Key Questions in Biodiversity: A Study and Revision Guide

By Paul A. Rees

An understanding of biodiversity is an important requirement of a wide range of programmes of study including biology, zoology, wildlife conservation and environmental science.

This book is a study and revision guide for students following such programmes in which biodiversity is an important component. It contains 600 multiple-choice questions (and answers) set at three levels - foundation, intermediate and advanced - and grouped into 10 major topic areas:

1. Principles of classification and taxonomy

2. Comparative anatomy and physiology

3. Protoctists, monerans, fungi, lichens and acellular organisms

4. 'Lower' plants and pteridophytes

5. Seed-bearing plants

6. Sponges, cnidarians, nematodes and minor animal phyla

7. Platyhelminths, annelids and molluscs

8. Arthropods and echinoderms

9. Fishes, amphibians and reptiles

10. Birds and mammals


The book has been produced in a convenient format so that it can be used at any time in any place. It allows the reader to learn and revise the meaning of terms used in animal and plant classification, the principles of comparative physiology, and the characteristics of, and diversity in, the major animal and plant taxa. The structure of the book allows the study of one topic area or group of taxa at a time, progressing through simple questions to those that are more demanding. Many of the questions require students to use their knowledge to identify organisms and biological structures from drawings or photographs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CAB International
• Release date: Apr 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781789248654

Paul A. Rees

Paul A. Rees is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment at the University of Salford, in the United Kingdom, and has taught at various levels for nearly four decades. In 2002, he introduced Wildlife Programmes at Salford and in 2005 established the first undergraduate programme in the UK focusing on zoo biology. His research interests include the behaviour and welfare of animals in zoos, especially elephants, the ecology and behaviour of mammals, biological education and wildlife law. In addition to authoring a number of books, including An Introduction to Zoo Biology and Management (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), Dictionary of Zoo Biology and Animal Management (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), Studying Captive Animals (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) and Examining Ecology (Elsevier, 2018), he also once worked as an elephant keeper.

Book preview

1Principles of Classification and Taxonomy

This chapter contains questions on the classification and taxonomy of living things and its history along with questions on some important historical figures and their publications.

Foundation

1.1f Carl Linnaeus published his binomial system of classification in his

a. Origin of Species

b. History of Animals

c. Systema Naturae

d. Generelle Morphologie der Organismen

1.2f Which of the following is not a taxon in zoology?

a. Canidae

b. Cervus

c. Diptera

d. Invertebrates

1.3f Which of the following plant groups has most extant species?

a. Angiosperms

b. Pteridophytes

c. Gymnosperms

d. Bryophytes

1.4f Elephas maximus maximus is an example of a

a. binomial name

b. vernacular name

c. trinomial name

d. generic name

1.5f A herbarium is

a. an alternative name for a botanical garden

b. a collection of preserved plant specimens used for identification and scientific study

c. a collection of herbaceous plants

d. a place where plant seeds are frozen and stored

1.6f In the scientific name of an organism, when can the specific name begin with a capital letter?

a. Only when it is based on the name of a person

b. Only when it is based on the name of a country

c. Only when it is based on the name of a person or a country

d. Never

1.7f Which of the lists of vernacular terms in Table 1.1 are alternatives for the platyhelminths, annelids and nematodes?

Table 1.1

a. A

b. B

c. C

d. D

1.8f A biologist is using a key to identify an insect. At each stage in the process the key asks a question to which there can only be two possible answers, for example, ‘Does the insect have wings? This is known as a

a. dichotomous key

b. bifurcating key

c. bilateral key

d. dyadic key

1.9f Which of the following subspecies of tiger was the first to be discovered and described by a scientist?

a. Panthera tigris altaica

b. Panthera tigris tigris

c. Panthera tigris sumatrae

d. Panthera tigris corbetti

1.10f Archaeopteryx ( Fig. 1.1 ) is a link fossil between

a. reptiles and birds

b. fishes and reptiles

c. fishes and birds

d. reptiles and mammals

A fossil of an Archaeopteryx.

Fig. 1.1.

1.11f Which of the sections of Table 1.2 correctly matches famous people with the kind of animals that have been named after them?

Table 1.2

a. A

b. B

c. C

d. D

1.12f An arboretum is a botanical garden that is devoted to

a. conifers

b. ferns

c. trees

d. cacti

1.13f The transmutation of one species into another was an explanation of evolution propounded by

a. Jean Baptiste Lamarck

b. Georges Cuvier

c. Charles Lyell

d. Richard Owen

1.14f Which of the following could not be a type specimen?

a. A preserved animal

b. A dried plant

c. A fossil

d. All of the above could be type specimens

1.15f The term ‘invertebrate’ refers to

a. a zoological family

b. all animals that do not possess a vertebral column

c. all animals except the vertebrates and the tunicates

d. all animals except the vertebrates, tunicates and cephalochordates

1.16f Which of the following represents the correct hierarchical sequence of taxonomic ranks used to classify animals (from the smallest – least species to the largest – most species)?

a. Species, genus, family, class, order, phylum

b. Species, genus, family, order, class, phylum

c. Species, genus, order, family, class, phylum

d. Species, genus, class, family, order, phylum

1.17f A monotypic genus

a. contains species that all appear similar

b. contains no subspecies

c. is the only genus in its family

d. contains only one species

1.18f Ecologically, mosses and lichens are considered to be

a. pioneer species

b. pathfinder species

c. coloniser species

d. prototype species

1.19f The concepts of ‘lower’ and ‘primitive’ organisms have been criticised because they have arisen as a result of

a. misconceptions involved in the cell theory

b. misconceptions in the theory of organic evolution

c. Victorian ideas of the ascension of the ladder of progress leading to perfection

d. all of the above

1.20f Genetic studies of animals and plants have revolutionised our understanding of their evolutionary relationships. The first multicellular animal to have its genome sequenced was the nematode

a. Radopholus similis

b. Caenorhabditis elegans

c. Heterodera avenae

d. Subanguina radicicola

Intermediate

1.1i The Burgess Shale made important contributions to the fossil record because it contains fossils of a wide diversity of

a. terrestrial plants

b. mammals

c. soft-bodied organisms

d. dinosaurs

1.2i The original specimen used in the first scientific description of a species is called the

a. syntype

b. leptotype

c. holotype

d. phenotype

1.3i It is the custom in botany to replace the term ‘phylum’ with

a. partition

b. subdivision

c. assemblage

d. division

1.4i In zoology, the genus that defines a zoological family is called the

a. typical genus

b. type genus

c. nominal genus

d. family genus

1.5i Which of the following naturalists published a book entitled The Malay Archipelago in 1869 describing his animal and plant collecting trips in Indonesia?

a. Charles Darwin

b. Alfred Russel Wallace

c. Richard Owen

d. Alexander von Humboldt

1.6i Which of the following species does not occur naturally within the Ethiopian zoogeographical region?

a. Barbary macaque ( Macaca sylvanus )

b. Chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes )

c. Grevy’s zebra ( Equus grevyi )

d. Black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis )

1.7i Which of the following characteristics is important in plant classification?

a. The presence or absence of vascular tissue

b. The production of naked seeds

c. The production of spores

d. All of the above

1.8i Diapsids are distinguishable from other groups by the possession of

a. two feet

b. two holes in each side of the skull

c. two heart chambers

d. all of the above

1.9i Which of the lists of suffixes in Table 1.3 matches the names of the zoological taxa in the first column?

Table 1.3

a. A

b. B

c. C

d. D

1.10i Which of the lists in Table 1.4 contains the names of the kingdoms in the Five Kingdom Classification of organisms proposed by Whittaker (1969)?

Table 1.4

a. A

b. B

c. C

d. D

1.11i On which aspect of the biology of organisms did the American biologist Robert H. Whittaker base his classification system?

a. Their method of nutrition

b. Their method of locomotion

c. Their morphology

d. Their method of reproduction

1.12i A simplified cladogram of the relationships between monkeys and apes is shown in Fig. 1.2 . The genera indicated by X, Y and Z are

a. X = Chimpanzees ( Pan ); Y = Gibbons ( Hylobates ); Z = Gorillas ( Gorilla )

b. X = Gorillas ( Gorilla ); Y = Gibbons ( Hylobates ); Z = Chimpanzees ( Pan )

c. X = Gibbons ( Hylobates ); Y = Gorillas ( Gorilla ); Z = Chimpanzees ( Pan )

d. X = Gibbons ( Hylobates ); Z = Chimpanzees ( Pan ); Y = Gorillas ( Gorilla )

A cladogram with some genera labeled X, Y, and Z.

Fig. 1.2.

1.13i Which of the following lists the kingdoms used in the first edition of Systema Naturae ?

a. Animals and plants

b. Animals, plants and fungi

c. Animals, plants and stones

d. Animals, plants and protozoa

1.14i According to the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi and Plants which of the following is a secondary taxonomic rank that may be used below species?

a. Variety

b. Section

c. Series

d. Tribe

1.15i Which of the following groups of animals contains subdivisions that may be described as beaked, toothed, baleen or sperm?

a. Turtles

b. Whales

c. Dolphins

d. Sharks

1.16i The phenomenon whereby the stages in the development of an organism appear to reflect stages in its evolution is encapsulated in the phrase

a. morphology recapitulates ontology

b. phylogeny recapitulates ontology

c. ontogeny recapitulates morphology

d. ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

1.17i The first use of the term ‘biological diversity’ – in 1980 – is widely attributed to

a. Thomas Lovejoy

b. Edward O. Wilson

c. Eugene Odum

d. Robert May

1.18i The first person to provide a biological definition of the term ‘ species’ was

a. Carl Linnaeus

b. John Ray (Wray)

c. Charles Darwin

d. Ernst Mayr

1.19i The Birds of America is a pictorial record of the bird species of North America produced by

a. John Muir

b. John Burroughs

c. John Madson

d. John James Audubon

1.20i The Parazoa consists solely of the

a. Porifera

b. Protozoa

c. Cnidaria

d. Tunicata

Advanced

1.1a When was Systema Naturae first published?

a. 1699

b. 1712

c. 1735

d. 1758

1.2a The 1758 edition of Systema Naturae is particularly interesting to zoologists because

a. it was the first edition to classify whales as mammals instead of fishes

b. it was the first