2025 GLY1102 UF ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS GRADED A+ 2025/2026
Fossils provide an excellent means of studying micro-evolution; tiny changes in the
genetic makeup of a species over time. - False. Because the fossils record rarely
preserves any soft tissues and is very incomplete, fossils can't be used to study micro-
evolution.
Geologic evidence from Antarctica and other places indicate that the climate of the late
Cretaceous was _________ - very warm world-wide
If a dinosaur fossil were found in a sandstone with coarse and poorly sorted grains that
included the mineral feldspar, what type of environment likely existed at that location at
the time that dinosaur was alive? - a desert
If you read in a scientific article that the end of the last Ice Age was about 12 Kya, how
many years ago is that? - 12,000
In radioactive materials, a half-life is important to calculating the age of the material. If a
sample has undergone 2 half-lives, from it's original state, how much of the original
parent material is left? - 25%
In science, a hypothesis is best described as: - An idea or question about a process or
phenomenon that is used to frame a scientific research.
In science, the term "Theory" is used to describe: - An idea with significant evidence to
support it's validity that it is deemed a valid way to explain a process or phenomenon.
In the image below, the fault marked "H" is (older/younger) than the rock unit marked
"E" - younger
In the middle Jurassic, the much of the western part of North America was: - covered
with vast inland sea
In the Taphonomy lecture, the focus is on a place in Canada called Dinosaurs Provincial
Park. It is a great place to find fossils, but why isn't it a good place for new fossils to
form? - the modern environment is dry and barren, sot here is little sediment that could
bury something that died.
Large plesiosaurs like Elasmosaurus could use their long necks to reach prey in the air
or on land without exiting the water. - False.
Most of the petroleum oil we used today is made of ______ from the Cretaceous and
Jurassic Periods. - deposits of microscopic marine plankton.
, New oceanic crust is added at boundaries, and old crust is subducted and recycled at
boundaries. - divergent, convergent
On a phylogenetic tree or cladagram, a divergence indicates: - a place where two
groups evolved from a common ancestor
On a phylogenetic tree, a grade is a: - a slice through a phylogenetic tree that shows
organisms of the same evolutionary complexity
On a phylogenetic tree, a monophyletic group is identified by: - a common ancestor
One of the fundamental principles of geology is that basic physical laws of nature, such
as how elements bond and what happens to a rock left out in the rain, were the same in
the past as they are today. This idea gained credibility under the name: -
Uniformitarianism
Paleobiologists use diversity curves to show: - the number of unique genera at different
points in time within a specified group of organisms.
Plesiosaurs used a unique type locomotion to move through the water: - all 4 flippers
were used to propel it forward.
Pterosaurs were flying: - reptiles
Quetzalcoatlus is unique among pterosaurs for: - being the largest pterosaur, about the
size of a giraffe.
Research indicates that large pterosaurs were able to get in the air by: - Crouching
down on its feet and springing forward off its hands
Sarchosuchus is: - a giant extinct crocodyliform
Sea level from the mid-Jurassic through the Cretaceous was: - much higher than today
Taphonomy is the study of: - what happens to the remains of organisms from death to
burial in sediment.
The absolute age of a rock unit can be determined by - radiometric dating
The climate for most continental areas during the Triassic are best described as: -
monsoonal
The colors on a geologic map represent: - the age of rocks
The crocodile-like phytosaurs went extinct at the end of the Triassic, but crocodiloforms:
- had some extinctions, but survive to the modern day.
ANSWERS GRADED A+ 2025/2026
Fossils provide an excellent means of studying micro-evolution; tiny changes in the
genetic makeup of a species over time. - False. Because the fossils record rarely
preserves any soft tissues and is very incomplete, fossils can't be used to study micro-
evolution.
Geologic evidence from Antarctica and other places indicate that the climate of the late
Cretaceous was _________ - very warm world-wide
If a dinosaur fossil were found in a sandstone with coarse and poorly sorted grains that
included the mineral feldspar, what type of environment likely existed at that location at
the time that dinosaur was alive? - a desert
If you read in a scientific article that the end of the last Ice Age was about 12 Kya, how
many years ago is that? - 12,000
In radioactive materials, a half-life is important to calculating the age of the material. If a
sample has undergone 2 half-lives, from it's original state, how much of the original
parent material is left? - 25%
In science, a hypothesis is best described as: - An idea or question about a process or
phenomenon that is used to frame a scientific research.
In science, the term "Theory" is used to describe: - An idea with significant evidence to
support it's validity that it is deemed a valid way to explain a process or phenomenon.
In the image below, the fault marked "H" is (older/younger) than the rock unit marked
"E" - younger
In the middle Jurassic, the much of the western part of North America was: - covered
with vast inland sea
In the Taphonomy lecture, the focus is on a place in Canada called Dinosaurs Provincial
Park. It is a great place to find fossils, but why isn't it a good place for new fossils to
form? - the modern environment is dry and barren, sot here is little sediment that could
bury something that died.
Large plesiosaurs like Elasmosaurus could use their long necks to reach prey in the air
or on land without exiting the water. - False.
Most of the petroleum oil we used today is made of ______ from the Cretaceous and
Jurassic Periods. - deposits of microscopic marine plankton.
, New oceanic crust is added at boundaries, and old crust is subducted and recycled at
boundaries. - divergent, convergent
On a phylogenetic tree or cladagram, a divergence indicates: - a place where two
groups evolved from a common ancestor
On a phylogenetic tree, a grade is a: - a slice through a phylogenetic tree that shows
organisms of the same evolutionary complexity
On a phylogenetic tree, a monophyletic group is identified by: - a common ancestor
One of the fundamental principles of geology is that basic physical laws of nature, such
as how elements bond and what happens to a rock left out in the rain, were the same in
the past as they are today. This idea gained credibility under the name: -
Uniformitarianism
Paleobiologists use diversity curves to show: - the number of unique genera at different
points in time within a specified group of organisms.
Plesiosaurs used a unique type locomotion to move through the water: - all 4 flippers
were used to propel it forward.
Pterosaurs were flying: - reptiles
Quetzalcoatlus is unique among pterosaurs for: - being the largest pterosaur, about the
size of a giraffe.
Research indicates that large pterosaurs were able to get in the air by: - Crouching
down on its feet and springing forward off its hands
Sarchosuchus is: - a giant extinct crocodyliform
Sea level from the mid-Jurassic through the Cretaceous was: - much higher than today
Taphonomy is the study of: - what happens to the remains of organisms from death to
burial in sediment.
The absolute age of a rock unit can be determined by - radiometric dating
The climate for most continental areas during the Triassic are best described as: -
monsoonal
The colors on a geologic map represent: - the age of rocks
The crocodile-like phytosaurs went extinct at the end of the Triassic, but crocodiloforms:
- had some extinctions, but survive to the modern day.
