Invert and Vertebrate Zoology
This class of vertebrates is characterized by moist skin, gill breathing in larval stages, and a transition to lung breathing in most adults.
What are amphibians?
This organelle is commonly referred to as the "powerhouse of the cell" because it generates most of the chemical energy needed.
What is the mitochondrion (or mitochondria)?
This shape, famously discovered by James Watson and Rosalind Franklin (among others), describes the structure of a DNA molecule.
What is a double helix?
This jelly-like fluid that fills the interior of a cell holds the organelles in place.
What is cytoplasm (or cytosol)?
This term describes a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
What is an ecosystem?
Belonging to the phylum Mollusca, this class of clever invertebrates includes creatures like squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish.
What are cephalopods?
This vascular tissue in plants is responsible for transporting water and dissolved minerals upward from the roots.
What is xylem?
In DNA, the nitrogenous base Adenine always pairs exclusively with this specific base.
What is Thymine?
Unlike plant cells, animal cells completely lack this rigid outer structural layer.
What is a cell wall?
This specific type of symbiotic relationship benefits both participating species.
What is mutualism?
This group of egg-laying mammals—which includes the platypus and echidna—is the only order of mammals that does not give live birth.
What are monotremes?
This term describes an organism's complete set of genetic material.
What is a genome?
These are the non-coding sequences of genes that are spliced out of messenger RNA before translation.
What are introns?
This process involves a cell engulfing large solid particles or whole cells by wrapping its membrane around them.
What is phagocytosis?
This level of the ecological pyramid contains organisms that make their own food using sunlight or chemical energy.
What are producers (or autotrophs / primary producers)?
This marine invertebrate phylum features a unique water vascular system used for locomotion, feeding, and respiration, and includes starfish and sea urchins.
What are echinoderms?
This type of feedback loop enhances or amplifies changes, moving a system further away from its initial set point (such as during childbirth contractions).
What is a positive feedback loop?
This enzyme is responsible for unwinding the DNA double helix during replication.
What is DNA helicase?
Proteins destined for secretion or membrane insertion are synthesized by ribosomes attached to this specific network of membranes.
What is the rough endoplasmic reticulum (rough ER)?
This ecological term describes the total mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time.
What is biomass?
This subphylum of chordates includes creatures that possess a cranium and a vertebral column, separating them from tunicates and lancelets.
What are vertebrates (or Craniata)?
First proposed by Lynn Margulis, this scientific theory explains the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts in eukaryotic cells.
What is the endosymbiotic theory?
This specific phenomenon occurs when the phenotypic expression of one gene is affected by one or more independently inherited modifier genes.
What is epistasis?
During this specific checkpoint phase of the cell cycle, a cell verifies that all chromosomes are properly attached to the spindle fibers before anaphase.
What is the spindle checkpoint (or M checkpoint)?
This specific mathematical index measures species diversity while accounting for both abundance and evenness of the species present.
What is the Shannon-Wiener index (or Shannon diversity index)?