Final Exam Study Guide
Rodents and Lagomorphs
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Why are the rodents the most successful of all mammalian orders?
Why has the success of the Lagomorpha been limited compared to that of the
Rodentia.
What morphological features unite the lagomorphs and rodents?
How do the incisors of rodents and lagomorphs differ?
Be able to identify and describe the following morphologies:
a. Sciuromorph
b. Myomorph
c. Hystricomorph
d. Protogomorph
e. Sciurognathous
f. Hystricognathous
Understand how the morphology of the masseter influences jaw mechanics.
Who were the Tritylodonts, Multituberculata, and Paramyids?
What is the significance of Aplodontia rufa?
Describe and explain the saltatorial adaptations of e.g. jerboas, kangaroo rats,
and springhaas.
Explain the inflated auditory bullae of Dipodomys and Microdipodops.
Aside from the fact that I like them, why are Anomalurids so cool?
List and explain the adaptations to saltatorial locomotion found in jack rabbits.
What is the difference between rabbits and hares?
What is the adaptive value of induced ovulation?
Cetaceans
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From which mammalian group did the cetaceans evolve?
Do the 2 modern suborders of cetaceans have a common ancestor?
Where are the oldest cetacean fossils found? What is significant about this
part of the world?
Why is the Tethys sea the ideal location for the evolution of the cetaceans?
Who are the Zeuglodonts, Condylarthra, Mesonychidae, Creodonts, and
Archeocetes.
Explain the evolution of the above with respect to the modern Cetacea and
Ungulata.
Be able to do some adaptationist story telling: explain the invasion of the sea
by cetaceans.
Explain the historical development of cetacean morphological adaptations to
an aquatic life style.
How do toothed and baleen whales differ?
Explain why it is unlikely that a rodent could invade the marine habitat.
Why are there so few transitional fossils for the whales?
Describe and explain the physiological and morphological adaptations to
diving found in whales.
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Explain the problems with thermoregulation faced by grey whales as they
migrate from the arctic to Baja.
Why is the skull of the Odontocetes assymetrical.
Explain cervical compression in whales.
What is laminar flow, and how do cetaceans achieve it?
What morphological problems are associated with filter feeding as practiced
by baleen whales?
What are the arguments in favor of a polyphyletic origin of the whales?
What are the arguments in favor of a monophyletic origin of the whales?
What is the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise?
Edentates
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What limits the northward distributional expansion of 9-banded armadillos?
How do the metabolic rates of Xenarthrans differ from those of other
mammals?
What is the significance of the name: Xenarthra?
What is the function of the accessory zygapophyses in xenarthrans?
How do the pelvic girdles of xenarthrans differ from those of other mammals?
What is the functional significance of these differences?
Explain the functional significance of the vertebral column in Glyptodon.
What locomotor problems do 2 and 3 toed sloths face?
What special problems are faced by arboreal folivores (especially sloths).
In anteaters, the tongue is anchored to the base of the sternum, in pangolins it
is anchored to the pelvis. Why?
What general adaptations can be expected in animals that feed on ants?
What skeletal modifications do Dasypodids posses that facilitate digging?
Ungulates
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What unites (Historically and Morphologically) the Proboscideans, Hyraxes,
and Sirenians?
What functional problems are faced by elephants? What morphological
solutions do they have for those problems?
Female elephants are in estrus for only a few days, and then only once every 4
years. What effect do you expect this to have on male reproductive behavior?
Be able to define graviportal limbs.
Provide a functional explanation for why elephants are capable of only a
single gait.
Gigantism is a common theme in all vertebrate groups. In mammals,
gigantism seems to be associated with herbivory. Why?
What was weird about the tusks of Deinotherium?
What are the selective pressures for tusk size in modern elephants.
What are the morphological similarities between rodents and hyraxes? What
are the morphological similarities between elephants and hyraxes? How do
you know that Hyraxes are not rodents (and instead are actually more closely
related to elephants)?
What environmental factor limits the distribution of Sirenians?
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What is the significance of the lung morphology of sirenians?
How do dugongs and manatees differ?
Be able to define the following terms:
a. Digitigrade
b. Plantigrade
c. Unguligrade
d. Hypsodont
e. Bunodont
f. Brachyodont
g. Lophodont
h. Selenodont
i. Dilambdodont
j. Zalambdodont
What morphological features unite the horses, tapirs, and rhinos?
Perissodactyls were once the dominant ungulates on the planet. That
distinction now belongs to the artiodactyls. What happened?
Explain the distribution of the world’s tapirs.
What can you say about the biology of Indricotherium (think about the
biology of elephants).
Explain why the evolution of horses is in fact not a good example of
gradualism and progressivism.
What happened to the horses of North America? (All current horses in North
America are introduced).
Be able to describe the variety of horns, antlers, and ossicones found in the
ungulates.
Why have the artiodactyls been so successful?
Man, I hate pigs.
Explain the adaptations of camelids to xeric environments. How do they cope
with temperature? How do they deal with water?
How do giraffes manage to get blood to the head? Since giraffes have only 7
cervical vertebrae (just like you), how do they manage to bend their necks?
What is the functional significance of the canines in the musk deer?
Cervids lose their antlers seasonally. Why is this a problem for a herbivore?
What is the adaptive significance of this feat?