Question 1

Which of the following would most likely have an effect on temperature that is opposite to that caused by humans burning fossil fuels?

Accepted Answer

A)   An input of carbon dioxide
B)   An increase in volcanic activity
C)   A decrease in volcanic activity
D)   An increase in oxygen concentration
E)   A decrease in oxygen concentration

Question 2

Which conditions would most likely increase the likelihood of an animal being fossilized?

Accepted Answer

A)   Living in an oxygen-rich environment
B)   Having an exoskeleton
C)   Living in an area where geological processes often transform rocks
D)   Living in a 14C-rich environment
E)   Dying in an oxygen-rich environment

Question 3

Which statement about paleomagnetic dating is false?

Accepted Answer

A)   Sedimentary rocks can be used in paleomagnetic dating.
B)   Igneous rocks can be used in paleomagnetic dating.
C)   Earth's magnetic poles change their positions over time.
D)   Paleomagnetic dating relates the ages of rocks to patterns in Earth's magnetism.
E)   Paleomagnetic dating relies on the known half-life of radioisotopes.

Question 4

Which of the following is the shortest period of time?

Accepted Answer

A)   The length of the Cenozoic era
B)   The half-life of 40K
C)   One hundred thousand years
D)   Two half-lives of 14C
E)   The time since the Cambrian explosion

Question 5

Earth was devoid of life during the _______ eon.

Accepted Answer

A)   Phanerozoic
B)   Cambrian
C)   Archean
D)   Hadean
E)   Proterozoic

Question 6

The current geological period is the

Accepted Answer

A)   Tertiary.
B)   Quaternary.
C)   Triassic.
D)   Devonian.
E)   Pleistocene.

Question 7

Rodents, marsupials, and hoofed animals first appeared in North America during the _______ period that followed a mass extinction and presented new evolutionary opportunities for mammals.

Accepted Answer

A)   Tertiary
B)   Permian
C)   Triassic
D)   Devonian
E)   Cretaceous

Question 8

What drives the increase in body size in Drosophila when oxygen concentrations are elevated?

Accepted Answer

A)   Stabilizing selection
B)   Directional selection
C)   Disruptive selection
D)   Mutation
E)   Genetic drift

Question 9

Abnormally high concentrations of _______ have been found in rocks dating from the end of the Cretaceous.

Accepted Answer

A)   iridium
B)   mercury
C)   lithium
D)   nickel
E)   tungsten

Question 10

In an undisturbed formation, fossils from the Jurassic period are immediately below those from the _______ period.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In an undisturbed formation, fossils from the...

Question 11

The first flying animals were _______, which first appeared in the _______ period.

Accepted Answer

A)   birds; Carboniferous
B)   birds; Cretaceous
C)   bats; Jurassic
D)   insects; Permian
E)   insects; Carboniferous

Question 12

Which of the following statements is false?

Accepted Answer

A)   Radioisotope dating of rocks, combined with fossil analysis, is the most powerful method of determining geological age.
B)   Earth's magnetic field has changed over time, and evidence of this can be found in igneous and sedimentary rocks.
C)   Radioisotope dating can only be performed on rocks or fossils that are younger than the half-life of the decaying isotope.
D)   To date sedimentary strata, geologists search for places where igneous rock formations have intruded.
E)   Radioisotope dating can be performed on fossils thousands of years old to billions of years old.

Question 13

Mountain ranges are ultimately the result of

Accepted Answer

A)   accumulation of sediments once laid on the bottom of ancient oceans.
B)   climate changes and the movement of glacial ice sheets.
C)   leftover debris from ancient collisions with an asteroid or meteor.
D)   the breakup of Laurasia and Gondwana.
E)   plates in Earth's crust that move against one another on top of a layer of molten rock.

Question 14

The rapid diversification of multicellular organisms occurred in the _______ eon.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The rapid diversification of multicellular organisms occurred...

Question 15

The half-life of a particular radioactive isotope of element X is 100 years.If you know that 500 years ago a fossil contained 10 mg of this isotope, you would expect to find about _______ mg in that fossil today.

Accepted Answer

A)   5
B)   2.5
C)   1.2
D)   0.6
E)   0.3

Question 16

Which of the following did not take place in the Devonian?

Accepted Answer

A)   The appearance of early reptiles in the fossil record
B)   The appearance of the first plants to produce seeds
C)   An acceleration in the rates of evolutionary change in many groups of animals
D)   The appearance of the first known fossils of insects, spiders, and mites
E)   A mass extinction marking the end of the period

Question 17

The concentration of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere

Accepted Answer

A)   has increased steadily over time.
B)   has decreased steadily over time.
C)   has been both higher and lower in the past than at present.
D)   was lower during most of the Permian than at present.
E)   was at its highest levels in the Cambrian.

Question 18

During the _______ period of the _______ era, atmospheric O2 level was almost equal to the present level, and multicellular life forms were abundant and diverse in the sea (but nowhere to be found, yet, on land) .

Accepted Answer

A)   Cretaceous; Mesozoic
B)   Quaternary; Cenozoic
C)   Carboniferous; Paleozoic
D)   Cambrian; Paleozoic
E)   Permian; Paleozoic

Question 19

Which sample would be appropriate for dating by means of radioactive carbon?

Accepted Answer

A)   A mastodon that is about 15,000 years old
B)   A Homo erectus skeleton thought to be around 800,000 years old
C)   The sediments of the Cretaceous Sea where they are now exposed on land
D)   An igneous intrusion from a 250-million-year-old volcano eruption
E)   Stromatolites containing 3-billion-year-old bacterial mats

Question 20

What triggered the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period?

Accepted Answer

A)   The joining of several continents
B)   A large continent splitting apart
C)   The impact of a large meteorite
D)   Global warming
E)   The accumulation of oxygen

Exam 24: The History of Life on Earth

Which of the following statements is false?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Rodents, marsupials, and hoofed animals first appeared in North America during the _______ period that followed a mass extinction and presented new evolutionary opportunities for mammals.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which conditions would most likely increase the likelihood of an animal being fossilized?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The first flying animals were _______, which first appeared in the _______ period.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

During the _______ period of the _______ era, atmospheric O2 level was almost equal to the present level, and multicellular life forms were abundant and diverse in the sea (but nowhere to be found, yet, on land) .

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Mountain ranges are ultimately the result of

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following did not take place in the Devonian?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which sample would be appropriate for dating by means of radioactive carbon?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following would most likely have an effect on temperature that is opposite to that caused by humans burning fossil fuels?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The rapid diversification of multicellular organisms occurred in the _______ eon.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The concentration of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

In an undisturbed formation, fossils from the Jurassic period are immediately below those from the _______ period.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

What triggered the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The current geological period is the

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Earth was devoid of life during the _______ eon.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following is the shortest period of time?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which statement about paleomagnetic dating is false?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The half-life of a particular radioactive isotope of element X is 100 years.If you know that 500 years ago a fossil contained 10 mg of this isotope, you would expect to find about _______ mg in that fossil today.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

What drives the increase in body size in Drosophila when oxygen concentrations are elevated?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Abnormally high concentrations of _______ have been found in rocks dating from the end of the Cretaceous.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

The first flying animals were _, which first appeared in the _ period.

Correct Answer
verified

During the _ period of the _ era, atmospheric O₂ level was almost equal to the present level, and multicellular life forms were abundant and diverse in the sea (but nowhere to be found, yet, on land) .

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified