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Final Examination
Exam Mark:_____________________
Semester 2, 2009

102287 BIOLOGY 1: Organisms

BIOLOGY 1202
Official Reading Time: 10 mins
Writing Time: 180 mins
Total Duration: 190 mins

Part Suggested Time Allowed

A 45 mins
B 45 mins
C 45 mins
D 45 mins

Instructions
 Write your name, Student ID, row and letter number and date in the top right
hand corner of this page.
 Write only in the spaces provided.
 Use labelled diagrams if appropriate
 Examination materials must not be removed from the examination room.

Materials
 Question Paper Answer Book
 Calculators ARE NOT permitted

DO NOT COMMENCE WRITING UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO

For marking use only

Section Marker Mark
A
B
C
D

Total /180
 Section A (Allow 45 Minutes)
Answer three (3) of the following four (4) questions (1 - 4).

1. Retama raetam is a plant in the pea family (Fabaceae) that grows in the extreme
desert of the Middle East. It flowers in early winter and then the very small
leaves fall off. Photosynthesis occurs in its green stems during most of the year.
Assuming that ancestors of this plant had larger and longer-lived leaves, suggest
how this plant could have evolved to survive in the dry desert environment.
(5 minutes)
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 1 - 4

2. Describe three characteristics that are found in both mitochondria and bacteria.
What do these shared characteristics indicate about the evolutionary origin of
mitochondria?
(5 minutes)

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 3. An experiment was conducted with cotton plants that were grown in soils that had
varying levels of the inorganic nutrient phosphorous. Half of the plants were
grown in the presence of mycorrhizal fungi and the other half were not. The size
of the plants was affected by both phosphorous and mycorrhizae as shown in the
graph below. Explain the mechanisms that would have caused the differences in
plant sizes that were observed in these experimental results.
(5 minutes)
50 
Mycorrhizae 
40  present 
Plant size  30 
(Grams dry weight per plant) 
20 

10  Mycorrhizae 
absent 
0 
0  40  80 
Extractable phosphorous in soil 
(mg PB/kg) 
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 1 - 4

4. The malaria parasites, Plasmodium species, are said to have complex life
cycles. What does this term mean? Describe two of the adaptations of
Plasmodium species that facilitate their parasitic nature.
(5 minutes)

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 Answer three (3) of the following four (4) questions (5 - 8).

5. Male long-tailed widow birds have tails that are 2-3 times as long as their bodies,
while females have short tails. Males establish and defend territories at the start
of the mating season. Each fertile female settles and nests in only one male
territory. The numbers of  nests  in  a  male’s  territory  are  an  indication  of  his 
mating success. Andersson (1982 Nature 299: 818) measured male mating
success in a population and found no significant differences in mating success.
Males had an average of 1.5 nests in their territories. Next, he split the birds into
four experimental groups:
i) Tail feathers shortened but cutting the ends off
ii) Tail feathers cut and replaced – length unchanged
iii) Tail feathers untouched; birds handled only
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 5 - 8

iv) Tail feathers lengthened by gluing on the parts removed from group i)
The results of Anderson’s experiment are shown here.

Chart Title
Treatment of male tail 

Shortened
Bird handled only 
feathers

Cut and replaced
Lengthened

0 2 4 6 8
Mean number of nests  in each male territory

Give a plausible explanation for why these sexual behaviours and traits of males
and females might have evolved. (10 minutes)

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 6. Briefly define each of the following terms: (10 minutes)
a. A shared ancestral trait

b. A shared derived trait

c. A uniquely derived trait

d. A monophyletic group
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 5 - 8

e. A paraphyletic group

The evolutionary tree below shows five species of whales at the branch ends.
Point out on this diagram of an evolutionary tree (f) a monophyletic group and (g)
a paraphyletic group (circle the names and label each group). Clearly show how
you would map each of the three types of traits: (h) shared ancestral trait, (i)
shared derived trait and (j) uniquely derived trait.

Minke whale 

Humpback whale 

Common ancestral whale 
Grey whale 

Blue whale 

Fin whale 
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 7. The Kangaroo Island kangaroo, Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus, is a subspecies
of the Western grey kangaroo.
Give a plausible explanation for the evolution of differences between these
subspecies. (10 minutes)
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 5 - 8

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 8. Biologists assert that turtles evolved from ancestral reptiles that lack shells.

What kinds of evidence would support this statement? Choose two types of
supporting evidence and explain them in detail, giving real or hypothetical
examples of the patterns you would expect to see in the evidence.
(10 minutes)
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 5 - 8

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 Section B (Allow 45 Minutes)

9. Where in the plant body would you find a lateral meristem? (1 minute)

10. The transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial environment required plants to adapt
to a number of challenges. Name one (1) challenge and the likely adaptation to
this challenge. (3 minutes)

11. Define the term essential element. (3 minutes)

12. Define two (2) the following structures: (4 minutes)

a. Seed

b. Ovule

c. Pollen

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13. Answer either:
a. Why does a tree die when it is ring barked? (4 minutes)
-OR-
b. What is the function of endodermis in the root? (4 minutes)

14. On the diagram below indicate the following: (4 minutes)

a. vascular cambium,
b. a vessel element,
c. parenchyma cells, and
d. cortex.  

 
 

8
  

15. Answer either:

a. How can heat stress in plants be made worse by high humidity or still air?
(5 minutes)
-OR-
b. Describe one physiological or anatomical adaptation which can help a plant
avoid heat stress. (5 minutes)

16. Answer either:

a. Describe double fertilization. (5 minutes)
-OR-
b. Describe how the phloem sap moves from source to sink. (5 minutes)

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17. Answer either:
a. Angiosperm fertilization does not require free water. Explain this statement.
(6 minutes)
-OR-
b. What role does phytochrome play in the process of de-etiolation or greening.
(6 minutes)

10
18. Answer either:
a. There are 5 key features common to all plants. Name and describe two (2).
(10 minutes)
-OR-
b. The first land plants were homosporous. More advanced plants are
heterosporous. Describe the difference between a homosporous life cycle and
a heterosporous life cycle. Use a simple diagram(s) if you wish.  
(10 minutes)  

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 Section C (Allow 45 Minutes)
Answer each of the following four (4) questions (19-22).

19. Choose a species of animal. Name it and indicate why this is an animal and not a
plant. (5 minutes)

20. Provide a description of this animal (e.g., size and general exterior appearance).
Is this animal an ectotherm or endotherm? Is this animal terrestrial, amphibious
or aquatic? What does this animal feed on? (10 minutes)

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21. List the various embryological features of this animal (5 minutes)
a. Is the animal radially or bilaterally symmetric?

b. Is the animal diploblastic or triploblastic?

c. Is the animal acoelomate, pseudocoelomate, coelomate?

d. Does the animal have protosome or deuterostome development?

e. Is the animal ‘segmented’?

f. Does the animal have no skeleton, a hydrostatic skeleton, an exoskeleton or

endoskeleton?

g. Does the animal have jointed appendages?

h. Does the animal have a nerve cord and notocord?

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22. Describe one (1) of the following systems of the chosen animal: (10 minutes)
 digestive
 respiratory
 circulatory
 nervous and sensory

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 Answer one (1) of the following four (4) questions (23 - 26).

23. If the animal is terrestrial or amphibious, describe the adaptations that it has for
terrestrial existence and note how these adaptations differ from animals that live
entirely in an aqueous environment. (15 minutes)

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Answer only one (1) question from numbers 23 – 26.

24. If the animal is aquatic, describe the adaptations that it has for aquatic existence
and note how these adaptations differ from animals that live in a terrestrial
environment. (15 minutes)

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 25. If the animal is a vertebrate, describe the adaptations that it has and compare
them to the adaptations of an invertebrate for living in the same environment.
(15 minutes)
Answer only one (1) question from numbers 23 – 26.

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Answer only one (1) question from numbers 23 – 26.

26. If the animal is an invertebrate, describe the adaptations that it has and compare
them to the adaptations shown by a vertebrate for living in the same environment.
(15 minutes)

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 Section D (45 minutes)
Answer all of the following three (3) questions

27. While predation can be in general defined as “one organism feeding upon another 
organism” this can happen in many different ways. Choose two modalities of 
“predation sensu lato” and explain their similarities and differences. (10 minutes)

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28. Explain the main differences between primary and secondary succession. How
can this knowledge be applied for the restoration of degraded ecosystems?
(10 minutes)

22
29. Explain two (2) ways in which species with broadly overlapping niches can
coexist in a community without the stronger competitor excluding the weaker
competitor.
(10 minutes)

23
 Answer three (3) of the following five (5) questions:
30. List and describe two factors that affect the efficiency of transfer of energy
between trophic levels. Indicate the mechanisms involved. (5 minutes)
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 30 - 34.

31. What are the main effects of the fragmentation of ecosystems? (5 minutes)

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 32. List and describe two geographic factors that can affect the distribution of biomes,
one acting at large (planetary) scale and one acting at small (regional) scale.
Provide an example for each. (5 minutes)
Answer only three (3) questions from numbers 30 - 34.

33. What is the realised niche of a species? (5 minutes)

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34. Draw a graph showing the number of individuals as a function of time for two
populations, one with a low value of r and a high value of K, and the other with a
high value of r and a low value of K. Label the axes and lines. (5 minutes)

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