Lesson test: Reading the fossil record

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Reading the fossil record

1.[3p]
Which filters make the fossil record a biased sample?

Select all that apply

Rapid burial is needed, so water-margin organisms are over-represented

Correct

Hard parts survive far better than soft ones

Correct

The rock must escape metamorphism, subduction and erosion for millions of years

Correct

Older rock is better represented, having had longer to accumulate

The answer is: Rapid burial is needed, so water-margin organisms are over-represented, Hard parts survive far better than soft ones, The rock must escape metamorphism, subduction and erosion for millions of years

2.[3p]
About 250,000 fossil species are described against an estimated 4 billion that have lived. One species in how many is on record?

CorrectNot quite: 16000

3.[3p]
A lineage has 20 specimens spread over 10 million years. What is the mean gap between successive specimens, in millions of years?

CorrectNot quite: 0.48

4.[3p]
What did the Tiktaalik search specify in advance?

Late Devonian rock of about 375 million years, freshwater or deltaic, unmetamorphosed and exposed

Correct

Any Devonian rock anywhere in the Arctic

The answer is: Late Devonian rock of about 375 million years, freshwater or deltaic, unmetamorphosed and exposed

Marine limestone of the early Carboniferous

The answer is: Late Devonian rock of about 375 million years, freshwater or deltaic, unmetamorphosed and exposed

A site where transitional fossils had already been reported

The answer is: Late Devonian rock of about 375 million years, freshwater or deltaic, unmetamorphosed and exposed

5.[3p]
Trackways dated to 395 million years show that Tiktaalik was not the ancestor of tetrapods, which undermines the prediction that found it.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

6.[2p]
Basilosaurus is about 16 m long with a hind limb about 0.6 m. What percentage of body length is the limb?

CorrectNot quite: 3.75

7.[3p]
Why is the involucrum, rather than a swimming character, used to identify Pakicetus as a whale?

It has no function connected to being aquatic and occurs in no other mammal group

Correct

It is the largest bone available in the specimen

The answer is: It has no function connected to being aquatic and occurs in no other mammal group

It is easier to measure than a body outline

The answer is: It has no function connected to being aquatic and occurs in no other mammal group

Swimming characters are not preserved in fossils

The answer is: It has no function connected to being aquatic and occurs in no other mammal group

8.[2p]
The clay layer at Gubbio holds iridium at about 9 parts per billion against a background of 0.3. By what factor is it enriched?

CorrectNot quite: 30

9.[3p]
Put these fossil forms in the order they appear in the rocks, oldest first.

Acanthostega
Tiktaalik
Basilosaurus
Panderichthys
Pakicetus

Show the answer

a, b, c, d, e

1.[3p] Which filters make the fossil record a biased sample?

2.[3p] About 250,000 fossil species are described against an estimated 4 billion that have lived. One species in how many is on record?

3.[3p] A lineage has 20 specimens spread over 10 million years. What is the mean gap between successive specimens, in millions of years?

4.[3p] What did the Tiktaalik search specify in advance?

5.[3p] Trackways dated to 395 million years show that Tiktaalik was not the ancestor of tetrapods, which undermines the prediction that found it.

6.[2p] Basilosaurus is about 16 m long with a hind limb about 0.6 m. What percentage of body length is the limb?

7.[3p] Why is the involucrum, rather than a swimming character, used to identify Pakicetus as a whale?

8.[2p] The clay layer at Gubbio holds iridium at about 9 parts per billion against a background of 0.3. By what factor is it enriched?

9.[3p] Put these fossil forms in the order they appear in the rocks, oldest first.

1.[3p]
Which filters make the fossil record a biased sample?

2.[3p]
About 250,000 fossil species are described against an estimated 4 billion that have lived. One species in how many is on record?

3.[3p]
A lineage has 20 specimens spread over 10 million years. What is the mean gap between successive specimens, in millions of years?

4.[3p]
What did the Tiktaalik search specify in advance?

5.[3p]
Trackways dated to 395 million years show that Tiktaalik was not the ancestor of tetrapods, which undermines the prediction that found it.

6.[2p]
Basilosaurus is about 16 m long with a hind limb about 0.6 m. What percentage of body length is the limb?

7.[3p]
Why is the involucrum, rather than a swimming character, used to identify Pakicetus as a whale?

8.[2p]
The clay layer at Gubbio holds iridium at about 9 parts per billion against a background of 0.3. By what factor is it enriched?

9.[3p]
Put these fossil forms in the order they appear in the rocks, oldest first.