The Norway rat (Rattus Norvegicus), a widespread pest, was controlled for about a decade by the anticoagulant warfarin. This chemical substance, placed in food pellets, is absorbed by the intestinal tract and inhibits the clotting of blood. After a population decline for about 10 years, rat populations increased and stabilized. In one European population, as illustrated in the graph below, the percentage of rats resistant to warfarin has remained fairly stable over a number of years

Resistance to warfarin is governed by a dominant autosomal gene, R. More than 15 percent of the resistant animals are heterozygous at this locus (Rr). The table below indicates the response to warfarin and relative reproductive fitness of individuals that are homozygous or heterozygous for the dominant gene (R). The RR individuals have a 20-fold increase in vitamin K requirement over individuals.

Fitness is a measure of the reproductive success of a particular genotype. The highest fitness is 1.00.

The strong dependence of RR individuals on large quantities of vitamin K probably is responsible for

#Question id: 4979

#Unit 11. Evolution and Behavior

The dicynodonts that survived the Permian extinction would initially have had to endure (or escape from) the physical effects of __________, and subsequently, the biological effects of __________.

#Question id: 4978

#Unit 11. Evolution and Behavior

The dicynodonts survived the mass extinction that was most closely correlated in time, if not in cause, with

#Question id: 4973

#Unit 11. Evolution and Behavior

Fossils of Lystrosaurus, a dicynodont therapsid, are most common in parts of modern-day South America, South Africa, Madagascar, India, South Australia, and Antarctica. It apparently lived in arid regions, and was mostly herbivorous. It originated during the mid-Permian period, survived the Permian extinction, and dwindled by the late Triassic, though there is evidence of a relict population in Australia during the Cretaceous. The dicynodonts had two large tusks, extending down from their upper jaws; the tusks were not used for food gathering, and in some species were limited to males. Food was gathered using an otherwise toothless beak. Judging from the fossil record, these pig-sized organisms were the most common mammal-like reptiles of the Permian.Which of Lystrosaurusʹ features help explain why these organisms fossilized so abundantly?

I. the presence of hard parts, such as tusks

II. its herbivorous diet

III. its persistence across at least two geological eras

IV. its widespread geographic distribution

V. its mixture of reptilian and mammalian features

#Question id: 4972

#Unit 11. Evolution and Behavior

Fossils of Lystrosaurus, a dicynodont therapsid, are most common in parts of modern-day South America, South Africa, Madagascar, India, South Australia, and Antarctica. It apparently lived in arid regions, and was mostly herbivorous. It originated during the mid-Permian period, survived the Permian extinction, and dwindled by the late Triassic, though there is evidence of a relict population in Australia during the Cretaceous. The dicynodonts had two large tusks, extending down from their upper jaws; the tusks were not used for food gathering, and in some species were limited to males. Food was gathered using an otherwise toothless beak. Judging from the fossil record, these pig-sized organisms were the most common mammal-like reptiles of the Permian. Anatomically, what was true of Lystrosaurus?

#Question id: 4969

#Unit 11. Evolution and Behavior

The snowball Earth hypothesis provides a possible explanation for the

#Question id: 4966

#Unit 11. Evolution and Behavior

If it were possible to conduct sophisticated microscopic and chemical analyses of microfossils found in 3.2-billion-year-old stromatolites, then within such microfossils, one should be surprised to observe evidence of:

I. double-stranded DNA

II. a nuclear envelope

III. a nucleoid

IV. a nucleolus

V. nucleic acids