Mass Extinction and Marine Life Quiz
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Questions and Answers

What is an extinction event?

  • A widespread and rapid increase in biodiversity on Earth
  • An event where the rate of speciation is higher than background extinction rate
  • A widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth (correct)
  • A process that leads to a steady rise in the diversity of multicellular organisms
  • How are the 'Big Five' extinction events labeled in the text?

  • As statistically insignificant
  • Not mentioned in the text
  • Clickable links (correct)
  • As having very little impact on marine animal genera
  • Why are the two extinction events in the Cambrian period characterized as large in percentage magnitude but small in absolute numbers of known taxa?

  • Due to a lack of fossilization in that period (correct)
  • Because they did not actually occur
  • They are not characterized as such in the text
  • Because they were catastrophic events with no survivors
  • What defines a mass extinction event?

    <p>A sharp fall in biodiversity with an increased rate of extinction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How many major mass extinctions have occurred in the last 540 million years according to different estimates?

    <p>Between five and twenty</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the blue graph shown in the text represent?

    <p>Percentage of marine animal genera becoming extinct during any given time interval</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Jack Sepkoski and David M. Raup identify in their 1982 paper?

    <p>Five specific geological intervals with excessive diversity loss</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is significant about the Ordovician-Silurian extinction events?

    <p>They rank as the second-largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is suggested to be the trigger for reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide leading to glaciation and anoxia?

    <p>Deposition of volcanic ash</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What event is considered an extinction event that annihilated coral reefs and numerous tropical benthic animals during the Late Devonian period?

    <p>Kellwasser Event</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which geological period saw an extinction event speculated to precede all 'Big Five' mass extinctions?

    <p>Ediacaran period</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is highlighted as a potential cause of mass extinction during the Ordovician-Silurian events?

    <p>Global warming and volcanism</p> Signup and view all the answers

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