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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 was once often a focus of the fauna?

2. How many acts does the Burgess Drama have?

3. What is the second subtitle for the Act 5 chapter?

4. How was Whittington inclined to see Opabinia?

5. Why is the Burgess Shale such an amazing find?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is uniquely special about the discovery of Sanctacaris?

2. How does the book describe Derek Briggs and Simon Conway Morris as students of Oxford?

3. What did Collins do when faced with the prevention of Des Collins excavation of Walcott's quarry?

4. How did Naraoia contribute to the Burgess Drama?

5. What other monographs were published in 1981 concerning the Burgess Shale and by who?

6. Why does Gould deplore the prevention of Des Collins excavation of Walcot's quarry?

7. What new view did Whittington hold after working on Naraoia?

8. What sort of series does Chapter 4: Walcott's Vision and the Nature of History transition to and why?

9. Why wasn't the discovery of the Burgess Shale and its consequent new shift in perspective a gradual change?

10. What did Sanctacaris look like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Chapter 3 examines the levels of the taxonomy of life. Describe four of these levels with examples from each and then explain the system of classification that Whittington used for the Burgess Shale animals. Answer why it is important for paleontologists to classify specimens. Support your argument with at least two logical examples.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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