Problem
A. Unlike nearly all other animals, sponges lack tissues. Are sponges therefore less successful or less "highly evolved" than other animal groups? Explain your answer.
B. What is the "Cambrian Explosion"? Explain what organisms were present, and the interspecific interactions. Why is it significant?
C. Explain what is meant by "body plan" in an organism and describe three key features of animal body plans.
D. Identify four derived characters that all chordates have at some point in their life.
E. Describe two key adaptations of aquatic gnathostomes that allowed for survival.
F. Describe two adaptations that have enabled insects to thrive on land.
G. Describe three key amniote adaptations for life on land.
H. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Explain, basing your answer on evolutionary principles. Think dinosaurs and taxonomy!
I. Describe how ocean communities changed in the early Cambrian period and explain how animals may have influenced those changes. Think water quality and chemical makeup.
J. How did the colonization of land by animals affect terrestrial communities? Remember it was only fungi and plants for a period of time evolutionarily.