UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
B.Sc.(Hons.) I YEAR
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007 ASSESSMENT SESSION
BIO1020 DIVERSITY OF LIFE: ANIMALS
25th JANUARY 2007
09.15 – 11.45
SECTION A: Answer ALL questions in this section. Only BRIEF answers are required. You are
advised to spend about 50% of the allotted time on this section. The marks carried by each
question are indicated.
1.
Inspect the diagrams labelled A to J below and then answer the following questions on
the test sheet attached (Page 5 of 5).
This question carries a total of 30 marks. Each correct answer will be awarded one
mark. One mark will be deducted for each incorrect answer.
1.1
Which animals do not belong to the Eumetazoa?
1.2
Of the eumetazoans, which animals do not belong to the Bilateria?
1.3
Of the bilaterians, which animals are not coelomates?
1.4
Of the coelomates, which animals are not protostomes?
1.5
Of the coelomates, which have a haemocoel?
1.6
Which animals are lophophorates?
1.7
Which is the most recently evolved animal of those illustrated?
1.8
Which animal is phylogenetically most closely related to the phylum of the
animal you have given in answer to question 1.7 above?
1.9
Which animals are filter feeders?
1.10
Which animals are deposit feeders?
1.11
Which animals belong to phyla that show metameric segmentation
1.12
Which animals have an endoskeleton that functions in locomotion?
1.13
Which animals have an exoskeleton that functions in locomotion?
1.14
Which animals are sessile?
1.15
Which animals are colonial?
1.16
Which animals are pelagic?
1.17
Which animals have a protective shell, test or theca?
Page 1 of 5
A
B
C
E
D
F
G
H
J
I
Page 2 of 5
2.
Choose the best answer to each of the following questions (2 marks each, total 20
marks):
2.1
Terry Erwin is notorious in the field of biodiversity for his suggestion that
(a) God had an inordinate fondness for beetles
(b) there may exist 30 million species of insect alone
(c) species may be objectively delimited using cladistics
(d) there is no truly universal definition of ‘species’
2.2
Species change through time by
(a) either evolving into new species or becoming extinct
(b) becoming fossilized
(c) becoming geographically isolated
(d) becoming reproductively isolated
2.3
Particularly rapid speciation giving rise to a diversity of closely related forms
occupying different ecological niches is called
(a) reproductive isolation
(b) sympatric speciation
(c) allopatric speciation
(d) radiation
2.4
The objective of systematics is to construct
(a) keys
(b) classifications
(c) phylogenies
(d) taxonomies
2.5
In Europe, the Meadow Brown Butterfly (Maniola jurtina) shows a north-south
cline in wing spotting in the male sex; this means that
(a) different morphs co-exist in each locality along the cline
(b) the density of spotting changes gradually along the cline
(c) the sex-ratio changes gradually along the cline
(d) the species is divided into a number of subspecies
2.6
In a number of cases, the polyp and medusa stages of the same species of
hydroid have received different names; this is because
(a) of lack of knowledge of the life-cycle of these species
(b) the polyp is colonial while the medusa is solitary
(c) they were named before the advent of modern taxonomic techniques
(d) they were not named according to ICZN rules
2.7
In taxonomy, any morphological, physiological or behavioural feature that is
genetically determined and serves to differentiate between species is said to be a
(a) key character
(b) genetic character
(c) taxonomic unit
(d) diagnostic character
2.8
Carolus Linnaeus is called ‘the father of taxonomy’ because:
(a) his son was the first taxonomist
(b) he founded the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
(c) he wrote the first taxonomic work, called ‘Systema Nuturae’
(d) he invented the binomial system of biological nomenclature
2.9
A type specimen is:
(a) the original specimen from which a new species is described
(b) the first collected specimen of a new species
(c) that specimen of a new species deposited in a museum
(d) the commonest type of a polymorphic species
Page 3 of 5
2.10
The Sicilian White-toothed Shrew Crocidura sicula, was originally described by
G.S. Miller in 1901. In 1991, Rainer Hutterer named the Gozitan population of the
Sicilian White-toothed Shrew as a distinct subspecies, which he called calypso.
The correct scientific name of the race of Sicilian White-toothed Shrew that lives
on Gozo is therefore
(a) Crocidura calypso Hutterer, 1991
(b) Crocidura sicula calypso (Miller, 1901)
(c) Crocidura sicula calypso Hutterer, 1991
(d) Crocidura (sicula) calypso Hutterer, 1991
SECTION B: Answer any TWO questions from this section. Your answer should take the form
of a short essay. You should spend about 50% of the allotted time on this section. Each
question carries 25 marks.
B1.
What is the ‘biological species concept’? What are the problems associated with
its application in the definition of species?
B2.
Classically, living organisms were divided into 'plants' and 'animals'. Many
biologists now consider this system to be artificial and a number of alternative
classifications have been proposed. Discuss.
B3.
Discuss the advantages of possessing a body cavity and survey the different
types of body cavity found in animals.
B4.
Write an essay on "Trends in arthropod evolution".
B5.
Write an account of adaptive radiation in echinoderms.
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