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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 a minimum viable population?

2. How many individuals were thought to be required for long-term genetic adaptability?

3. What did William Newmark determine in his findings?

4. What does Lawrence Abele study?

5. How was the minimum viable population theory applied in Texas?

Short Essay Questions

1. What other ecosystems function as islands and show the same properties of species population and diversity as islands, according to Quammen?

2. What is the definition of 'viable' in Quammen's account?

3. What theory did Simberloff and Abele challenge in a 1976 article?

4. How is the case of the muriqui different from the case of the Mauritius kestrel?

5. How does Quammen describe the indri?

6. How does Quammen's argument circle back to its origins in chapter nine, "World in Pieces"?

7. How did Carl Jones save the Mauritius kestrel?

8. Who was Thomas Lovejoy, and what was his reaction to the debate Simberloff and Abele began?

9. Why did Quammen choose Aru as the destination for his final chapter?

10. What is the concept of the minimum viable population?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

If you were going to try to make a difference in the field of rescuing species from extinction, what actions would you take, based on the information presented in this book? What strategies would you employ? What part of Quammen's book leads you to believe that this would be an effective strategy for mitigating species loss.

Essay Topic 2

Why does Quammen minimize Darwin's accomplishment as the founder of the theory of evolution? What does he benefit by debunking Darwin's accomplishment? Is it attraction to the underdog position, do you think? Was Wallace rely a superior scientist? Is Quammen just being contentious?

Essay Topic 3

What is the genre of 'The Song of the Dodo'? Is it a travel narrative? Is it primarily a memoir? A book-length article about a scientific field? Is it a scientific treatise?

(see the answer keys)

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