PAPER CODE NO.

EOSC 244

EXAMINER: Charlotte Jeffery DEPARTMENT: Earth & Ocean Sciences TEL.NO 45178

MAY 2005 EXAMINATIONS

INTRODUCTION TO FOSSILS

TIME ALLOWED : 2 hours INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Answer all questions in Section A, and 2 questions from Section B.

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SECTION A. SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS Answer all questions. Marks for all questions are noted. Total 20 marks. 1. a) In cladistics, what do the following terms mean? i) plesiomorphy ii) apomorphy b) Give two ways of determining character polarity for cladistic analysis. (6 marks) 2. Outline the differences between phyletic gradualism and punctuated evolution. (4 marks) 3. With reference to this cladogram, answer the following questions.

a) b) c) d) e)

What is the ophiuroid most closely related to? What is the smallest monophyletic group containing the asteroid and echinoid? What characters do the asteroid, ophiuroid, echinoid and holothurian share? Which character on the cladogram represents a homoplasy? Given the characters represented on the tree, is the ophiuroid in the most parsimonious position? (6 marks) 4. Briefly describe two advantages of the internal vertebrate skeleton. (4 marks)

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SECTION B Answer two questions. Each is worth 40 marks. 1. Discuss, with examples, how fossils can be used to infer the nature of past environments. 2. Are birds really dinosaurs? 3. Describe the morphology of foraminifera and explain how they are of palaeontological use. 4. Define a biological species. Explain why this definition is so difficult to apply in the fossil record as well as in the present day.

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