2. How do islands and continents compare in their climate? Compare the relative diversity of coastal marine organisms such as molluscs (snails, clams, chitons, etc.) in the following: 1) oceanic vs. continental regions; 2) fragmented land mass vs. single continental mass. From lecture, how does the distance of an island from a continent influence its: 1) overall species diversity; 2) proportion of endemic species?
3. (SKIP Spring, 2003) What is a province? What are examples of provinces on the West and East Coasts of North America and what keeps them distinct? From lecture, how have they changed through recent times? If New Zealand has ecological conditions (e.g., water temperature and patterns of seasonality) similar to British Columbia, why is it still considered a separate province?
4. How has Jack Sepkoski divided the post-Cambrian marine animals into three separate faunas? How do they compare in terms of the ecological roles represented in each fauna?
5. (SKIP Spring, 2003) From the lecture and course Web page for HOL Ch. 5, how are continental drift and plate tectonics related? What evidence finally led to the general acceptance of the notion of continental drift, and when did it become accepted? When did Rodinia and Pangea exist and how and why did their existence correlate with patterns of marine animal diversity worldwide?
6. Explain the likely relationship between plate tectonics, sea level changes, and the major extinction at the end of the Paleozoic Era (marking the boundary between the Permian and Triassic Periods). How long ago was this, and how long after the Cambrian Explosion? Why is the extinction event still a bit puzzling in terms of how suddenly it occurred? What major Paleozoic group of animals went extinct at that time?
[Go to Previous: Review Questions for HOL Chapter 4]
[Go to Next: Review Questions for HOL Chapter 6]
[Go to History of Life listing for Chapter 5]
[Return to Biology 404 Home Page]