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More on Evolution...
In the previous topic you learned some of the Facts of Evolution... the evidence that life on Earth has changed over millions of years. In this topic you will learn about the process of Natural Selection which is believed to be the driving force that causes evolution to happen
In this topic you will consider some of the evidence for the moving continents, and learn how Australia came to be the island continent.
Evolution in Australia
Maintaining Biodiversity
Value of Biodiversity
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
1. PLATE TECTONICS & THE FORMATION OF AUSTRALIA The Structure of the Earth
Seismology is the study of earthquakes and the behaviour of the shock waves they produce. During the 20th century, seismology revealed that the Earth is not a solid ball of rock, but made up of a number of layers.
CROSS-S SECTION of the EARTH
of lower density rocks
CRUST
MANTLE
Furthermore, we have come to realize that the crust is not a single solid skin on the outside of the Earth. Rather, it has fractured into about a dozen plates which slide around as the mantle currents push from below. Since they are all touching on the surface of a sphere, as the plates move they must: move apart from each other or, slide sideways past each other or, collide with each other. SEA-F FLOOR SPREADING As plates move apart, new
Ocean rock fills the gap, creating a mid-o ocean ridge
OUTER CORE
INNER CORE
ent Contin
Con tine nt
We now know that the outer layer, the crust is not tightly attached to the mantle below it. Also, the mantle is not rigid and solid, but plastic, and can slowly flow in huge convection currents that are bringing heat energy outward from the Earths core. These convection currents push against the crust.
As the plates move, they carry the continents, and the crust under the oceans, with them.
Africa
India
Modern coastlines
Moving at a rate of a few cm per year, Gondwana broke apart and the fragments moved gradually to their modern-day positions.
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Au st ra lia
Antarctica
In a few places on Earth, spreading zones are visible on dry land too. The Great African Rift Valley is a spreading zone which will one day make most of east Africa into an island. The Rift Valley contains many deep lakes between parallel escarpments. There are several active volcanoes, and the area is an active earthquake zone.
Older rocks
Youngest rocks
Older rocks
The residual magnetism in the rocks (which was aligned as the rock hardened from molten lava) shows a symmetry on either side of the central ridge. Each matching band of magnetism represents a line of new rock formed as the crust plates moved apart. Later, these bands were separated by even newer rock injected from below as the crust plates continued to move.
Glossopteris
Oz
South America
Mesosaurus
The explanation is that these groups evolved in Gondwana, and then were carried to their current locations by the drifting continents.
Large flightless birds; emu, ostrich, rhea & the recently extinct moa (New Zealand) & elephant bird (Madagascar). Freshwater lungfish in Australia, Africa & S.America.
India Africa
GONDWANA Fragments
Antarctica
It averages between 2-5 cm per year. This means about 50km per million years. As volcanoes add to the islands, and the plate slides north, it is likely you will be able to walk to China in 5-10 million years... but youll have to climb over some serious mountains!
Japan joined to Asian mainland
South America separated about 50mya. It went west, and north, and rotated. About 20 mya, it made contact with North America. Australia and Antarctica (still joined) initially moved east. Then Antarctica separated and went seriously south. By 40mya, Australia was isolated from other land masses, but connected to India by the oceanic crust of the Indian Ocean. Since then, Australia has been moving north. Our plate is colliding with Asia, and the Pacific Plate. Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
For more than Poisonous spur a century, the monotremes were considered as living fossils and thought to be extremely primitive and therefore, Lays eggs, yet somehow produces milk to inferior to feed its babies mainstream placental mammals.
Duckbill
They had already faced competition from advanced placental mammals before Australia became isolated... and they won!
The marsupials were thought to be only slightly more advanced, and the consensus was that Australian fauna, like the nation itself, was a bit backward.
Furthermore, the more research is done on the platypus and other native Australians animals, the more scientists realize that these are not primitive creatures. Yes, they have an ancient lineage, but they are highly adapted to the unpredictable Australian climate, and have thrived through millions of years of ecological changes in one of the harshest environments on Earth.
It was thought that the only reason such primitives had survived into the modern era, was because Australia had been isolated so that they faced no competition from superior, more advanced mammals.
Australian native plants and animals are now being seen as ancient, but highly sophisticated life forms.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
Worksheet 1
Fill in the blank spaces
The study of earthquakes is called a).................................. This science has revealed that the Earth has a number of layers. On the outside is a thin b)....................... and under it is the thick c)........................ The crust is fractured into a number of d)...................... which can slide around, driven by e).................... currents in the mantle. This whole concept is referred to as Plate f)............................... The continents fit together like jig-saw pieces, especially if you fit them along their g)........................... shelf rather than coastline. The continents of Australia, Africa, h)....................., .......................... and .................................... were once connected forming the super-continent i)............................... From about 75 MYA i)............................. began to break up forming the separate continents of today. Australia separated from j).......................... about 40 MYA and spent k)................ million years totally isolated. It was in this time that many of Australias plants and animals evolved from Gondwanan ancestors. Evidence for Continental Drift includes the l).................................. ridges, found along the ocean floors all around the Earth. These are zones where crustal plates are m).................................. The ocean-floor crust shows a series of ridges which are youngest n)........................... and get older as you go further in each direction. The rocks show matching patterns of o).......................... on either side of the central rift. As the plates move apart, new crust is formed from p)............................... coming up from the q).............................
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
More evidence for plate movement comes from fossils such as the plant r).............................. Its fossils are found on all southern continents and India. The explanation is that it lived in areas right across s)....................................., and the fossils have been separated by plate movement. The distribution of some modern species can also be explained by continental drift. Marsupials are found in Australia and t)................................. Lungfish are in Australia, u)........................ and ................................ Other examples are the v)................................ (e.g. emu, ostrich) and the w)..................... ................... tree. The ancestors of each of these groups are thought to have lived throughout Gondwana, and the various populations were separated when the plates moved. Australia is currently being carried x)........................ (direction) on the y)................................................. plate at a speed of about z)................ cm per year. Australian native animals are mainly aa).................................. (pouched) plus the platypus and ab)............................... which are egg-laying ac).......................... They were considered ad)........................ and inferior to placentals, but are now being seen as ancient, but highly ae)..................................
2. Which present-day landmass was NOT part of Gondwana? A. India B. Europe C. New Zealand D. Africa
3. Of the following, the youngest rocks would be found: A. near the centre of a mid-ocean ridge. B. at the continental shelf. C. on the ocean floor, well away from the mid-ocean ridge. D. under folded continental mountains.
6. (3 marks) Outline how the ideas of scientists about Australian species, such as the platypus, have changed over the past 200 years.
4. The distribution of fossils of the plant Glossopteris provide evidence that: A. plant seeds can drift across an ocean and survive. B. the southern continents were once all joined together. C. dinosaurs were widespread in Gondwana. D. modern Australian plants evolved from Glossopteris.
7. (3 marks) The ratites are a family of flightless birds such as the emu, ostrich and kiwi. None of this group are native to the northern hemisphere, but are found throughout the south. Being flightless, and poor swimmers, it is impossible that they spread by crossing the oceans. Account for their presence on all the major landmasses of the southern hemisphere.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
2. EVOLUTION IN AUSTRALIA
Natural Selection & Evolution
The fact that life on Earth has undergone a sequence of changes was dealt with in the previous topic. The scientific theory to explain how and why evolution occurs all hinges on the concept of Natural Selection, and the key to this is the variation within each species... the simple fact that individuals are not the same as each other. Natural Selection refers to the way that the conditions of nature constantly select who survives and who dies. If survival depends on speed to run from a predator, then the faster individuals survive and the slower ones get eaten. In a drought those plants with slightly thicker cuticle on their leaves conserve water and survive, while others die.
hairy
long neck
long legs
light colour
big ears
squat body
hairy survives
The survivors pass on their characteristics. Soon most of the population are squat and hairy. No single animal changed, but the population has changed because of which animals survived and reproduced.
It may seem as if Evolution is an intelligent force which directs organisms in an appropriate direction. In our fictitious population of animals, the climate became colder and it would seem that some evolutionary force caused an appropriate change in the population... they became squat & hairy to conserve body heat better. But of course squat and hairy were already in the population. They simply became more common, and finally predominant, because these types survived in greater numbers and reproduced to pass on their characteristics to their offspring. Evolution is not intelligent. Nature selects the survivors from the different types available. Survivors breed... if youre dead, you cant reproduce!
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South America
Australia
GONDWANA Fragments
Antarctica
... so there has been a lot of environmental change, ... and a lot of evolution!
Typical Gum Forest Fossils of leaves and pollen in New Zealand and South America show that the Eucalypts and Banksias were already Gondwana inhabitants before 50 million years ago, but must have been relatively rare and unimportant during the time of the great rainforests in Australia. However, as the climate dried the rainforest plants (like Antarctic Beech) struggled and the sclerophylls thrived. About 25 million years ago sclerophyll pollens suddenly become very common in the fossil record.
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PROCOPTODON
DIPROTODON
Human figure gives scale
Human-Caused Extinction?
In Australia, most of the megafauna species disappeared between 35,000 and 10,000 years ago. Aborigines were well established by those times and undoubtably lived at the same time as these mega-species. However, there is no evidence of them hunting these species... no animal bones in human camp sites, no tool cuts on the animal bones.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
Aboriginal people arrive from S.E. Asia, approx 40,000 years ago. Introduce the dingo, and use fire to promote grasslands. Fire alters the balance of sclerophyll plant types. Sclerophyll pollens become very common in fossil record.
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Sclerophyll dominance complete 2 MYA
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Australian climate begins to get drier... rainforests come under pressure... sclerophylls become more common. Marsupial & Reptile Megafauna dominate the continent.
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40
Australia makes contact with Asia. Bats & various birds come in by island hopping. Acacia plants arrive, and being sclerophylls, they thrive.
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Australia separates from Antarctica and begins 25 million years of complete isolation.
Dinosaurs extinct. Mammals begin evolving to fill ecological niches left vacant.
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70
Ag o Mi llio ns of Ye ar s
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90
Gondwana begins breaking up. Africa & India separate. Australia still joined to Antarctica & S.America
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Australia part of Gondwana super-c continent. Glossopteris plants common. Dinosaurs are the dominant animals. Mammals exist, but are minor players. 13
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Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
Darwin in Australia
On its journey around the world, the Beagle called into Sydney, and Darwin spent time ashore, travelling overland to Bathurst and collecting and studying Australias flora and fauna. He noted how well suited the plants were to the dry Australian climate. He was later to link this to his idea of Natural Selection, explaining the sclerophyll characteristics as adaptations to the climate. He also noticed similarities between some Australian plants and species he had seen in S.America and in Africa. He could not explain this except by seeds drifting across oceans, and he carried out many experiments immersing plant seeds in sea-water to test if it was possible.
(He had no knowledge of Continental Drift.)
He was fascinated by the marsupial fauna, but considered them as inferior to the placental mammals of other continents, and believed they had only survived because of lack of competition from real mammals. In terms of evolution he believed the marsupials were bound to lose the Survival of the Fittest competition and would eventually become extinct. The city of Darwin, Northern Territory, was named in his his honour.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
WHEN COMPLETED, WORKSHEETS BECOME SECTION SUMMARIES Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
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10. (5 marks) Discuss the changes that occurred to the Australian climate, and to the flora over the past 50 million years. In your answer, describe the evidence for the changes you describe.
b) Identify two common types of sclerophylls in the modern Australian flora. 12. (4 marks) a) Identify a member of Australias extinct megafauna known from its fossils. b) List similarities and differences between the named example in (a) and any related living species.
13. (4 marks) Discuss Charles Darwins observations of Australian biota and relate these to his theory of evolution.
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Fungi, such as
mushrooms, reproduce by releasing spores. Each spore is a single cell which can grow into a new fungus. The spore cells are produced by mitosis, and released from a single parent. Many Plants can reproduce asexually by sending out runners.
offspring plant
Advantage
Asexual reproduction can produce large numbers of offspring quickly, to take advantage of a sudden or temporary increase in some environmental resource such as food.
Parent Plant
Disadvantage
By producing genetically identical offspring, there is less variation in the population. If an environmental change occurs, a low-variation species is at risk of extinction. These same plants can also reproduce sexually with their flowers.
Sexual Reproduction
Sexual reproduction always involves 2 parents who combine part of their genetic information to produce offspring which are different to both parents.
Egg cell
Male Parent
meiosis
Sperm cell
meiosis
Female Parent
The key to sexual reproduction is the production of the reproductiv ve cells (egg and sperm). This inv volv ves a special cell div vision called
Fertilisation
meiosis.
Zygote
(first cell of the offspring)
Grows by mitosis
Embryo
(developing offspring)
Advantage
Sexual reproduction produces more variation in a population, by mixing genes in new combinations. This helps a species survive when environments change.
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Disadvantage
Sexual reproduction is more complex, and often takes more time and energy to achieve. 17
External Fertilisation
For organisms that live in water, fertilisation is generally achieved by both parents simply releasing eggs and sperm into the water environment. Since fertilisation occurs outside the organisms bodies, this is external fertilisation. Each species may have some strategy to ensure that male and female parents release their gametes at the same time and in the same place: Most fish species have mating rituals and visual signals which stimulate a mating pair to release gametes together.
Organisms such as corals and sponges release gametes when a certain environmental trigger occurs, such as a full Moon, or an especially high tide. Either way, external fertilisation is to some extent a hit-and-miss strategy, often involving millions of gametes, many of which are wasted.
Internal Fertilisation
For organisms which live on land, an unprotected egg or sperm cell would rapidly dry out and die. Also, the sperm cells cannot swim through the air, or across the ground surface... they need water to swim through. To solve these problems, terrestrial organisms use internal fertilisation.
Terrestrial Plants
produce their male gametes wrapped in a protective capsule to prevent drying... a pollen grain. use either the wind, or animal pollinators (e.g. bees) to carry the pollen to a flower. the pollen grain then releases its sperm cell into a fluid-filled tube (the pollen tube). The sperm can swim down to reach the egg, inside the ovary of the flower.
Terrestrial Animals
The male uses his penis (or similar structure) to deposit sperm inside the females reproductive tract. The sperm cells are never exposed to the drying outside environment. The female system is lined with tissue with a film of moisture always present, so the sperm cells can swim to find and fertilise the egg(s) inside the females body. There are a number of strategies for development of the zygote after fertilisation:
Pollen grain on stigma of flower Pollen releases sperm cell which swims through pollen tube to fertilize an egg
Some Reptiles
The female keeps the fertilized eggs within her body. When they hatch, the babies emerge from her body vent as if being born.
Marsupial Mammals
Many species use brightly coloured petals to attract animal pollinators
After a very short gestation, the foetus is born and crawls into a pouch. It feeds on milk, while developing fully in the pouch.
Placental Mammals
The foetus develops for a relatively long time inside the females body, nourished via the placenta. When fully developed, the baby is born. 18
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
As part of your studies in this section, the syllabus requires you to compare the 2 cell divisions, Mitosis & Meiosis.
The syllabus also requires you to compare & contrast internal and external fertilisation. This means to find similarities and differences.
Differences
External
Sperm & eggs both released into outside environment. Sperm swim in the water of the environment. Usually many eggs produced to improve chance of fertilisation.
Internal
Sperm released inside female body.
Sperm swim in fluid in female reproductive tract. Usually fewer eggs because fertilisation is more likely.
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Flying Fox bats are important pollinators and seed dispersers in Australian rainforests
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Some plants have a tough seed coat which only allows germination after being softened by an animals digestive system.
Short Gestation
Marsupials have a very short gestation period and the baby is born in a very undeveloped state. This can be an advantage under conditions of drought and severe food shortage. If the baby dies, then at least the mother has not wasted a lot of her own body resources as a placental mammal would in a much longer gestation. This gives the adult a greater chance to survive until conditions improve, and breeding can recommence.
Suspended Development
The development of a marsupial embryo can also be suspended (embryonic diapause) if times are tough. When conditions improve, the embryo continues its development and is born when conditions are better for its survival. Under extreme conditions, it has been known for the lone female survivor from a kangaroo mob to raise her male joey, who was in suspended animation for 2 years, then mate with him and re-establish the population. No placental mammal could ever do that.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
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Asexual Animals
A few simple animals can do something similar. Among the insects, the aphids can reproduce asexually to produce enormous numbers of offspring in a short time, to take advantage of a shortterm abundance of food. The female aphids are able to produce hundreds of unfertilised eggs which develop into a clone of identical female offspring.
Magnified view of of aphids on a plant leaf. The smaller ones are asexual offspring of the larger ones.
At other times, the females mate sexually with males to produce offspring with greater genetic variety.
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Worksheet 5
Fill in the blank spaces.
Asexual reproduction involves a)................ parent(s). The offspring are genetically b)....................... to their c).......................... and to each other. They are a d)........................... The advantage of asexual reproduction is that it allows e).................................................................. to take advantage of good conditions. The disadvantage is lack of f)................................., which helps a species survive when g)........................................................................... All forms of asexual reproduction involve the cell division called h)....................................... Sexual reproduction involves the cell division i)............................. to produce the reproductive cells or j)........................ Each gamete is genetically k)........................... and the number of l)..................................... has been halved, so that the correct number is restored when m)..................................................... occurs.
Animals
The marsupials all give birth to babies that are very t)............................ This is an advantage in time of drought because u).......................... .................................................................................. Many marsupials are able to suspend the development of the embryo in the uterus, and delay the birth until v)................................... ...................................... In many species the males w)......................... for the right to x)..................... with the females. This helps ensure that the healthiest, strongest males pass on y)........................ to the next generation. Rather than having a regular breeding season, many Australian animals are stimulated to breed when z)............................... .................................. Many species such as aa).................................. live in family groups and hold a territory. This helps ensure that offspring ab)............................. Many plants, such as ac)......................................... can reproduce both ad)................................. and sexually. When conditions are good, the plants send out ae)............................... to rapidly build up the population. When conditions are tough, the sexually produced seeds survive until af)............................ By using both reproductive strategies, the plant gains the advantages of both. It can ag)........................... when conditions are good, and has genetic ah)........................ which helps a species survive when ai)............................................................................ 23
4. MAINTAINING BIODIVERSITY
The Value of Biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to the variety of different species of plants and animals. In all ecosystems, the greater the biodiversity, the more stable and resilient the system is... the better able it is to survive and adjust when changes occur or disasters happen. The greatest threat to biodiversity is human activities. Humans: destroy habitats to create space for agriculture, roads, etc. introduce exotic species to habitats where they have no natural predators or diseases. They over-populate and out-compete the natives. pollute environments with industrial chemicals or pesticides which kill species and upset the balance of the ecosystem. We need to maintain biodiversity in order to help the natural ecosystems survive in a sustainable form.
The dingos abundance rose as that of the Thylacine declined... a classic example of what happens when 2 species compete.
Population Size (ABUNDANCE)
The extinction of the dinosaurs left an ecological vacuum which allowed mammals and birds to undergo a huge diversification and radiation of different types The general success of marsupials on
the Australian continent, especially after it became isolated from other parts of Gondwana. Aspects of this success have already been discussed, but certainly the marsupial reproductive method seems especially well suited to the uncertainties of an irregular climate like Australias.
Thylacine Extinct
The dingo never got to Tasmania, and there the Thylacline survived. However, when the European settlers arrived, the Thylacines quickly learned to hunt sheep. This prompted the government to place a bounty on them in 1888. Thousands were shot, and an epidemic of an introduced disease killed even more. Ironically, in the year that the last Thylacine died, the species was given protected status.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
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b) Discuss the relative success of these forms of fertilization in relation to the colonization of the terrestrial and aquatic environments.
11. (4 marks) Describe the conditions under which asexual reproduction is advantageous, with reference to a specific Australian example.
12. (5 marks) For many years Australian marsupials were considered primitive and inferior to placental mammals. Explain how the marsupial method of reproduction is actually an advantage under Australian conditions.
13. (6 marks) Describe, with named examples, TWO different mechanisms found in Australian flora for pollination.
14. (3 marks) Outline the reasons for the extinction of a named Australian animal.
15. (4 marks) a) Explain the need to maintain Biodiversity. b) Discuss a current effort to monitor biodiversity.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
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Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
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Answer Section
Worksheet 1
a) seismology b) crust c) mantle d) plates e) convection f) Tectonics g) continental h) South America, Antarctica & India i) Gondwana j) Antarctica k) 25 l) mid-ocean m) moving apart/spreading /growing n) in the middle o) (residual) magnetism p) molten rock / lava / magma q) mantle r) Glossopteris s) Gondwana t) America u) Africa & S.America v)flightless birds (ratites) w) antarctic beech x) northwards y) Indo-Australian z) 2-5 cm aa) marsupials ab) echidna ac) Monotremes ad) primitive ae) adapted / sophisticated
Worksheet 3
a) Natural Selection b) variation c) the environment changes d) Glossopteris e) Antarctic f) sea g) crocodiles/flamingos h) Antarctica i) 40 j) drier k) 25 l) sclerophyll m) thin, small n) cuticle (waxy covering) o) Eucalypts, Banksia, Acacia p) Acacia q) sclerophyll forest r) east s) fire t) lightning u) encouraged growth of grasslands v) Casuarina w) lignotubers x) hard, woody y) fauna z) marsupials aa) megafauna ab) Diprotodon ac) hunting by humans ad) climate change ae) Beagle af) plants ag) natural selection ah) primitive ai) extinct aj) placental
Worksheet 2
1. D 2. B 3. A 4. B 5. (1) The shapes of the continents are like jig-saw pieces. They fit together almost perfectly if the continental shelf is used as the actual edge of each continent. Such fitting together suggests strongly that Australia was once joined to Antarctica & India. (2) Fossils & rock layers match up perfectly on different continents. For example, fossils of the extinct seed fern Glossopteris are found across S.America, Africa, India, Antarctica and Australia. The explanation is that this plant once lived right across Gondwana, and its fossils have been carried to their current locations by the drifting of the continents. 6. Initially specimens of the platypus were thought to be fakes. Later it came to be considered as primitive and inferior to real (placental) mammals. As more evidence and knowledge accumulates, it is now realized that the platypus, and other Australian animals, are ancient, but highly adapted to the unpredictable Aust. environment. 7. It is thought that the ancestors of the ratites evolved in Gondwana when it was still one continent. As Gondwana split up, populations of flightless birds were carried away on each fragment. Each population, now isolated from others, evolved into the modern species on the separate continents... ostrich in Africa, emu in Australia etc.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
Worksheet 4
1. C 5. B 2. A 6. B 3. C 7. C 4. D 8. D 9. The greater the amount of variation in a species, the better the chance of the species surviving when the environment changes. If all the members of a species are very similar (little variation) then there is a good chance there would be no survivors of an environmental change, and the species would become extinct. 10. Between 50-100 MYA much of Australia was covered with rainforest, wetland environments, and partly by an inland sea at one time. The evidence is the fossil record, which shows that rainforest species, such as Antarctic Beech were widespread, and the animal life included many crocodiles, flamingos and turtles... all evidence of a wet climate. About 25 MYA the fossils show a marked increase in pollens from sclerophyll plants. These are adapted to survive drought, and show that the climate must have become drier. A decrease in pollens from rainforest species shows that these habitats were shrinking. By 2 MYA, the rainforests had disappeared from most of Australia. After about 100,000 years ago, a lot of ash and charcoal in the sediments indicates the increasing occurrence of fire in the environment, indicating that the modern, dry & drought-prone climate was in place. 28
Worksheet 4 (cont)
11. a) Sclerophylls are characterized by small, thin leaves with a thick, waxy cuticle. Unlike nonsclerophylls, their leaves do not wither under dry conditions. They retain their shape, and simply resume normal operations when water becomes available again. b) Eucalypts (gum trees) & Acacias (wattles) 12. a) Diprotodon was a giant wombat, weighing about 3 tonnes. Several fossil part-skeletons have been discovered, allowing accurate reconstruction. b) Diprotodon was similar to living wombats. both were/are marsupials, with same body plan. both were herbivorous... plant eaters. D. was different to living wombats in body size being approx 50 times bigger. modern wombats burrow and spend a lot of time underground. Ds size may have made this impossible. D was probably a browser of leaves and vegetation, while modern wombats eat a lot of plant roots and tubers. 13. Darwin noted that many Australian plants seemed well-suited to the dry climate. He later linked this to his Theory of Evolution by arguing that the ancestors of modern sclerophylls were selected by nature because they had characteristics that helped survival in the dry climate. By this natural selection the plants had evolved to thrive in the harsh climate. He noted that the animals too, were well suited to the environment, but never fully understood just how well. He thought the marsupials and monotremes were primitive and would not survive if faced with competition from more advanced mammals. In line with his theory, Darwin assumed that the marsupials would eventually become extinct, just as the dinosaurs had, as more advanced types took over.
Worksheet 6
a) Acacia (wattle) b) fine or light c) protrude from the flower d) animals / birds e) nectar f) sticky / have hooks g) sticks / clings h) bats/flying foxes i) they can be seen at night / in moonlight j) some survive being eaten k) the weight of the bat can be supported l) wind m) fine hairs n) picked up / carried o) bindii p) burrs q) carried away r) birds & bats s) passing through an animal gut t) undeveloped/immature u) if the baby dies, little has been wasted, and the adult can survive until conditions improve. v) conditions get better / more food & water is available w) fight / compete x) mate y) their characteristics / their genes z) rains occur / food is available aa) kookaburra/magpie ab) well fed ac) Sturts desert pea ad) asexually ae) runners af) conditions improve ag) increase numbers quickly ah) variations ai) the environment changes
Worksheet 7
1. A 5. D 2. C 6. B 3. A 7. C 4. B 8. D 9. Mitosis involves a single cell division which produces 2 daughter cells which: are identical to each other. are identical to the parent cell. have the same number of chromosomes. Meiosis is a double division which produces 4 cells which: are all different genetically to each other. are different to the parent cell. have only half the number of chromosomes. 10. a) External fertilization is when the egg & sperm unite in the outside environment. Internal fertilization occurs inside the body of the female parent. b) External fertilization evolved in the aquatic environment and still works well there. Since the environment is water, the gamete cells cannot dry out, and the sperm cells can swim to find the eggs. Internal fertilization evolved to suit the terrestrial environment where gametes could rapidly dry out, and sperm would not be able to swim to the egg. The inside of the female reproductive system is kept moist (simulating the aquatic environment) to keep sperm alive and swimming towards the eggs. 29
Worksheet 5
a) one b) identical c) parent d) clone e) rapid increase in the population/ rapid reproduction f) genetic variation g) the environment changes h) mitosis i) meiosis j) gametes k) different / unique l) chromosomes m) fertilisation n) aquatic o) external p) internal q) pollen r) wind s) pollen tube t) ovary u) moist v) less (fewer)
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
Worksheet 7 (cont)
11. Asexual reproduction is an advantage when conditions suit a rapid increase in numbers, to take advantage of a temporary increase in food supply or other resources. It allows rapid reproduction of many offspring without the expenditure of energy and resources that sexual reproduction requires. An example is Sturts desert pea which can rapidly send out runners to populate an area after the occasional desert rain. This allows the plants to take advantage of temporary good conditions. Under normal dry conditions it reproduces sexually, producing seeds which lie dormant for years awaiting suitable conditions for germination. 14. The Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, was once the top predator across much of the continent. It became extinct on the mainland approximately 3,000 years ago probably due to the arrival of a new competitor, the dingo. Dingos were probably introduced by humans, became feral and spread over most of the continent. Dingos never reached Tasmania, so there the Thylacine survived. When the European settlers arrived, the Thylacines began taking sheep, so the government put a bounty on them, and many were shot. Many others died from a disease epidemic in the 1890s. The last nown specimen died in the Hobart Zoo in 1936.
12. Marsupials have a very brief gestation and give birth to a partly developed embryo which matures inside the pouch. This can be an advantage under extreme drought. If the baby dies, which may well happen, then at least the mother has not wasted much of her body resources. This gives her more chance to survive, and she can rapidly begin breeding again when conditions improve. Some marsupials, such as the red kangaroo, can even suspend the development of an embryo in the uterus and hold it there for many months until conditions improve. 13. (1) The Acacias (wattles) rely on the wind for pollination. The plants produce large quantities of fine, light-weight pollen which can be carried long distances by any breeze. The flowers have a number of stigmas which protrude from the flowers to catch any incoming pollen. (2) The bottle brushes and Grevillias rely on honey-eater birds and lorikeet parrots for pollination. The flowers lack petals, but produce large amounts of nectar for the birds to feed on. They have many stamens producing large pollen grains which are sticky, or covered with small hooks, so the grains adhere to the feathers of the feeding birds and are carried on to other receptive flowers for pollination.
15. a) It has been found that the greater the variety of different species in any ecosystem, the more stable the system is, and the more able it is to cope with changes. Maintaining biodiversity is important in order to help natural ecosystems to survive in a sustainable form. b) The NSW Wader Study Group is enlisting the support of interested amateurs to adopt an estuary and carry out regular counts of shore bird populations. The data will help monitor the biodiversity of these ecosystems, and keep track of changes to various species populations.
Preliminary Biology Topic 4 Evolution Aust.Biota copyright 2005-2 2008 keep it simple science www.keepitsimplescience.com.au
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