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Chapter 5 Answers
Chapter 5 Answers
Chapter 5 Answers
Chapter 5 Answers are not provided for questions that require individual research or practice.
Exercises
1 Evolution is defined as the process of cumulative generations of animals and plants by only
change in the heritable characteristics of a allowing parent organisms who possess those
population. traits to reproduce. In natural selection, natural
environmental pressures determine which traits are
2 Life was very different 500 million years ago,
successful and which are not (e.g. prolonged lack
compared with today; many species have
of rainfall will select those plants that are resistant
gone extinct; many species considered to be
to drought, and the rest will die of dehydration).
top predators today did not exist at the time
of the dinosaurs or before; organisms have 7 The dark speckles on the eggs are good
certain adaptations that evolved a very long camouflage in the nest on the ground. If brightly
time ago and others have adaptations that coloured eggs were produced, they would be
have evolved very recently, showing that life more visible to predators from a distance. As
forms have increased in complexity. Answers a result, they would be more likely to be eaten.
such as ‘organisms tend towards perfection’ or This means the chicks inside would never have
‘get better over time’ are not considered to be the chance to grow up and reproduce. So the
scientifically sound statements. genes for the inappropriate egg colour would not
be passed on to the next generation.
3 Farmers and animal breeders noticed that
when they selected the members of their 8 The first spraying will kill most insects in the
breeding population that had the most desirable population but a few will be naturally resistant.
characteristics over many generations, they Those few survive and reproduce. The offspring
ended up with plants and animals that were very will contain a large percentage of resistant
different from the original varieties. The plants insects.
and animals found on farms today are very
9 Three domains = Eubacteria, Archaea and
different from their ancestors; this is evidence of
Eukaryote.
evolution. The driving force is artificial selection
rather than natural selection, however. (a) Archaea.
11
Bryophyta Filicinophyta Coniferophyta Angiospermophyta
1
Answers
(c) The horse’s sequence because there are 7 A is most similar to B; A is equally similar to C
more differences/fewer similarities in the and D; A is least similar to both C and D
amino acid sequence. (Total 2 marks)
Challenge yourself
1 (a)
Characteristic Bat Bird Human Horse Dolphin Turtle
Description of phalanges Very long Short Long and thin Long and Wide Short
(finger bones)(short/long, and thin wide
wide/narrow)
Type of locomotion that the Flight Flight Grasping rather Running Swimming Swimming
limb is best adapted for than locomotion and walking
(b) Birds and horses have lost digits from heavy digits. Horses born with fewer digits
the original 5-fingered common ancestor, could run faster and escape more easily,
presumably for different reasons. It can be increasing their ability of surviving and
hypothesized that wings that had more passing on the genes for fewer digits to the
fingers were heavier and slowed down next generation. Also, having one long finger
the birds, whereas natural selection would (or in this case, a toe), can generate more
have favoured mutations of fewer fingers, torque to run faster than having multiple
making the wings lighter. Having no fingers short toes.
at all would be a disadvantage, however, as
(c) The salamander has similar bone structures
wings need some support. Another reason
to the other animals in terms of carpals,
is that the hollow cartilage in the feathers
metacarpals, and phalanges, and the
plays some of the role of support and so
proportion of length to width is comparable
five fingers are not necessarily needed for
to turtles and humans. However, it has lost a
support. Fossils of ancient horse skeletons
digit on each forelimb over the course of its
contain more than just one digit on each
evolution. Salamanders are amphibians and
leg. It can be hypothesized that running
use their forelimbs for walking, swimming,
though tall grass to escape from a predator
and wading.
might be slowed down by having multiple,