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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The early Cambrian period, or the Cambrian explosion, refers to a time how long ago?
(a) 39 million years.
(b) 998 million years.
(c) 540 million years.
(d) 7 million years.

2. Approximately how many okapi live in the rain forests of Zaire?
(a) 1,340,000.
(b) 12,000.
(c) 30,000.
(d) 400,000.

3. Trilobites are fossils of what?
(a) Marine creatures.
(b) Spiky cacti.
(c) Leafy ferns.
(d) Flying dinosaurs.

4. With so many hominid species existing in the past, why did only one survive?
(a) Larger brain.
(b) Nobody knows.
(c) Greater capacity for compassion.
(d) Climate change.

5. Who was Robert Fitzroy?
(a) Head of the HMS Beagle Laboratory.
(b) Captain of the HMS Beagle.
(c) Darwin's first cousin and fellow naturalist.
(d) Darwin's theology professor.

Short Answer Questions

1. What helped scientists start accepting the idea of ice ages?

2. Scientist Jean de Charpentier was a specialist on what?

3. Most human traits, including eye color, are determined by:

4. The author states that one scientist claimed there is less genetic diversity among the entire human population than there is among a:

5. When the KT meteor that killed the dinosaurs hit Earth, what percentage of life on the planet perished?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Charles Darwin do on the HMS Beagle?

2. Describe the Indonesian volcanic eruption of 1815.

3. What are bipeds? What are some of the unique challenges they face because of their structure?

4. How are traits determined genetically?

5. Describe what happened when the KT meteor crashed on Earth, killing off the dinosaurs.

6. Describe the presence of bacteria in humans.

7. What did scientists find in the Burgess Shale of British Columbia?

8. Describe the fossilized traces of microbes found in Greenland.

9. What does the author lament about the study of wildlife throughout much of human history?

10. Describe the layer of atmosphere called the troposphere.

(see the answer keys)

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