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Whale Evolution - Critical Thinking

Whale Video
Biology 11
 Whale Evolution - Critical Thinking
  1. What subdivision of Biology does evolution explain when we compare whales with land mammals?


  2. What basis did Darwin have for hypothesizing that whales evolved from a bear-like animal?


    1. Why are transitional animals vauable to evolutionary biology?
    2. Why are transitional fossils rare?

  4. Why was Darwin attacked by fundamentalists in the newspapers in 1859?


  5. How is a theory valuable in the future?


  6. Why is Basilosaurus called an intermediate (transitional animal)?


  7. Why are presesnt day whale hindleg bones refered to as being vestigial?


  8. What problem did paleontologists have for over 100 years in studying whale evolution?


  9. Basilosaurus had very tiny rear legs. Why was it still useful to Biologists? (1989)


  10. 1983 Tethys Sea - Why did the sea become shallow and a suitable place for whale evolution?


  11. Why was it valuable for the reptiles to become extinct in the Tethys Sea?


  12. 1993 - Pakicetus discovered. However, the paleontologists still needed an animal which could both w_____ and s_______ .


  13. 1994 - (Hans Thewissen) Ambulocetus: Why did this specimen show that the theory developed in the 1980's could be a powerful predictor and point the way for research?