Biodiversity Test Hints

There will be one written question on the test, but I will tell you exactly what it is! This will actually help you with some of the multiple choice questions as well so it really isn’t extra work. I want you to be able to reproduce figure 32.3 from the book (page 591). You need to be able to identify the branch points and other criteria in the colored boxes (e.g. “multicellularity”, “No True Tissues: Parazoa”, True Tissues: Eumetazoa”, etc. ). Be able to describe clearly what characterizes each major branch point- give the name of the charateristic and briefly describe it (see my lecture notes on animals to help, if necessary). You only need to include the following phyla (be able to spell them correctly) and you must give at least one animal example of each of these phyla:
Porifera
Cnidaria
Platyhelminthes
Rotifera
Nematoda
Mollusca
Annelida
Arthropoda
Echinodermata
Chordata

*I recommend printing out a copy of figure 32.3 (from my lecture notes) and crossing out all the phyla that you DO NOT need to learn. Concentrate on learning the phyla listed above, an animal example of each, and the details of the branch points in the evolutionary history of the animals.

1. Review the lectures, review the quiz hints, review the quizzes. This will be the main basis of the test in addition to what is mentioned below. Please note: obviously a lot of material you read this past summer will not be tested. That’s OK- we will return to some of this material later in the course. My goal as we start the year is to review the really big, fundamental ideas so you get the main ideas and big picture of how all 1.7 million species are classified and related to one another. I have tried to avoid making this a game of trivial pursuit.

2. In lecture 8 (Kingdom Protista) there is a chart of the phylogenetic history of life (first graphic). Know this really well (memorize it) so you can tell which kingdoms and domains are related and the order in which they probably evolved.

3. Read page 510 half way down the first column about what the first organisms were and what form of nutrition they most likely used and why (they were chemoautotrophs).

4. Read page 491 in the book and know what stromatolites are. See page 511 second column for a nice discussion of this (stromatolites are built from colonies of cyanobacteria). I didn’t have time to talk about them in class and they are very important in the evolution of life. Study figure 26.1 so you can see what they look like or check out these cool links:
UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology
Worldwide Museum of Natural History

5. Which three kingdoms have cell walls and how are these cell walls different from one another? Know the chemical name of the material that makes up the cell wall in each kingdom. What kingdom does not have a cell wall? How is a cell wall different than a cell membrane?

6. In a fungi a coenocytic hyphae can be considered “multinucleated” because there are no cell walls, rather than “multicellular”.

7. Pay particular attention to the different modes of nutrition. Review that material carefully and as you think about all the different kingdoms think about the forms of nutrition used by the organisms.

8. Look up the word sessile and learn what it means in relationship to animals. Know some animals which are sessile.

9. Which animal phyla evolved radial symmetry secondarily? Originally it was bilaterally symmetrical, and its larval form is still bilaterally symmetrical (bottom of page 592 first column).

10. Know the following animal phyla and how they are classified according to the four branch point criteria we learned in lecture: Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Mollusca, Annelida, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, Chordata. Know several common organisms from each of these phyla.

If you study the lectures, the quiz hints, and the quizzes well you should do fine. Good luck!

Aside from the one written question, the test will be multiple choice and will take the full 50 minutes. Get to class early so you will have plenty of time.