ZOO503 Midterm Past Papers

Mid Zoo 503 Solved

1.

First Fossil Evidence Of Bipedalism?

The oldest clear evidence for bipedalism: human tracks in volcanic ash from Tanzania, 3.75 Ma. • The oldest substantial skeletons, of Praeanthropus afarensis, 3.2 Ma.

2.

What Are Biozones In The Context Of Biostratigraphy?

Biozones: The main operational units of a biostratigraphy. Measurements of the stratigraphic ranges of fossils, or assemblages of fossils, form the basis for the definition of biozones. The known range of a zone fossil is the time between its first and last appearances in a specific rock section, • First appearance datum (FAD) • Last appearance datum (LAD). Establishment of biozones • Quantitative techniques to understand the relationships between rock thickness and time, and to make links from locality to locality.

3.

What Is Micropaleontology?

Micropaleontology is the branch of paleontology that studies microfossils, or fossils that require the use of a microscope to see the organism, its morphology and its characteristic

4.

What Are Helicoplacoids?

Helicoplacus is the earliest well-studied fossil echinoderm. Fossil plates are known from several regions. Complete specimens were found in Lower Cambrian strata of the White Mountains of California. The animal was a cigar-shaped creature up to 7 centimetres long that stood upright on one end.

5.

What Are Anatomic Filters?

Organisms are likely to be preserved only if they have hard parts, a skeleton of some kind. • Entirely softbodied organisms, such as worms and jellyfish, are only preserved in rare cases.

6.

Name The "Big Five" Mass Extinctions Event?

The ―big five‖ Phanerozoic mass extinctions occurred in the • End-Ordovician • Late Devonian • EndPermian • End-Triassic • End-Cretaceous.

7.

Write Four Feature Characteristics Of Phylum Mollusks?

Unsegmented soft body with bilateral symmetry. Presence of an internal or external shell. A toothed tongue (made mostly of chitin) called the radula. A mantle which is a fold in the body wall that lines the shell. Muscular foot (and/or tentacles in some). (copied from google)

Short Questions (03)

8.

Role Of Amateurs?

Amateurs are not paid to work as paleontologists • Collaborations between different sciences is the key.

9.

Thermal Maturity?

Helps in identifying the levels of thermal maturity of rocks. {Thermal maturity is the extent of heatdriven reactions that alter the composition of organic matter (e.g., conversion of sedimentary organic matter to petroleum or cracking of oil to gas.)}

Q10. Gaia's Hypothesis?

Gaia hypothesis: Earth as a living organism in equilibrium with its biosphere.

Q11. Formation of Bed and Member?

A bed, is a lithologically distinct layer within a member or formation and is the smallest recognizable stratigraphic unit. A member is a more local lithologic development, usually part of a formation.

Q12. Isthmus Of Panama?

Barrier for some organisms may provide a corridor for others. • The emergence of the Isthmus of Panama (3 Mya) • Connected North and South America • Separated the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Q13. Types Of Fossils?

Five types of fossils: (a) insect preserved in amber, (b) petrified wood (permineralization), (c) cast andmold of a clam shell, (d) pyritized ammonite, and (e) compression fossil of a fern. (Google) Body fossils: the partial or complete remains of plants or animals 2. Trace fossils: the remains of the activity of ancient organisms, such as burrows and tracks. (PPT)

Q14. Diff scavenging and Decay?

When large animals feed on dead plant or animal tissues, the process is termed scavenging • When microbes, such as fungi or bacteria, transform tissues of the dead organism, the process is termed decay.

Q15. Diff Volatile and Refractories?

Soft parts of animals are made from volatiles, forms of carbon that break down readily. • Refractories are the organic carbons much less liable to break down, such as cellulose.

Q16. Infaunal and Epifaunal?

Infaunal organisms live beneath the sediment–water interface • Epifaunal organisms live above it The sediment–water interface

Q17. Allometry and Isometry?

Allometry is a well-known study, particularly in statistical shape analysis for its theoretical developments, as well as in biology for practical applications to the differential growth rates of the parts of a living organism's body. The word 'allometric' comes from the word for different measure in Greek. Most organisms grow allometrically. We then learned that isometric growth is growth in which, the proportions of the organism grow the same. This comes from the Greek word that means same measure. Very few organisms grow isometrically.

Q18. Endosymbiotic Theory?

Margulis: 1970s. • Prokaryote consumed, or was invaded by, prokaryotes • Two species evolved together in a mutually beneficial way.

Endosymbiotic

theory is an evolutionary theorythat assumes endosymbiosis between prokaryoticendosymbionts and eukaryotic host cell is themeans by which organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts occur within eukaryotic cells.

Q19. Insects and Corals?

Insects first appeared during the Early Devonian and diversified rapidly • There are probably 10 million species of living insects. Insects had probably already evolved flight before the Mid Carboniferous, when giant dragonflies patrolled the forests. Corals Most diverse and most threatened ecosystems • The coral reef • Shallow-water coral reefs in zone extending 30° north and south of equator • 30m or 18 °C.

Long Questions (05)

Q20. Usefulness of Microfossils Record?

Studying microfossils has a lot of uses. Microfossils are used to determine how old a piece of rock is and determine if there is gas or oil in the area. They are alsoused to see what kinds of major geological events took place such as earthquakes or major weather changes such as ice storms.

Q21. Origin Of Life In Early Precambrian World?

The Precambrian is divided into • Hadean eon • Archaean eon • Proterozoic eon • Hadean Eon spans from the origin of the Earth, 4.57 to about 4 Ga. Beginning of the Hadean • Temperatures on surface were too high • The crust was too unstable for any form of carbonbased life to exist. As the Earth’s surface cooled, the lithosphere, its rocky crust, began to differentiate as a cooler upper layer above the underlying asthenosphere. The oldest rocks are from Canada and are dated at 3.8–4 Ga, and some mineral grains from Australia have even been dated to 4.4 Ga Lasted from about 4 to 2.5 Ga. • The oldest sedimentary rocks from the Isua Group in Greenland, dated at 3.8–3.7 Ga. The Proterozoic Eon, from 2.5 Ga to 542 Ma • 2.4 Ga, atm oxygen levels rose to onehundredth or onetenth of modern levels. around 0.8–0.6 Ga is indicated by increased levels of marine sulfate • The two rises in oxygen levels, at the beginning and end of the Proterozoic.

Q22. Protozoan Characteristics?

Protozoa are notable for their ability to move independently, a characteristic found in the majority of species. They usually lack the capability for photosynthesis, although the genus Euglena is renowned for motility as well as photosynthesis (and is therefore considered both an alga and aprotozoan).

Q23. Note On Cambrian Explosion?

The Cambrian explosion generated a range of new body plans during a relatively short time interval.

Q24. Note On Cephalopodes?

A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda such as a squid, octopus or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot.

Q25. Arthropods Features?

However, the members of this phylum, despite their incredible diversity and sheer numbers, share a number of important distinguishing characteristics. Exoskeleton. ... Segmented Bodies. ... Jointed Appendages. ... Bilateral Symmetry. ... Open Circulatory System.

Q26. Echinoderm Water vascular System?

The water vascular system is a hydraulic systemused by echinoderms, such as sea stars and sea urchins, for locomotion, food and waste transportation, and respiration. The system is composed of canals connecting numerous tube feet.

Q27. Any 2 Models about Origin of Life?

Scientific models: Some of them now rejected by the evidence • Others still available as potentially valid hypotheses: 1. Spontaneous generation 2. Inorganic model. 3. Extraterrestrial origins 4. Biochemical model

5. Hydrothermal model.

The inorganic model: Complex organic molecules arose gradually on a preexisting, nonorganic replication platform • Silicate crystals • Graham CairnsSmith of Glasgow University, 2007 • not conclusive.