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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 did Whittington do after assigning his students to work on some of the other genera?

2. Who discovered Harry Whittington's analysis of fauna decades later?

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

4. What does the evolution of life contain, according to Gould's explanations and illustrations?

5. After publishing his first monograph, which two graduate students did Whittington employ?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Leif Størmer decide to do in contrast to Walcott?

2. What evidence favors Opabinia's uniqueness?

3. How is the Marrella splendens described in relation to the other Burgess Shale fossils?

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

5. What dominant paradigm about the Burgess fossils was Whittington pressured to conform to?

6. What did Whittington find Opabinia to actually be?

7. What did using these new methods allow Whittington's team to do?

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

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

10. How is the "Cambrian explosion" defined?

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

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 argues that Canadaspis' classification as a crustacean is crucial. Summarize Gould's argument and then, using at least three examples from the book, argue for or against Gould's position.

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