BIOL10511

One hour only

DO NOT REMOVE THIS PAPER FROM THE EXAMINATION ROOM

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

BIODIVERSITY

16th January 2015

14:00 15:00

Electronic calculators may be used provided that they cannot store text.

All answers to Section A (MCQs) must be entered on the MCQ answer-sheet

provided. Enter your ID Number clearly on the answer-sheet as instructed..

Answers to the questions in Section B should be written on this exam paper.

Write your ID Number (on your swipe card) clearly at the bottom of each
question/answer-sheet.

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Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) Answer Sheet Instructions

Please read this page very carefully before starting the exam.

Please note that this exam will be negatively marked. That is, a fraction of a
mark (1/(n-1), where n is the number of options) will be subtracted for each
wrong answer e.g. a wrong answer to a question with 4 possible choices will
receive a mark of
-0.33. This is intended to ensure that if you guess at random, you will get a score
of zero. Questions that are not answered or where the answer is llegible will
score zero.

Notes for filling out the MCQ answer sheet:

1. Use a pencil (HB grade would be best) and have an eraser available in
case you make a mistake. Also have a sharpener with you.
2. To record an answer, fill in the relevant letter choice for each question. If
you make a mistake, thoroughly erase or cross out the wrong answer and
select a new choice.
3. Do not mark the sheet anywhere except as instructed; this may result
in rejection of the sheet from the reader.
4. Write your name in the boxes provided.
5. It is absolutely necessary to record your ID number (shown on your
Library Card) accurately in the space provided. This is done as follows:

a. Write the first 7 digits of your ID

number in the box provided (see
diagram) i.e. omitting the final digit,
which should be in a lighter font. Do not
use any other number. If in doubt call an
invigilator.

b. Beneath the box fill in the appropriate

corresponding number in the column
below each digit.

c. Please note that this is the only criteria

by which your answer sheet will be
recognised by the optical reader. If you
get it wrong the sheet will be rejected
from the reader!

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SECTION A (2/3 of marks, suggested time 40 mins)

In questions 1 24 select the ONE MOST SUITABLE response from the options
provided

1. If evolutionary time on Earth was compressed into an hour, mammals

would have evolved roughly how long ago?:

A. 1 minute
B. 3 minutes
C. 10 minutes
D. 30 minutes

2. Organisms that use light as their energy source and organic forms of
carbon as their source of carbon are called:

A. photoautotrophs
B. chemoautotrophs
C. photoheterotrophs
D. chemoheterotrophs

3. Cyanobacteria (blue-green bacteria; Cyanophyta; blue-

green algae):

A. contain thylakoids
B. are eukaryotes
C. have cellulose cell walls
D. contain mitochondria

4. Diatoms are single-celled eukaryotes which are important members of the

phytoplankton. They are able to move:
A. By beating their flagella.
B. When cytoplasmic strands that emerge through their cell walls adhere
to surfaces.
C. Via tiny fibrils in the exterior of their cells which react to acetylcholine
and noradrenaline.
D. By extruding slime through pores in their cell walls.

5. The seaweed Ulva can create environmental problems because:

A. It clogs rivers in developing countries and prevents people from
travelling to work, school or hospital.
B. It grows in profusion in coastal regions and can be a source of toxic
gases.
C. It contains toxins that can kill elephants.
D. It is poisonous to marine animals so reduces biodiversity when it
invades seagrass beds

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6. Gas vesicles give some cyanobacteria the ability to:

A. fix nitrogen gas from the atmosphere.

B. optimise their position in the water table.
C. store carbon dioxide.
D. release sulphur dioxide when attacked.

7. Biodiversity in the Mediterranean is currently threatened by which alien

invader?

A. Caulerpa (Killer alga)

B. Pteridium (Bracken fern).
C. Salvinia (Kariba weed).
D. Equisetum (Horsetail).

8. Phytophthora ramorum is a pathogen which is causing problems for forest

trees in the UK. What best describes the organism?
A. retrovirus.
B. dinoflagellate.
C. bacterium.
D. fungus-like alga.

9. Some liverworts can reproduce asexually by:

A. producing gemmae distributed by rain splash.
B. firing packets of motile sperm into the air.
C. sperm transported by micro-arthropods.
D. branching rhizomes.

10. Conifers are gymnospermous trees, most of which have

A. wind pollinated flowers.

B. foliage which is deciduous (dies and falls off when climate worsens).
C. female reproductive parts protected by woody cones.
D. very little xylem in their trunks.

11. The brown seaweed Macrocystis, which forms kelp forests off the
Californian coast :

A. has air bladders that make its leaf-like organs buoyant.

B. has an effective internal transport system for water and nutrients.
C. is anchored by large roots which penetrate the sea bed.
D. is an important food source for sea otters.

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12. Echidnas (spiny anteaters) and Duck-billed platypuses:

A. are marsupials.
B. lay eggs.
C. have nipples.
D. lack fur.

13. Charophyte algae are thought to be the group of green plants

in which the following evolutionary reproductive advance
occurred:
A. Oogamy.
B. Layer of protective cells around the egg cells.
C. Non-motile male gametes protected by sporopollenin.
D. Seeds.

14. Vampire bats are very successful blood-feeders, mainly thanks

to their:

A. saliva, which contains anti-coagulants and anaesthetic.

B. sharp hollow teeth, which allow them to suck up blood.
C. ability to creep up on their prey silently on their padded feet.
D. ability to detect warm-blooded prey with radar.

15. Welwitschia mirabilis is one of the few successful organisms in the Namib
desert because:

A. it grow inside rocks.

B. it can obtain moisture from the fog that condenses on its leaves.
C. it can tolerate extremely saline conditions and very low temperatures.
D. it is pollinated by camels.

16. The evolutionary step thought to have been most critical in making
angiosperms (flowering plants) more successful than gymnosperms is
thought to have been:

A. double fertilisation whereby a food supply develops only if eggs are

fertilised.
B. the use of animal vectors to effect pollination.
C. the development of vessel elements in xylem.
D. the use of colours conspicuous to animals which then act as seed-
dispersers.

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17. Sea otters feed mainly:

A. on seaweeds.
B. on urchins and crustaceans.
C. by detecting bioluminescence of dinoflagellates disturbed by the fish
they prey on.
D. by using sonar to locate the squid they prey on.

18. Green algae and ferns are alike in that they:

A. are vascular plants.

B. reproduce with motile male gametes.
C. have well developed ability to resist desiccation.
D. have roots.

19. Which of the following is a jawed vertebrate?

A. locust.
B. millipede.
C. sperm whale.
D. Branchiostoma (lancelet).

20. Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum):

A. lacks lignified tissue.

B. produces carcinogens.
C. is pollinated by ants.
D. grows best in deep shade.

21. Amphibians:

A. are tetrapods.
B. lack jaws.
C. lack eyelids.
D. lay amniotic eggs.

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22. When confronted with starvation, the social amoeba Dictyostelium initiates
a developmental process that starts with cell aggregation, and ends with a
sporing structure. The process includes:
A. Cyclic AMP, which elicits chemotactic responses.
B. Cells aggregating into a slug which migrates into the soil.
C. Amoebae engulfing each other until only the fittest survives.
D. Some amobae forming elaters and others forming spores.

23. How are seagrasses environmentally important?

A. They are the main food tem for endangered blue whales.
B. They provide a nursery habitat for animals and an important carbon
sink.
C. Their rhizomes remove the arsenic from contaminated soils.
D. Their thread-like pollen binds sand particles together and so prevents
erosion in deserts.

24. The plant Rafflesia is:

A. an autotrophic organism.
B. a carnivorous organism.
C. a parasite.
D. sexually deceptive.

Questions 25 - 36 use the following options:

A. if only (i), (ii) and (iii) are correct
B. if only (i) and (iii) are correct
C. if only (ii) and (iv) are correct
D. if only (iv) is correct
E. if all are correct

25. Euglenids include organisms that have:

(i) an anterior flagellum that pulls them through the

water.
(ii) a girdle and a posterior flagellum.
(iii) flexible proteinaceous pellicles.
(iv) cellulose cell walls.

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26. Geckos are able to stick to walls by using:

(i) contact activation

(ii) Van der Waals forces
(iii) flagellar adhesion
(iv) electrostatic attraction

27. Statements about animal body plans:

(i) most deuterostomes have embryos that divide radially

(ii) protostomes have embryos that divide spirally
(iii) the mouth forms from the blastopore in protostomes
(iv) the anus forms from the blastopore in deuterostomes

28. Toxoplasma (toxo) is a parasite that:

(i) can infect Inuits who consume Beluga whale meat.
(ii) can cause abortion of human fetuses.
(iii) produces cysts that can survive municipal water treatments.
(iv) causes rodents to become more fearful of their predators.

29. The orchids are a very successful and horticulturally important group
which include plants that:

(i) have tiny dust-like seeds.

(ii) can mimic animal pheromones.
(iii) gain their nutrition from fungi when they germinate.
(iv) are Monocotyledons.

30. Pollination in cycads can involve:

(i) insects
(ii) heat
(iii) minty odours
(iv) bats

31. Dugongs (sea cows):

(i) are mammals

(ii) lack fur.
(iii) eat grass.
(iv) have gills.

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32. The bogmoss Sphagnum

(i) uses hyaluronic acids to capture cations from the surrounding water.
(ii) is an environmentally important carbon sink
(iii) has leaves which contain a higher proportion of dead than living tissue.
(iv) can deter competitors by making its environment alkaline.

33. Snails:

(i) have a flow-through gut.

(ii) are hermaphrodite.
(iii) feed using a radula.
(iv) are molluscs.

34. Insects include:

(i) fruit flies (Drosophila).

(ii) ticks.
(iii) wasps.
(iv) woodlice (pill bugs).

35. Octopuses include animals that:

(i) are radially symmetrical.

(ii) have compound eyes.
(iii) are vertebrates.
(iv) show highly developed parental care.

36. Some pitcher plants use the following to help them

obtain nitrogen in a form they can use:

(i) They produce modified leaves that form traps for animals.
(ii) By digesting the bodies of insects.
(iii) They produce modified leaves that provide roosts for animals.
(iv) By digesting the faeces of mammals.

END OF SECTION A

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SECTION B
(1/3 of marks, total 18 marks, suggested time 20 min)
Write words or short notes to answer each of the following questions. Full
sentences are NOT required. The answers in Section B are NOT negatively
marked. Answers should be provided in the spaces provided on this answer
sheet. Write your Registration Number (from your swipe card) clearly at the
bottom of each answer-sheet.

37. The drawing and

transmission electron
micrograph on the right
show a single-celled
model organism. (i) Give
the name of the organism
(1 mark). (ii) Give the
name of the structures
labelled A (1 mark) and
their main function (1
mark). (iii) Give the ploidy
level that should appear
within the brackets at B (I
mark). (iv) Give the name
of the structure labelled in
C (I mark).

38. Describe what makes the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

such a useful model organism and outline what recent research has
shown helps to maintain species barriers in this organism. (3 marks)

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39. (i) Name the extinct animal shown in the picture

to the right (1 mark); (ii) explain what recent research
suggests were the functions of the feathers
(2 marks); (iii) this animal was a
protostome/bird/mammal (cross out any that do not
apply) (1 mark)

_____

_____

40. What is the biomedical significance of horseshoe crabs? (1 mark)

41. Giant clams are molluscs (animals). Explain how they are able to harvest
energy from the sun and what the implications of recent research on this
mechanism might be for biofuel production. (2 marks).

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42. Clownfish (i) are vertebrates/invertebrates (cross out the

wrong answer) (1 mark).
(ii) what has recently been discovered about larval clownfish and
EITHER what is the genetic significance of the finding, OR what
are the implications for clownfish conservation? (2 marks)

END OF EXAMINATION PAPER

Images reproduced from Campbell Biology (Pearson); Open University Tree of Life
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/nature-environment/natural-history/tree-life and New Scientist.

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