Study guide chapters 1 and 40: Key concepts,
evolution and animal form and function
Reece et al. Biology. 9th ed.
Study hint: Scan the assigned reading and start filling in the study guide before class.
While working through the study guides, make a list of key terms in the right margin.
Usually, these terms are boldfaced in the study guides or they appear in the
referenced figures. Consult the glossary in the back of your textbook or on the
companion website if you are not sure of definitions.
Read pages 1-18 (for lecture) and 18-23 (for lab). Read and bring the file Biological Key
Concepts. Scan chapter 40 so that you are able to find pertinent information to answer
the study guide questions below. Be prepared to answer concept check questions (you
can find answers to concept check questions in appendix A of Reece et al. Biology).
Make note of any questions you have about the reading. Bring those questions to your
discussion section.
0. Application
1.
2.
3.
How can you explain that the
Indian Leaf butterfly depicted here
looks like a dead leaf?
The smallest marine mammal is
the sea otter. Why are there no
marine mice?
How does the EPO doping work?
Image: Magic of Life Trust 2007
I. Themes connect the concepts of biology
4.
5.
Key concept I: Sustaining and perpetuating life poses challenges for living entities.
a. Use figure 1.3 to describe challenges and give examples for each.
Key concept II: Adaptive responses (solutions) to these challenges arise randomly
by mutation and are sustained by natural selection.
a. Define evolution (note that you need to be able to define all boldfaced
terms).
b. *Hypothesize why evolution remains controversial in the U.S.
c. Describe the (3) observations and (2) inferences that led Charles Darwin to
his theory of evolution by natural selection.
d. Concept check 1.3.3: Why is natural selection called a theory? Look it up!
9_iIntroduction© Crima Pogge, CCSF, page 1
e. *Is fitness in the Darwinian sense an absolute or a relative character? Does
fit equal perfect? Explain your answer.
f. *How did the orchid Orphys apifera come to look like a bee?
g. *What concept of Darwin’s theory of evolution is misrepresented in the
depiction of apes becoming more and more upright to finally become human?
What would be a more appropriate depiction?
h. *Evolution is often simplified as “survival of the fittest”, emphasizing the role
of competition. Make a case for cooperation being a major force in evolution
(for this answer, distinguish between prokaryotes and eukaryotes (Fig. 1.8)
and unicellular and multicellular organisms).
6. *Key concept III: The responses that evolve are constrained by
(a) the laws of chemistry and physics, and
(b) present and historical abiotic and biotic factors (internal and external). Explain
how these laws and factors have limited the range of animal forms and body
plans (p. 851-852).
7. Key strategy 7: Why is it necessary to keep the surface area to volume ratio high
(concept 40.1)?
8. The larger a body, the lower the surface area to volume ratio: what solutions have
evolved to allow large animals to efficiently exchange materials with the
environment (Fig. 40.4)?
9. How do the ears of jackrabbits exemplify key strategy 1: The evolutionary optimal
solution to conflicting biological challenges often involves trade-offs. Solutions
with an overall positive effect have evolved?
10. Life forms must maintain an internal environment that is different from the external
environment. Key strategy 5 states that a constant internal state (homeostasis)
is efficiently maintained by feedback regulation.
a. Distinguish between positive and negative feedback (Fig. 1.13 and concept
40.2).
b. Distinguish between regulating and conforming to certain environmental
variables. Give examples of both situations. How are these two mechanisms
related to homeostasis? (Fig. 40.7)
c. Explain negative feedback regulation (Fig. 1.13 and 40.8) using the example
of temperature regulation in H. sapiens (Fig. 40.16).
d. Give an example for positive feedback regulation and explain why this is less
common than negative feedback regulation.
e. Distinguish between acclimatization and adaptations. Give an example for
both.
11. Key strategy 6 states that complex biological structures have evolved that reflect
the complexity of tasks necessary to sustain life, which means that form and
function are correlated at all levels of organization (Fig. 1.4 and concept 40.1).
Illustrate this strategy by distinguishing between the four different types of animal
tissues (Fig. 40.5 – know one structural and one functional characteristic for
each tissue).
12. Key strategy 8: Explain how at each ascending level of biological organization
complex interactions give rise to new properties in the higher level (emergent
properties), give an example.
9_iIntroduction© Crima Pogge, CCSF, page 2
* An asterix denotes a question that you won’t find explicitly in the textbook. I will
address those questions in lecture. You can ask me about them in the discussion and
often you can find the answer with a google search.
Note: Exams consist of short answer and multiple choice questions. All questions are
derived from study guides which you’ll find for all chapters on my website at
http://fog.ccsf.edu/~cpogge. Print study guides and fill them in as you are first reading
the chapter. Fill in the remaining answers during lecture. Study guides will help you
organize your lecture notes, focus your reading and deepen your understanding of the
concepts discussed. Understanding the answers will help you commit the ideas to your
memory and draw connections between the concepts discussed throughout the course.
If you are not sure about what a question is getting at, please ask for feedback in the
discussion section.
There are multiple choice practice quizzes both in the textbook and online at Mastering
Biology. Ignore questions that do not refer to study guide questions and use the
practice quizzes to further commit concepts to your memory. Most important: if you get
a question wrong, analyze why you got it wrong. Did you not study this concept or did
the wording “trick” you?
Essay question
Explain how the Indian Leaf butterfly came to look like an old leaf. Your essay should
illustrate the theory of natural selection and discuss possible constraints limiting the
evolution of the butterflies phenotype.
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