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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. How did Whittington approach Yohoia?

2. What did Whittington shockingly find after the dissection of Opabinia?

3. Who newly interpreted the Burgess animals in 1971?

4. How did the Burgess Shale's mysteries become apparent?

5. What did Whittington later note that he labored under?

Short Essay Questions

1. What evidence favors Opabinia's uniqueness?

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

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

4. Why is the Burgess Shale acknowledged as the most significant collection of fossils yet discovered?

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

6. Why did Gould write this book as an homage to the Burgess Shale?

7. What did people think Opabinia was and what did Whittington choose to believe about this idea?

8. What did Stephen Jay Gould desire to use the Burgess Shale for?

9. Name four levels of the taxonomy of life.

10. How is the "Cambrian explosion" defined?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gould disagrees with Whittington regarding the significance of Aysehaia. Explain this disagreement in your own words. Use two examples from the book to illustrate the significance of Aysehaia, Whittington's position, and Gould's dissent.

Essay Topic 2

Act 1 discusses the differences between Leif Størmer's explanation of the Burgess arthropods in his Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology and Walcott's narrow groupings of arthropod phylums. Compile at least three examples provided by Gould's book that examine their similarities and differences.

Essay Topic 3

Gould examines how Whittington gave upon the Trilobitoidea class. In your own words, summarize why Whittington threw out the Trilobitoidea class. Support your summary with two examples taken from any of the chapters in the book.

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This section contains 610 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample