Chordata Practice Test

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Chordata Practice Test

Directions: A good score is at least 8 correct answers out of these 10 questions.

1. Every chordate has:

(a) No backbones, but a large post-anal tail

(b) Three or more legs

(c) A hollow nerve cord, but without any muscular tail

(d) A notochord plus gill slits

2. Neither sea squirts nor lancelets are considered “true” vertebrates, since:

(a) They both have closed circulatory systems

(b) Each has a notochord during some time of its life, but never a backbone

(c) Their backs are open and filled with seawater

(d) Biologists are not quite sure of their evolutionary origins

3. Fish-like vertebrates “without jaws”:

(a) Class Aves

(b) Class Agnatha

(c) Class Amphibia

(d) Class Placodermi

4. The Placodermi represent:

(a) An important group of living amphibians

(b) A long-extinct class of armored fishes

(c) Essentially the same organisms as do modern lampreys

(d) Close relatives of the monotremes

5. Members of the Class Chondrichthyes basically differ from those of the Class Osteichthyes in that:

(a) Osteichthyes includes salamanders

(b) Chondrichthyes involves the bony fishes

(c) Osteichthyes consists of fish, only

(d) Chondrichthyes is composed of fish with skeletons of cartilage

6. An amnion:

(a) Takes its name from its remarkable resemblance to a “little peanut”

(b) Chiefly consists of a fluid-filled sac encasing the embryos of higher vertebrates

(c) Principally entails a naked embryo surrounded by a hard shell

(d) Represents a stage of reptiles with gills

7. Archaeopteryx is important for biological study because:

(a) This ancient vetebrate may have been a bridge between reptiles and modern birds

(b) It probably did not appear until after all the dinosaurs had gone

(c) There are many marsupials that resemble this creature

(d) It likely gave birth to live young

8. To say that modern birds are homeothermic is basically to claim that they:

(a) Cannot easily control their own internal body temperature

(b) Do not have the capability to adapt to extremely cold environments

(c) Can keep their body temperatures in a relatively stable range

(d) Have lost their appetite for insects

9. The Class Mammalia get their name from what obvious characteristic?

(a) Hairy bodies

(b) Breasts containing milk-secreting glands

(c) Thick craniums holding large brains

(d) Viviparous birthing without eggs

10. The three major groups of mammals:

(a) Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia

(b) Koalas, opossums, and platypuses

(c) Monotremes, marsupials, and placentals

Answers:

1. D

2. B

3. B

4. B

5. D

6. B

7. A

8. C

9. B

10. C