Chapter 17 Objectives
Biology and Society: The Discovery of the Hobbit People
1. Describe
the fossil discoveries on the Indonesian
The Origins of Animal Diversity
2. Define what it means to be an animal and describe
common aspects of animal development.
3. Describe
the significance of the Cambrian explosion.
4. Distinguish
between the nine major animal phyla according to the presence of tissues, type
of body symmetry, presence of a body cavity, type of digestive tract, and
presence of segmentation.
Major Invertebrate Phyla
5. Describe
the body structure and feeding strategies of sponges, cnidarians, molluscs, and flatworms.
6. Describe
the general structure of annelids and nematodes. Compare the lifestyles and
feeding habits of earthworms, polychaetes, leeches,
and nematodes.
7. Describe
the general structure of arthropods, and discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of an exoskeleton. Distinguish between arachnids, crustaceans,
millipedes, centipedes, and insects.
8. Describe
the general structure of echinoderms and explain the significance of the water
vascular system.
Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity
9. Describe the four defining characteristics of the phylum Chordata.
10. Distinguish between the following
groups: invertebrate chordates, jawless vertebrates, cartilaginous fishes,
ray-finned fishes, and lobe-finned fishes. Describe the significance of jaws
and a swim bladder.
11. Describe several aquatic and terrestrial
adaptations of amphibians.
12. Describe the adaptations of reptiles to life
on land.
13. Describe three adaptations for flight found
in birds.
14. Describe the characteristics common to all
mammals. Distinguish between monotremes, marsupials,
and eutherian mammals, and provide examples of each.
The Human Ancestry
15. Describe the primate adaptations for life in
trees. Compare the three main groups of primates, noting examples of each.
16. Compare Old World monkeys and
17. Explain why it is incorrect (a) to consider
chimpanzees as our ancestors, (b) to think of human evolution as a ladder, and
(c) to think that human traits evolved together.
18. Describe the traits of each of the following
species and the relationships between them: Australopithecus
afarensis, Homo habilis,
Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens, and the hobbit people of
19. Describe the evolution and impact of our
species as we spread across the world.
Evolution Connection: Are We Still Evolving?
20. Describe examples of modern human evolution