The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions Test | Mid-Book Test - Medium

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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. How did humans hurt the dodo population indirectly?
(a) By breaking up dodo populations for colonization to other islands.
(b) By competing for the dodo's food supply themselves.
(c) By introducing competitors for food.
(d) By collecting too many dodos for scientific study.

2. Who is Owen Griffiths?
(a) A sailor from the 18th century.
(b) A monkey researcher in Mauritius.
(c) A bird researcher in Australia.
(d) An insect researcher in Madagascar.

3. When does a species' dispersal ability become important, according to Quammen?
(a) When an island loses all its life after a catastrophic event.
(b) When the species is isolated by mountain ranges or lakes.
(c) When a species is threatened by new predators.
(d) When a species is forced to find new food sources.

4. How did sailors describe the dodo?
(a) Stupid.
(b) Cagey.
(c) Swift.
(d) Canny.

5. Where does Quammen say isolates can occur?
(a) Only in areas separated by steep mountains or deserts.
(b) In the bottoms of lakes.
(c) On islands and on land.
(d) Only on islands.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Quammen use as an example of an island?

2. What advice did Darwin receive from his friends, with regard to Wallace's work?

3. Who was Truganini?

4. Where did the dodo live?

5. How did Wallace put Darwin in a tough spot, according to Quammen?

Short Essay Questions

1. What concept did Wallace develop in the Malay Archipelago?

2. What does Quammen say about the overall pattern of the Persian rug?

3. What are the different terms Quammen describes for how people have accounted for the degradation of ecosystems?

4. Who is Philip Darlington, and what was his contribution to the discussion of island size and species count?

5. What does Quammen use the island of Tasmania as an example of?

6. What is archipelago speciation?

7. What factors have effectively broken the Persian rug of nature into pieces, according to Quammen?

8. What examples does Quammen cite of species changing size on islands?

9. What was the understanding about the variety of life forms before the theory of evolution came along?

10. What was MacArthur and Wilson's contribution to island biogeography?

(see the answer keys)

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