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Practice Questions for Lectures 18
Geology 1200
Use these questions to test your knowledge of Lecture 18.
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. The Walcott expeditions most famous fossil finds from the Burgess Shale were of:
(a) marine reptiles.
(b) fish.
(c) trilobites.
(d) soft-bodied organisms.
2. The fossils from the Burgess Shale were remarkable because of all of the
following EXCEPT:
(a) over 60,000 specimens representing 170 species were collected.
(b) they were preserved in shale..
(c) they represented many soft-bodied organisms never before seen.
(d) they showed the complexity of Middle Cambrian life.
3. In the Cambrian explosion, which new lifestyle suddenly appeared?
(a) Membrane food absorption.
(b) Filter-feeding.
(c) Scavenging.
(d) Predation..
4. Which of the following is NOT true concerning the small shelly fauna?
(a) Trilobites were a major component of this assemblage..
(b) Ediacaran ancestors of mollusks were present in the small shelly fauna.
(c) The calcareous tube-builder Cloudina was an important component of the small shelly fauna.
(d) Other animals that produced shells, plates, spines, and tooth-like structures were present.
5. The one marine organism that was NOT expected to occur in strata of Cambrian was a:
(a) trilobite.
(b) chordate..
(c) lace crab.
(d) velvet worm.
6 The Chengjiang fauna of China is the most important Burgess Shale assemblage because of its:
(a) Early Cambrian age..
(b) better preservation.
(c) more diverse assemblage of fossils.
(d) greater number of specimens found.
7. The Cambrian explosion was fueled by:
(a) lack of competition
(b) high oxygen levels.
(c) warm, shallow waters.
(d) All of the above..
8. Trilobites were:
(a) planktonic herbivores.
(b) nektonic predators.
(c) benthonic scavengers..
(d) benthonic predators.
9. The fearsome Burgess Shale predator Anomalocaris was:
(a) a fish.
(b) a trilobite.
(c) an arthropod..
(d) a brachiopod.
10. Eurypterids were:
(a) planktonic herbivores.
(b) nektonic predators.
(c) benthonic scavengers.
(d) benthonic predators..
11. Brachiopods were filter-feeders with a special structure called a:
(a) diaphragm.
(b) lophophore..
(c) foot.
(d) tentacle.
12. Brachiopod shells vary in all of the following features EXCEPT:
(a) ornamentation.
(b) all have a two-valved shell with mirror-image left and right sides..
(c) size.
(d) shape.
13. Brachiopods are:
(a) sessile benthic filter feeders..
(b) vagile benthic scavengers.
(c) nektonic predators.
(d) planktonic herbivores.
14. Inarticulate brachiopods are most likely to have survived as “living fossils” because of their:
(a) rapid burrowing capability.
(b) armored shell.
(c) environmentally stressful intertidal niche..
(d) poisonous body tissues.
15. Which of the following statements concerning mollusks is NOT true?
(a) They suddenly appeared in the Cambrian explosion with no older ancestral forms..
(b) They all have a fleshy, muscular portion of the body called a foot.
(c) The muscular foot is used primarily for locomotion.
(d) Shelled members of this group have a fleshy organ called a mantle.
16. Bivalves (clams, scallops, mussels, etc.) can be distinguished from other mollusks by their:
(a) spiral-coiled shell.
(b) coiled shell containing partitions or septa.
(c) two mirror-image valves..
(d) seed and pollen cones.
17. Which of the following statements concerning gastropods (snails) is NOT true?
(a) They live in both fresh and salt water.
(b) They move by resting their body on a flattened foot that slides across a surface.
(c) They can breathe air and have adapted to live on land.
(d) They have coiled shells with numerous partitions called septa..
18. Which of the following cephalopods are NOT present today?
(a) Ammonoids..
(b) Squids.
(c) Octopi.
(d) Nautilus.
19. Which one of the following mollusks is the best index fossil?
(a) Ammonoid cephalopods..
(b) Nautiloid cephalopods.
(c) Bivalves.
(d) Gastropods.
20. Which of the following is NOT a type of stalked echinoderm?
(a) Cystoid.
(b) Crinoid.
(c) Starfish..
(d) Blastoid.
21. Crinoids were:
(a) sessile filter feeders..
(b) vagile mud eaters.
(c) nektonic predators.
(d) planktonic herbivores.
22. Paleozoic foraminifera were:
(a) sessile filter feeders
(b) vagile mud eaters.
(c) benthic scavengers..
(d) planktonic herbivores.
23. Which of the following statements concerning graptolites is NOT true?
(a) They lived in colonies arranged in rows along either side of a central, elongated stem.
(b) They survived until the Carboniferous.
(c) They are excellent index fossils for Ordovician through Early Devonian time.
(d) They were benthic filter feeders..
24. Which animal is NOT a type of coral?
(a) Solitary rugose.
(b) Archaeocyathid..
(c) Colonial rugose.
(d) Colonial tabulate.
25. Reef-binding stromatoporoids, sometimes considered a Hydrozoan coral, are also possibly a
type of:
(a) colonial tabulate.
(b) calcareous sponge..
(c) colonial rugose.
(d) archaeocyathid.
26. Which animal was a colonial filter feeder?
(a) Bryozoan..
(b) Brachiopod.
(c) Crinoid.
(d) Bivalve.
27. Which animal is the oldest chordate fossil?
(a) Cathaymyrus from the Chengjiang fauna of China..
(b) Pikaia from the Burgess Shale fauna of Canada.
(c) Agnathan bony plates from Wyoming.
(d) Archaeocyathid cups from California.
28. The earliest fish were:
(a) nektonic predators.
(b) planktonic herbivores.
(c) benthic filter-feeders.
(d) benthic mud-eaters..
29. The origin of jaws is supported by all of the statements below EXCEPT:
(a) jaws were derived from forward migration of the gill arches.
(b) jaws allowed mud eaters to process more mud..
(c) jaws allowed fish to consume more oxygen, and metabolize faster.
(d) jaws allowed fish to consume larger food particles by active hunting.
30. The largest Paleozoic jawed fishes were:
(a) placoderms..
(b) acanthodians.
(c) osteichthyans.
(d) chondrichthyans.
31. The most successful of all jawed fishes are the:
(a) placoderms.
(b) acanthodians.
(c) osteichthyans..
(d) chondrichthyans.
32. All of the following statements support rhipidistian fish as land dwellers EXCEPT:
(a) some had functional lungs.
(b) they had bone structure in their limbs that gave them the ability to crawl on land.
(c) they had external nostrils.
(d) they lacked the shoulder and pelvic structure and rib cage necessary for living on land..
33. The oldest known land plants were:
(a) seedless nonvascular plants.
(b) seedless vascular plants..
(c) seed-bearing vascular plants.
(d) None of the above.
34. Which of the following statements concerning Late Devonian vascular plants is NOT true?
(a) They developed stronger roots to grow taller.
(b) They developed flowers to increase efficiency of pollination..
(c) They developed leaves to increase the efficiency of photosynthesis.
(d) They developed seeds to grow in any habitat where germination could occur.
35. The most prominent seedless vascular plant of the Carboniferous coal swamp was the:
(a) scale tree (lycopsid)..
(b) fern.
(c) seed fern.
(d) progymnosperm.
36. The earliest seed-bearing plants were the:
(a) angiosperms.
(b) seed ferns..
(c) gymnosperms.
(d) progymnosperms.
37. The Late Paleozoic plant group particularly well-adapted to arid regions were the:
(a) angiosperms.
(b) seed ferns.
(c) gymnosperms..
(d) progymnosperms.
38. The first arthropods to invade the land were:
(a) mayflies.
(b) dragonflies.
(c) cockroaches.
(d) centipedes..
39. One of the most famous fossil insect assemblages is located at:
(a) Mazon Creek, Illinois..
(b) Mount Wapta, Canada.
(c) Chengjiang, China.
(d) the Ediacara Hills, Australia.
40. All of the following are amphibian adaptations for life on land EXCEPT:
(a) a more efficient heart to pump blood to the limbs.
(b) unprotected eggs laid in water..
(c) larger lungs surrounded by a rib cage.
(d) a reinforced backbone.
41. Amphibians are dependant upon water for which stage of their life cycle:
(a) egg laying.
(b) egg fertilization.
(c) eggs hatching and juvenile growth.
(d) All of the above..
42. All of the following amphibian characteristics are characteristics of rhipidistians also
EXCEPT:
(a) long tail flattened at the end.
(b) the presence of four functional legs..
(c) teeth with complex folded enamel.
(d) skull structure.
43. Amphibians were:
(a) aquatic predators.
(b) terrestrial herbivores.
(c) terrestrial insectivores.
(d) All of the above..
44. All of the following differences between reptiles and amphibians are preserved in the fossil
record
EXCEPT:
(a) capacity to lay amniotic eggs..
(b) differences in skull structure.
(c) differences in jaw structure.
(d) differences in backbone structure.
45. All of the following are probable uses for the prominent fin of Dimetrodon EXCEPT
(a) thermoregulation.
(b) sail for locomotion in the water..
(c) protection from attacks.
(d) attracting mates.
46. Mammal-like reptiles were distinguished by their:
(a) legs positioned more nearly beneath the body.
(b) differentiated teeth.
(c) skull structure.
(d) all of the above..
47. Late Paleozoic diapsid reptiles were distinguished by their:
(a) large size.
(b) razor-sharp teeth.
(c) skull structure..
(d) great personality
48. All of the following Paleozoic periods were characterized by extinctions EXCEPT:
(a) Devonian.
(b) Mississippian..
(c) Permian.
(d) Ordovician.
49. All of the following factors are listed as possible causes of Paleozoic extinctions EXCEPT:
(a) asteroid collision.
(b) climate change.
(c) overpredation..
(d) lowered sea level due to glaciation.
50. Lowered sea level due to glaciation is the probable cause for which extinction?
(a) Devonian.
(b) Mississippian.
(c) Permian.
(d) Ordovician..
51. All of the following hypotheses offer evidence to explain the Permian extinctions EXCEPT:
(a) greatest flood basalt eruption in all of Earth history.
(b) comet or asteroid impact.
(c) lowered sea level due to a “snowball” Earth ice age..
(d) abrupt change in ocean chemistry.
E. Short Answer
1. Why were the fossilized, soft-bodied animals of the Burgess Shale fauna so important to
paleontologists?