Evolution__3rd_Edition

70 PART 1 / Introduction
Study and review questions
1 The average difference between two individuals
increases as they are sampled from the same local
population, two separate populations, two species,
two genera, and so on up to two kingdoms (such as
plants and animals). Up to approximately what stage
in this sequence can evolution be observed in a human
lifetime?
2 In what sense is the range of forms of life on
Earth (i) arranged, and (ii) not arranged, in distinct
“kinds”?
3 Which of the following are homologies and which
analogies, in the pre-Darwinian sense of the terms?
(a) A dolphin flipper and a fish fin. (b) The five-digit
skeletal structure of the dolphin flipper and of a frog foot.
(c) The white underside coloration of gulls, albatrosses,
and ospreys (all of which are seabirds and catch fish by
air raids from above). (d) The number of vertebrae in the
necks of camels, mice, and humans (they all have seven
vertebrae).
material on Devonian tetrapods with non-pentadactyl limbs. Gould (1989) describes
the animals of the Burgess Shale. Wellnhofer (1990) describes Archaeopteryx. On
adaptation, see Dawkins (1986). For the broader context, see Numbers (1992) for the
history, and Antolin & Herbers (2001) on educational, and Larson (2003) on legal,
business.
4 The genetic code has been called a “frozen accident.”
In what sense is it an accident, and why was it frozen?
5 Imagine a number of sets of about 10 objects each:
such as 10 books, 10 dishes for dinner, 10 gems, 10
vehicles, 10 politicians,...or whatever. For each set,
devise two or three different ways of classifying them in
hierarchical groups. (For example, 10 politicians might be
classified first into two groups such as left of center/right
of center; then those groups could be divided by such
criteria as average length of sound-bites, number of
scandals per year, gender, region represented, etc.) Do
the different hierarchical classifications recognize the
same sets of groups, or similar sets of groups, or are they
unrelated? Think about why for some sets of groups and
for some classificatory criteria, the different
classifications are similar, whereas for others they differ.
6 Why would Haldane have given up his belief in
evolution if someone discovered a fossil rabbit in the
Precambrian?
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