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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When are fossils typically preserved?

2. What type of species do many islands lack?

3. Why might a hybrid species NOT survive birth?

4. How is the American cuckoo different from the European cuckoo?

5. Why are the same species of freshwater fish typically NOT found in different countries?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why can't climate account for differences in organisms from one region to the next?

2. What are some general rules governing whether or not two species can produce fertile offspring?

3. What does Darwin suggest about the fossil records of trilobites?

4. What is one cause of a landmass changing the geological record?

5. What is a possible explanation for why species migrated from one region to the next?

6. What undermines the belief that the infertility of species, when crossed, is the result of Divine institution?

7. How does the age of the earth play into natural selection?

8. Why does Darwin use a fish and a reptile as comparisons?

9. How can the inheritance of traits be seen in domesticated dogs?

10. How does natural selection explain relationships among creatures?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Darwin discusses different types of selection. What is affected by sexual selection, and why is this type of selection so important to maintaining a species?

Essay Topic 2

Darwin discusses four objections to his theory. Discuss these objections. Do you think Darwin makes valid points to explain away these objections? Can you find flaws in either the objections to Darwin's theory of the theory itself?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Thomas Malthus' principle of population growth and how it related to Darwin's theory of natural selection.

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