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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2, A Background for the Burgess Shale.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What comprises the first 4 billion years of Earth's history?
(a) The Cambrian Era.
(b) The Prestige Era.
(c) The Precambrian Era.
(d) The Mesozoic Era.

2. When was the boundary between the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras?
(a) 225 thousand years ago.
(b) 225 million years ago.
(c) 355 million years ago.
(d) 20 thousand years ago.

3. When was the famed "death of the dinosaurs?"
(a) 65 million years ago.
(b) 10 million years ago.
(c) 20 million years ago.
(d) 100 thousand million years ago.

4. What does Gould determine about the difference between eukaryotic fauna and the Burgess fauna?
(a) The difference is minimalist.
(b) The difference is vast.
(c) The difference is microscopic.
(d) The difference is close.

5. What kind of development were the Burgess animals first interpreted to have?
(a) Regressing development.
(b) Unchanging development.
(c) Gradual, progressive development.
(d) Quick, rash development.

Short Answer Questions

1. When does the old story have Walcott miraculously stumble upon the Burgess Shale?

2. Who was America's "greatest paleontologist and scientific administrator"?

3. According to Gould, what kind of insight does the Burgess Shale offer into the nature of life and the evolution of life forms?

4. What does the Precambrian Era contain?

5. What kind of paradigm does Gould believe has not been communicated to the public?

(see the answer key)

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