Explain how the Cambrian explosion facilitated the colonization of land and indicate which taxa in the phylogeny colonized land.

You will answer these questions using your own words. You won’t copy and paste from elsewhere because that only harms your own understanding. These questions are your best practice on how to apply the concepts from this module to new scenarios.Discussion questions: 1. Eukaryotes are considered a combination between archaea and bacteria. A) Explain the theory behind the mixed origin of eukaryotes. B) The protistan Paulinella is has a photosynthetic plastid called a chromatophore. Chromatophores have a peptidoglycan membrane and their DNA is more closely related to cyanobacteria than to chloroplasts (Fig. 25.18). Use this information to hypothesize the origin of the chromatophore.2. A) Based on the diversity of protists, explain how multicellularity originated. B) Explain the importance of photosynthetic protists to the biosphere. C) Describe two challenges affecting protists communities.3. A) Comparing digestion between sponges and cnidarians, what are the benefits of developing extracellular digestion in a gastrovascular cavity for the evolution of larger animals? B) A) Explain how bilateral symmetry contributed to motion, predation, cephalization (the evolution of a head and brain) and increased the diversity of animals.4. A) Explain the three leading hypotheses to explain the rise in animal diversity during the Cambrian period. B) In the phylogenetic tree below, indicate where the following traits appeared: choanocytes, tissues, extracellular digestion, bilateral symmetry, vertebral column.C) Explain how the Cambrian explosion facilitated the colonization of land and indicate which taxa in the phylogeny colonized land.5. Several invertebrate taxa (groups) colonized terrestrial environments independently of vertebrates. However, they faced similar challenges adapting to land. A) Describe three (3) main challenges animals had to face when colonizing land. B) Vertebrates had some key traits derived during their existence in water, which later proved beneficial for colonizing land. Explain how vertebral column, jaws, lungs, and lobed fins paved the way for vertebrates to move from water into land. C) What other adaptations did vertebrates develop as they colonized land?6. A) List 4 different reproductive strategies found in animal species (e.g. parthenogenesis, hermaphroditism, external fertilization, internal fertilization, viviparity, etc). B) For each strategy, describe at least one advantage and one disadvantage. C) In some human cultures, people only consider two sexes to be ‘natural’. How does that compare to what biology tells us? Please be respectful of other’s analyses. We are all learning.

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