Worksheet 13 : Evolution
The theory of evolution was originally developed by the English biologists Charles
Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Today Charles Darwin is given most of the credit, because
although Wallace independently came to the same conclusions as Darwin, Wallace had
relatively little evidence to back up his ideas. Charles Darwin published the book “The
Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection” in 1859 that gave detailed examples
of how evolution takes place.
A) Web site name: The Victorian Web, National University of Singapore
Web URL: [Link]
1) When did Darwin voyage on the ship the “Beagle”?
2) Fossils in South America are most similar to:
3) In what way is there “tacit acknowledgement of relatedness” in Linnaeus’s
system of classification?
4) What is “catastrophism”?
5) How did Hutton’s ideas differ from catastrophism?
6) How old is the earth according to Biblical creationists?
7) What phrase did Darwin use instead of “evolution”?
8) When was the role of DNA in heredity first demonstrated?
9) What are two pieces of information that indicate that humans are more closely
related to chimps than to New World (American) monkeys?
B) Web site name: The Talk. Origins archive.
Web URL: [Link]
Read “Introduction to Evolutionary Biology”
10) What is one common mistake in people’s idea of evolution?
11) What is evolution?
12) Why did dark colored moths (Biston betularia) survive better in the 1890s?
13) What is “macroevolution”?
14) Why do populations not necessarily become “better” over time?
15) Which type of organisms shows the most genetic variation: plants, insects,
birds or amphibians?
16) What is meant by “natural selection”?
17) How do vampire bats “share” their blood meal?
C) Web site name: University of California, Berkeley
Web URL: [Link]
Click on the individual names listed here (do NOT click on “Evolutionary Timeline)
Briefly describe in your own words the main ideas of each of these people:
18) Thomas Malthus:
19) Thomas Huxley:
20) Alfred Wegener:
21) Pick one more person from the diagram and describe their importance:
D) Web site name: Galapagos Islands Guided Tour
Web site URL: [Link]
Read “The Archipelago”
22) How many islands are in the Galapagos archipelago?
23) When was Galapagos National Park established?
Click on “Galapagos Guided Tour”
24) What caused the extermination of most of the fauna in Baltra?
Click on “To Caleta Turtuga Negra”
25) How long is the delay between mating and egg-laying in Green turtles?
26) What does endemic mean?
Click on “Sullivan Bay”
27) What is “pahoehoe”?
Click on “To Bartolome”
28) Are white-lipped sharks dangerous?
29) Which is the most northerly penguin in the world?
Click on “To Tower”
30) What are twigs of the Palo Santo trees used for?
31) What is the red sack on the front of the Great Frigate called?
E) Web site name: Florida Museum of Natural History.
Web URL: [Link]
Click on “Stratigraphy”
32) Which type of rock usually contains fossils?
33) What type of rock is marble?
34) Are the oldest rocks and fossils typically below, or above, more recent rocks?
Click on “Amazing feets” at the bottom of the screen
35) What are “artiodactyls”?
36) Give four examples of artiodactyls:
37) What does the tapir use its proboscis for?
38) When did rhinos become extinct in North America?
39) Where do tapirs live today?
40) What is one advantage of horse’s leg bones becoming longer?
Click on [Link] Click on one skull:
41) Which skull did you click on?
42) Summarize the information about this horse:
Click on a different skull:
43) Which skull did you click on?
44) Summarize the information about this horse: