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Evolution Final Assignment

Evolution Final Assignment

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Kian
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14 views

Evolution Final Assignment

Evolution Final Assignment

Uploaded by

Kian
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DATE: May 19, 2021 NAME: Kian

BLOCK: 5

EVOLUTION UNIT WRAP-UP


Choose ONE of the 5 articles found on OneNote (Unit 2 Folder). The 5 article titles are: _____
(1) Archaeopteryx
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(2) The Coevolution of the Cuckoo and Its Hosts
Please circle the title of the
(3) How Females Choose Their Mates
(4) Natural Selection of Darwin’s Finches article that you chose.
(5) The Ancestry of the Giant Panda

Use the information presented in your chosen article to complete the following assignment.

1. Summarize the main ideas of the article. Use the following questions as a guide: What was the author trying to find
out? What are they doing to find the answer? What did they find out? (3 marks)
The article displays information on the Archaeopteryx and how it proves that birds evolved from reptiles. There were
discussions about whether the Archaeopteryx was fake or not. Fred Hoyle, a British astronomer claimed the evidence
was fake and that the Archaeopteryx was forged. However, it was later proven by studies that the Archaeopteryx was
not forged, and it became the oldest bird. It was found that tropical storms were the reason that flying creatures
were found in the lagoons. Paleontologists also struggled to figure out whether to classify the Archaeopteryx as a bird
or a reptile. Reptiles grow throughout their lives whereas birds do not. The center of growth in reptiles is in the shafts
of their hollow bones whereas in birds it is at the bone. It was concluded that they should make another classification
of the fossils which was called Archaeopteryx lithographica.

2. How does this article relate to an evolutionary topic that we studied in class? Explain your answer. (2 marks)
This relates to what we learned in class because it shows how one species can come from a completely different
species. For example, in class we learned about how whales most likely evolved from a land creature such as a wolf.
Which is mind blowing when considering the differences between the species and it makes you think about the
circumstances that lead to these evolutions. As previously stated, in the article it states that flying creatures were
brought to lagoons due to tropical storms which is absurd since you wouldn’t expect to find flying creatures near
lagoons but due to the environmental circumstances it happened.

3. List and describe a new evolutionary term (word) or evolutionary concept (idea) that you learned by reading this
article. (2 marks) If you cannot find a ‘new’ term or concept, then choose a ‘key’ word used in the article.
A new term I discovered from this article is the term “furcula.” A furcula is the wishbone of a bird. In the article this
was used to describe how in the past furcula’s were exclusive to birds, yet they found it in some creatures form the
cretaceous period.
4. Using existing images (from books or internet), and/or creating your own images, create a visual display that you
think would be appropriate to use as a cover/title page to this article. Basically, you are trying to create a visual
display that indicates the purpose or findings of the article. (2 marks)

I chose these images since I believe the greatest and most significant discovery in the article was that they found out
that birds originally came from reptiles. I believe this cover is intriguing and will capture the attention of the
audience.

5. What are your personal thoughts about this article? Do you think the article was trustworthy? Does the author
present a biased viewpoint? Does the author support his/her conclusions with evidence? How do you feel about the
findings, thoughts, or conclusions made in the article? (3 marks)

Personally, I enjoyed the article. It was interesting to learn about how birds came from reptiles. I believe the article
was trustworthy since it used real locations and people to back up their evidence and the article was well written. I
believe that there was a little bit of biased since at the beginning of the article they were talking about how the
Archaeopteryx was called out to be a fraud, but the author did not provide too much information on the other side of
the story. I like that the author supports their conclusion with evidence. When explaining why the Archaeopteryx was
not forged, they used the stone plates and the alignment with the rest of the bones as proof as to why it was
impossible to forge such a thing. Ultimately, the findings in the article were interesting but I wish they discussed more
about the anatomy of the Archaeopteryx rather than the history.

6. BONUS: Using your knowledge of evolutionary concepts, explain why an evolutionary biologist might find this
cartoon funny (see below). (1 mark)

In the image it appears that the fish are in a transition period where they are
evolving into land creatures. The message of this cartoon is that evolution is
beneficial to a species which is why the younger fish want to evolve so bad. But in
reality, it takes millions of years to evolve, and it requires some of the creatures
with a certain trait to survive while the rest perish.

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