Questions: Part 3

Chapter 8 - The Making and Evolution of Complexity
1. How did Darwin use evidence to explain the geological formation of reefs?  What was the conventional wisdom that he challenged with his idea?

2. Do the different eye forms (arthropod, squid, vertebrate) reflect convergent evolution or adaptive radiation? How does an understanding of the genes behind these structures make classifying the pattern of evolution challenging?

3. How does understanding development reveal the way complex structures are built?  Discuss specific examples.

4. Other than eye forms, what are some specific body/organ-building genes that are key to understanding the evolution of different forms?

Chapter 9 - Seeing and Believing
1. During the development of the germ theory of disease, what were the barriers faced by Pasteur, Lister and others?  How did they ultimately change the medical communities practices?

2. What was the philosophy of Lysenko and what was his impact on Soviet biology, agriculture, and medicine?

3. How does the opposition to vaccination by some chiropractors parallel Lysenko’s view of genetics and and DNA?

4. Carroll states “that the denial of evolution, like other instances of denial, is not about the science. It can’t be.  It is about ideology, in this case religious ideology.”  Discuss 2-3 denials raised in the book and how these are based on ideology rather than science.

Chapter 10 - The Palm Trees of Wyoming

1. Humans are now having a profound impact on the environment and, as a result, are shaping the evolution of species on the planet.  How has overfishing impacted other species such as kelp and sea turtles?

2. What is the “perfect storm” that has struck the Chesapeake Bay estuary?

3. Climate change coupled with other human activities have impacted ecosystems as well.  How has/will climate change contributed to the inability of krill populations to recover?  How may this impact other marine species?

Questions: Part 2

Chp. 4: Making the New from the Old

1. How does Carroll compare “normal” color vision in humans to color blindness and the vision in other mammals?  What are the anatomical and molecular differences in these vision differences?

2. How do new capabilities evolve?  How do different environments apply differing selective pressure on animals for color vision? In other words, why is color vision different in the forest than in the oceans?

3. How are gene location, gene duplication, and amino acid sequence relevant to the proteins an organism expresses?

Chp. 5: Fossil Genes: Broken Pieces of Yesterday's Life

1. What do "fossil" genes tell us about the history of a species?  Provide an example and describe why a lack of natural selection can allow 'broken' genes to be inherited.

2. How do human olfactory genes demonstrate the concept of “fossilized genes?”

3. Carroll uses the idea of “Use it or lose it” to explain that natural selection drives evolution and not a drive toward “progress” or an underlying “design” for living things.  What does Carroll mean by “Use it or lose it”?

Chp. 6: Déjà Vu: How and Why Evolution Repeats Itself

1.  Why do unrelated species evolve common adaptations?  Provide a specific example and explain how this trait evolved by convergent evolution.

2. Why is it easier to see that the pancreatic enzyme similarities seen in cows and colobus monkeys evolved through convergence, but it is more challenging to see this pattern full color vision in howler monkeys and apes? How is this challenge resolved?

3. How does convergence that occurs from “similar means to similar ends” produce very different results from “different means to similar ends?”  Give specific examples to explain your point.

Chp. 7: Our Flesh and Blood: Arms Races, the Human Race, and Natural Selection

1. How has an “evolutionary arms race” lead to the evolution of a docile newt that secretes enough toxins to kill several large healthy human beings?

2. Provide an example of natural selection and describe how mutations can be a source for new adaptations.

Part 1 Questions

Preface - Beyond Any Reasonable Doubts

1. What do you think S. Carroll means by, “We are clearly more comfortable with DNA’s applications than with its implications”?  Explain.

Chapter 1 - Introductions: The Bloodless Fish of the Bouvet Islands

1. Describe several specific adaptations to the arctic ecosystem shown by the icefish?

2. Explain how icefish have evolved unusual adaptations through the process of variation, selection, and time.

3. How do DNA and other molecular data reveal evidence of evolution?

Chapter 2 - The Everyday Math of Evolution: Chance, Selection, and Time

1. How did Darwin use selective breeding to develop his theory? What was he ignorant about when developing his ideas with peers like Huxley?

2. Describe several ways in which mathematics is used as a tool to explain evolution.

3. Explain how rock pocket mice evolve around ancient lava flows in the Southwestern U.S. through the process of variation, selection, and time.

Chapter 3 - Immortal Genes: Running in Place for Eons

1. Explain how some DNA is coding and some is non-coding?  What is the significance of of each type of DNA?

2. Why do you suppose some genes are “immortal” while others become “fossils”?

3. What does DNA reveal the evolutionary relationships of eukaryotes and the different types of prokaryotes?