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In prehistoric times brachiopods of marine invertebrates with bivalve shells within which is a pair of arms bearing tentacles by which a current of water is made to bring microscopic food to the mouth) were one of the most abundant and diverse forms of life on Earth: more than 30,000 species of this clamlike creature have been cataloged from fossil records. Today brachiopods are not as numerous, and existing species are not well studied, partly because neither the animal`s fleshy inner tissue nor its shell has any commercial value. Moreover, in contrast to the greater diversity of the extinct species, the approximately 300 known surviving species are relatively uniform in appearance. Many zoologists have interpreted this as a sign that the animal has been unable to compete successfully with other marine organisms in the evolutionary struggle.
Several things, however, suggest that the conventional view needs revising. For example, the genus Lingula has an unbroken fossil record extending over more than half a billion years to the present. Thus, if longevity is any measure, brachiopods are the most successful organisms extant. Further, recent studies suggest that diversity among species is a less important measure of evolutionary success than is the ability to withstand environmental change, such as when a layer of clay replaces sand on the ocean bottom. The relatively greater uniformity among the existing brachiopod species may offer greater protection from environmental change and hence may reflect highly successful adaptive behavior.
The adaptive advantages of uniformity for brachiopods can be seen by considering specialization, a process that occurs as a result of prolonged colonization of a uniform substrate. Those that can survive on many surfaces are called generalists, while those that can survive on a limited range of substrates are called specialists. One specialist species, for example, has valves weighted at the base, a characteristic that assures that the organism is properly positioned for feeding in mud and similar substrates; other species secrete glue allowing them to survive on the face of underwater cliffs. The fossil record demonstrates that most brachiopod lineages have followed a trend toward increased specialization. However, during periods of environmental instability, when a particular substrate to which a specialist species has adapted is no longer available, the species quickly dies out. Generalists, on the other hand, are not dependent on a particular substrate, and are thus less vulnerable to environmental change. One study of the fossil record revealed a mass extinction of brachiopods following a change in sedimentation from chalk (a soft white, gray, or buff limestone composed chiefly of the shells of foraminifers) to clay. Of the 35 brachiopod species found in the chalk, only 6 survived in the clay, all of them generalists.
As long as enough generalist species are maintained, and studies of arctic and subarctic seas suggest that generalists are often dominant members of the marine communities there, it seems unlikely that the phylum is close to extinction.
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[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12222
Three numbers are to be selected at random and without replacement from the five numbers 4, 5,7,8, and 11.What is the probability that the three numbers selected could be the lengths of the sides of a triangle?
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12221
There are 5!. or 120. ways of arranging 5 different solid-colored flags side by side. If the colors of the flags are red, blue,yellow,green, and orange,how many of those arrangements have either the red fag or the blue flag in the middle position?
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12220
k is randomly selected from the set of integers from 1 to 100, inclusive.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12219
REENA'S MOVIE COLLECTION The table above shows the number of movies in each genre in Reena's movie collection. If two different movies are to be selected at random from the collection. what is the probability that neither movie will be in the science fiction genre?
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12218
Several 0 and 1 are arranged in a 10*10 palace as follows. Among all the number 0, what is the probability that they are arranged in both an odd row and an odd column? Give your answer as a fraction.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12217
There are 5!, or 120,ways of arranging 5 different solid-colored flags side by side. If the colors of the flags are red, blue,yellow, green, and orange,how many of those arrangements have either the red flag or the blue flag in the middle position?
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12216
Pat has five matched pairs of socks and no two of the pairs are the same color. If Pat selects two socks simultaneously and at random, what is the probability that the two socks selected will be a matched pair.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12215
A box contains 100 purple balls, 100 red balls, and 100 white balls. What is the minimum number of balls that must be chosen to ensure that at least 4 of the balls chosen have the same color.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12214
The cast of a certain play has 2 male characters and 2 female characters. The director of the play will select the 2 male characters from 6 male actors and the 2 female characters from 8 female actors. How many different sets of 4 actors, consisting of 2 male actors and 2 female actors, are there that can be selected by the director?
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12213
P is the set of all of all positive factors of 20, and Q is the set of all positive factors of 12. If a member of Pwill be chosen at random, what is the probability that the chosen member will also be member of Q .
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12212
Average Per-Pupil Expenditures for the I0 Percent of School Districts State X That Had the Highest Expenditures (Group H) Compared to the 10 Percent of School Districts That had the Lowest Expenditures (Group L)
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12211
Average Per-Pupil Expenditures for the 10 Percent of School Districts State X That Had the Highest Expenditures (Group H) Compared to the 10 Percent of School Districts That had the Lowest Expenditures (Group L)For the 1986-87 school year, the ratio of the average per-pupil expenditures or the Group L districts to the average for the Group H districts was closest to
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12210
Average Per-Pupil Expenditures for the I0 Percent of School Districts State X That Had the Highest Expenditures (Group H) Compared to the 10 Percent of School Districts That had the Lowest Expenditures (Group L) From the 1979-80 school year to the 1989-90 school year, the average per-pupil expenditures for the Group L school districts increased by approximately.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12209
As a telephone salesperson, Kay made an average (arithmetic mean) of x sales calls per day for n consecutive days. On the next day, she made k sales calls. Which of the following represents the average number of sales calls per day for the n+1 days?
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12208
Set S consists of 8 positive integrs,3 of which are even, Set T consists of all numbers of the form x+x2 ,where x is member of set S.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12207
Lists S and T each consist of 5 consecutive integers. The greatest integer in S is equal to the least integer in T.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12206
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12205
List S : 1,2 ,3, k,2k If k< 2, which of the following numbers could be the median of the five numbers in list ? Indicate all such numbers.
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12204
In 1990 approximately what percent of the total population of neighborhood was foreign-born with Europe as region of origin?
[数学 ]【新版】冲分救命题 -12203
A list of the names of the people of the entire 1990 foreign-born population in neighborhood was generated, with each person’s name appearing once. The names of 2 different people will be randomly selected from the list. Which of the following is closest to the probability that both names selected will be names of people whose region of origin was “Other”?
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