2) Make clear the logical core of Darwin's argument for evolution by descent with modification.
3) What are the two main current evolutionary models which explain the existence of "altruism" in animals, and how do they work?
4) Specify, and briefly describe, the two entirely distinct approaches to the task of biological classification, making clear the crucial distinctions between them.
5) Distinguish, with precision, the concepts of monophyly, paraphyly and polyphyly.
6) Precisely discriminate, both in spatial and genetic terms,
among these models of the speciation process:
a) allopatric b) peripatric c) parapatric d) sympatric
7) What is the difference between a primary and a secondary contact zone, and which mode(s) of speciation would each be associated with?
8) Describe the principle of parsimony, explaining its role in choosing among alternative organismal phylogenies, and what it suggests about the nature of the evolutionary process?
9) What is meant when characters are described as being:
a) analogies b) ancestral homologies c) derived homologies
10) Describe the differences between Punctuated Equilibrium and
Phyletic Gradualism with respect to:
a) anagenesis b) rates of cladogenesis c) the fossil
record
11) How can we make inferences regarding the historical biogeographic origin of a given taxon?
12) What was the Great American Interchange (what? where? when? etc.)?
1. You are the senior science officer on the F. S. S. Enterprise, in charge of an on-going sector survey of planets supporting life-forms. Your research brief is to collect data relevant to the following question:
"Is life, wherever and in whatever form it should occur, always a reflection of the action of Darwin's processes of descent, with modification by natural selection?"
At each planet surveyed, you will take an away-team for a month's field-work. Efficiency and uniformity of data-collection are of paramount importance; so is attention to crucially important phenomena. Therefore you design a research protocol for your team. Describe it.
(Remember: Jean-Luc won't be very sympathetic to general instructions
like "study the organisms carefully" "find out all about the biotic
communities." He may decide that you should be transferred to the
Klingon research vessel.
2. The history of earth's biota is the outcome of cosmic roulette
games; thus we can infer nothing general about life from this history.
Discuss.
3. Write a piece designed to convince a skeptic that blind, natural, forces can give rise to organic complexity.