid

The name "Arthropod" refers to:

jointed appendages

Spiders, scorpions and ticks belong to which group of arthropods?

chelicerates

Although not at all related, brachiopods resemble:

bivalves

The phylum most closely related to ours:

Echinoderma

These chordates behave like sponges (and resemble them a bit):

tunicates

Do not have a swim bladder; skeleton is made up of cartilage:

Chondrichthyes

True or false: Frogs can not stay on land because their eggs are water tight:

False

True or false: There are more different kinds of salamanders in the Blue Ridge mountains than anywhere else in the world:

True

Lizards are in the same group as:

snakes

True or false: some dinosaurs did not die out - they became birds:

True

True or false: all mammals have live birth:

False

The most successful group of mammals are:

rodents and bats

Vascular tissue that moves water upward in plants:

xylem

True or false: gymnosperms use fruits to disperse their seeds:

False

Most of our agriculture depends on:

Angiosperms

True or false: Fungi are not plants because they photosynthesize:

False

A structure that lets bacteria survive physical extremes like boiling, poisons, freezing or dehydration:

endospore

Not a characteristic of primates:

three pairs of mammary glands

Discovered in northern Chad, this hominid is about 6 - 7 million years old and is the oldest known human ancestor. It might be a common ancestor to humans and chimpanzees:

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

The first human ancestor that moved out of Africa. Also the first human ancestor for which we have evidence of fire:

Homo erectus

Had larger brains than modern humans:

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Neanderthals)

A hominid (= human ancestor or relative) that was definitely NOT a human ancestor:

Australopithecus robustus

True or false: modern humans and Neanderthals do share some genes:

True

True or false: population density is defined as the number of individuals/unit area:

True

True or false: in order to figure out how many lizards are in the everglades, I would have to count every one:

False

A population that grows rapidly, then slows and levels off is illustrated by what kind of growth model?

logistic

Which of the following does not determine K?

a) food b) territory c) water d) nesting sites e) there are no exceptions on this list

On Isle Royale Moose fluctuations are caused in part by:

wolves

An example of cyclical population fluctuations (up and down cycles) is provided by:

lynx and hares

Squirrels will run under the tires of your car at any age. They have what kind of survivorship curve?

type II

Organisms that produces lots of offspring, but do not invest a lot of resources into each offspring are said to be:

r - selected

Human populations have increased mostly because (pick best answer):

death rates have decreased

Currently, the world wide human population is about:

7.9 billion

True or false: the average person in the United states uses far more resources than the average person in India:

True

True or false: compared to the average person in Germany or Japan, each one of us uses about twice as many resources:

True

The population of a country with an "upside down" growth pyramid is:

declining

A country with a very fast doubling time:

Afghanistan

True or false: the only thing we need to know to determine biodiversity is species richness:

False

In class we used these animals to illustrate interspecific competition:

barnacles

True or false: two species in the same place cannot coexist if they are competing for the same resources:

True

True or false: Predation always lowers the diversity of a community:

False

An example of a parasite:

tick

In commensalism:

one species gains a benefit, the other is unaffected

An example of mutualism:

acacias feeding ants, which defend the acacia

True or false: disturbance is always bad for a community:

False

A snake eats a mouse. How much of the total energy in the mouse does the snake actually get?

10%

Tropical rain forests have:

almost no nutrients in what little soil there is

A tropical biome characterized by grasslands interspersed with trees. Contains many animals such as lions and elephants.

Savannah

True or false: all tropical forests are the same:

False

One of the most productive environments on the planet:

coral reefs

The largest terrestrial biome in terms of area. Very acid soils and long winters.

taiga

Technically, parts of Antarctica are classified as:

desert

True or false: we can get all the nitrogen we need through the air we breathe.

False

This compound is put into the environment through weathering and erosion:

phosphorus

A keystone species on the American plains:

bison

Protecting Mt. Sinai is what kind of reason to conserve?

Spiritual

He argued for the importance of nature - we need to preserve the environment for the sake of nature. Helped found the Sierra Club.

John Muir

Organization the regulates international trade in animals and plants:

CITES

Major threats to conservation include all of the following except:

legal hunting

The destruction of the woods at George Mason University has been largely due to (pick best answer)

urbanization

Desertification is most severe in:

sub-Saharan Africa

True or false: The last male northern white rhino died a few years ago:

True

True or false: One reason the passenger pigeon is extinct is due to competitions, during which the objective was to shoot as many birds as possible in one day:

True

An animal that was introduced into the United States because an American Doctor had an obsession with Shakespeare:

starling

Baby sea turtles have a hard time finding the ocean due to:

light pollution

The single most important thing one can do if one is trying to preserve an organism:

study the organism

A railroad now cuts right through the middle of the Nairobi National Park:

True