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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the general quality of fossils gathered by paleontologists?

2. What do naturalists say about the situation of hybrids resembling their parents?

3. Which of the following refers to ways by which an organism could spread to a new area that would NOT typically occur naturally?

4. What is one unique characteristic of the European cuckoo?

5. What happens to life forms that do NOT adapt?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Darwin suggest about the milking behaviors of ants on some insects?

2. How can naturalists determine if land masses were once connected?

3. What is one cause of a landmass changing the geological record?

4. What is the key explanation for species living in different regions?

5. Why does Darwin use a fish and a reptile as comparisons?

6. How does Darwin explain how the same genus of species are found in different geographical regions?

7. What is a possible explanation for why species migrated from one region to the next?

8. What does Darwin suggest about the fossil records of trilobites?

9. Why do scientists have difficulty determining the effects of two distinct species breeding?

10. How does the age of the earth play into natural selection?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Darwin uses the scientific method. How does he study nature and species using this method, and what is the significance of this method?

Essay Topic 2

Darwin suggests both that species can adapt to new environments and that when a species is brought into a new environment, it does not prosper. How can this contradiction be explained? Is it possible that each statement may be true for some organisms and not others? Provide examples and an explanation for your answer.

Essay Topic 3

How would a dramatic climate change affect a species? Consider the affect of the climate becoming (a) colder and (b) warmer. Use Darwin's arguments and explanations for this essay, provide examples of how each type of change would affect a species.

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