BIOL 235 MIDTERM 1 EXAM SCRIPT 2026
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ Biotic(living) environmental conditions. Answer: (a) food
(b) predators
(c) conspecific rivals or mates
⩥ Types of adaptatons: forms and functions. Answer: (a) body plan
(internal and external)
(b) locomotion
(c) gas exchange
(d) feeding structures
(e) thermoregulation
(f) reproduction
⩥ What is a vertebrate?. Answer: member of the phylum Chordata
(all vertebrates are cordates, but not all cordates are vertebrates.)
⩥ 5 classes of vertebrata?. Answer: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
mammals
, ⩥ A chordate has what five things?. Answer: The 5 synapomorphies of
chordata:
1) notochord: dorsal stiffening rod
2) dorsal hollow nerve cord
3) segmented, muscular post-anal tail
4) endostyle: pharyngeal groove that secretes mucus
5) pharynx (contains gills; used for feeding/respiration)
⩥ What is a synapomorphie?. Answer: "a characteristic present in an
ancestral species and shared exclusively (in more or less modified form)
by its evolutionary descendants".
⩥ What two ways are organisms classified?. Answer: By the Linnean
system (oldest) or Cladistics (the phylogenetic systematic system created
middle of 20th century)
⩥ Cladistics group organisms into _________?. Answer: Clades
⩥ A clade is ...". Answer: An ancestor organism and all its descendants
OR/AND a "branch" on the tree of life OR/AND a natural group
⩥ What is the relevance of "King Phillip Came Over For Green
Stamps". Answer: Helps you remember Kingdom Phylum Clade Order
Family Genus Species
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ Biotic(living) environmental conditions. Answer: (a) food
(b) predators
(c) conspecific rivals or mates
⩥ Types of adaptatons: forms and functions. Answer: (a) body plan
(internal and external)
(b) locomotion
(c) gas exchange
(d) feeding structures
(e) thermoregulation
(f) reproduction
⩥ What is a vertebrate?. Answer: member of the phylum Chordata
(all vertebrates are cordates, but not all cordates are vertebrates.)
⩥ 5 classes of vertebrata?. Answer: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
mammals
, ⩥ A chordate has what five things?. Answer: The 5 synapomorphies of
chordata:
1) notochord: dorsal stiffening rod
2) dorsal hollow nerve cord
3) segmented, muscular post-anal tail
4) endostyle: pharyngeal groove that secretes mucus
5) pharynx (contains gills; used for feeding/respiration)
⩥ What is a synapomorphie?. Answer: "a characteristic present in an
ancestral species and shared exclusively (in more or less modified form)
by its evolutionary descendants".
⩥ What two ways are organisms classified?. Answer: By the Linnean
system (oldest) or Cladistics (the phylogenetic systematic system created
middle of 20th century)
⩥ Cladistics group organisms into _________?. Answer: Clades
⩥ A clade is ...". Answer: An ancestor organism and all its descendants
OR/AND a "branch" on the tree of life OR/AND a natural group
⩥ What is the relevance of "King Phillip Came Over For Green
Stamps". Answer: Helps you remember Kingdom Phylum Clade Order
Family Genus Species
