Download Biology 4974/5974

Biology 4974/5974
D. F. Tomback
Name
Student ID number
Fall 2013
100 points
Evolution
Exam #1: Take Home Exam
Read this before taking the exam. Please word-process your answers. You are free to
use class notes, papers posted on Canvas, and information in your textbook in order to
answer questions. A few things to warn you about:
 I expect that answers will be written in complete, well-constructed sentences, with
names and terminology spelled correctly. Misspellings and writing problems will
result in deducted points.
 Make sure that you understand what the question is asking before writing an
answer.
 Be very careful to use your own wording for answers. Students consciously or
unconsciously may plagiarize when using source materials. Plagiarism violates
the UCD honor code and public ethics and will result in an F on this assignment.
 You can take as much space as you need for your answers. (More is not always
better if you are on the wrong track.)
1. (6 pts) Evolution is regarded as a theory in science.
a. What is a theory?
b. Explain the significance of the fact that evolution is a theory: what does that
mean regarding this field of study?
2. (4 pts) a. Does the study of evolution follow the scientific method?
b. What are at least two different approaches (sources of information) used by
scientists who study evolution?
i.
ii
3. (4 pts) What is being defined below?
a. “Unites individuals that share more characteristics (features) with one another
than they do with any other organism.”
b. “Two species bearing the same phenotype caused by common ancestry for
the same genotype.”
4. (10 pts) What contribution did each of the following individuals make to the
development of our understanding of biological species?
a. George Buffon
b. Carl von Linné (Linnaeus)
c. Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
d. Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace
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5. (6 pts) Present a summary of how natural selection works, listing the step by step
processes involved.
6. (6 pts) Mayr, in his essay, “Darwin’s influence on modern thought,” brought up many
good ideas. Pick two of the following and explain their meaning: “population thinking”,
“historicity” in science, “Darwin does away with determinism”, or “theory of common
descent.”
7. (10pts) Explain Darwin’s literary strategy or approach for the first four chapters of
On the Origin of Species.
a. Why did he begin with Chapter I, Variation under Domestication?
b. Why did he then transition to Chapter II, Variation under Nature?
c. What was he trying to show in Chapter III, Struggle for Existence?
d. Why was establishing that variation exists among individuals of all species
and demonstrating how selection works in domestic animals and plants so crucial
to the main ideas in Chapter IV, Natural Selection? What were these ideas?
8. (10 pts) More questions based on On the Origin of Species
a. This diagram from Chapter IV, Natural Selection, depicts what process?
b. Referring to Chapter VII, Instinct, what does Darwin mean by “instinct”? What
is his main point in this chapter?
c. Referring to Chapter XIII, Mutual Affinities of Organic Beings, what is by the
statement, “By means of descent with modification, all the great facts in
morphology become intelligible?”
9. (3 pts) a. What theories account for the formation of the universe and the
formation of our solar system?
b. What is the relative abundance of normal matter, dark matter, and dark
energy in the universe?
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10. (6 pts) a. What was the composition and fate of the first atmosphere on earth?
b. What was the composition of the second stable atmosphere?
c. What was the general chemical property of the second atmosphere (hint:
redox)?
11. (4 pts) List four possible places/conditions were organic molecules were first
synthesized abiotically?
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
12. (10 pts) What are two sources of data that demonstrate that simple organic
molecules can readily be synthesized abiotically under roughly the conditions that
existed on the young earth or in outer space? Explain both of these forms of evidence.
i.
ii.
13. (3 pts) Explain what is meant by the principle of self-assembly when it comes to the
structure of protocells.
14. (10 pts) Briefly describe the structure and function of the following protocell models
in terms of self-assembly and chemical organization. Which have the most potential, in
your opinion, as an ancestral protocell?
a. coacervate
b. proteinoid microsphere
c. liposome
d. clay vesicle
15. (8 pts) Given that the protocells are not living organisms, explain how a sort of
natural selection could function and improve their efficiency. Use the following parallels
to develop your argument.
 variation within populations
 population growth
 struggle for existence
 natural selection
 descent with modification