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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 type of evidence concerning Opabinia is considered to be decisive?

2. What could Whittington not figure out to do about Marrella?

3. What could Whittington not classify Marella with?

4. What did the "death of the dinosaurs" boundary make possible?

5. What was Leif Størmer's treatise on the Burgess Shale named?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the first chapter of "Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History" about?

2. What special insight or perspective does the Burgess Shale offer?

3. What is Chapter 3: Reconstruction of the Burgess Shale: Toward a New View of Life about?

4. How did Walcott's taxonomy have to be significantly updated?

5. What is the purpose of Chapter 2: A Background for the Burgess Shale?

6. Why did Whittington approach Yohoia less conservatively?

7. What sorts of new procedures did Whittington's team use?

8. What was the difference between Simon Conway Morris and Whittington in the way that they worked?

9. What did Leif Størmer's "Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology" describe?

10. Why could the acceptance of the new interpretation create within humans a psychological shock?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Act 2, Gould discusses Whittington's shocking discovery after dissecting Opabinia's carapace. First, explain what the discovery was. Second, explain the discovery's significance for scientific research as a whole, and for the Burgess Shale in particular.

Essay Topic 2

Gould promotes the idea that evolution cannot hold up under intensive examination. First, examine evolution as a theory. Second, examine it as a theory in the context of the Burgess Shale. Support your agreement or disagreement with at least two logical reasons with solid examples. Can the conception of evolution hold up under intensive examination? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

In Act 2, Gould develops the idea that even classification is sometimes inadequate. Science is constantly changing and updating. First, explain the evidence that supports Opabinia's distinctiveness and why it cannot be classified among any of the known animals of this earth. Second, explain the themes Gould uses to tie this evidence into a philosophical and historical point using at least two examples from Act 2.

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