Biological Concepts : Evolution
Which of the following can cause evolutionary change?
A, B, and C are all correct: genetic drift in a small population; natural selection; mutation
Which of the following adaptations has been extremely important in primate evolution?
A, B, and C: binocular vision; upright posture; hand structure
Several lines of evidence, including fossils and a genetic analysis of different groups of modern humans, suggest that our species originated and spread out from where?
East Africa
The only known large population of a reptile species lives on an African mountain. No close relatives of this species are known. Suppose you could stop all mutations within the population and all immigration into or emigration out of this population. Which statement BEST describes the probable future of this population?
Evolution will probably continue as selection acts on the variability produced by sexual recombination of genes.
Which of the following would you predict would evolve in guppies taken from streams with predators that key in on prey color and put into streams lacking predators?
Guppies would become more colorful.
Which represents the correct time sequence (if not evolutionary sequence) of the evolution of modern humans?
H. habilis, H. erectus, Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons
The species that paleoanthropologists believe may be the most direct ancestor to Homo sapiens is
Homo heidelbergensis
The scientific name for Neanderthals is
Homo neanderthalensis
All surviving humans belong to the species
Homo sapiens
Cave paintings at Lascauz, France were done by which species of hominid?
Homo sapiens
Which of the following is an example of adaptive radiation?
darwin's finches
Which of the following is NOT a trait that can evolve by natural selection?
differences in the sizes of genetically identical plants exposed to different amounts of sunlight
Two species of garter snakes live in the same geographic area. One mainly lives in water and the other mainly on land so that they rarely encounter each other and do not interbreed. This is an example of what type of genetic isolation?
ecological
Directional selection
favors individuals that vary in one direction
Disruptive selection
favors individuals that vary in opposite directions from the average
The biological species concept cannot be applied to
fossil organisms
The Pennsylvania Amish have a very high frequency of an unusual allele that results in short arms and legs and extra fingers. This high frequency is thought to be the result of
founder effect
What is the significance of upright walking?
frees hands for other tasks
One method of protecting the genetic identity of a population is the inability of sperm to fertilize eggs of a different species. This is called
gametic incompatibility
What vital processes (important to the evolutionary biology of a species) occurs when a young male baboon leaves the troop that he was born in to join another troop?
gene flow
A small population is likely to evolve because of ___, but this is not likely to be true for a large population.
genetic drift
Founder populations may quickly become very different from the parent population in a similar habitat due to
genetic drift
Which of these decreases genetic variation in a population?
genetic drift
Which of these set primates apart from other mammals?
grasping hands
The greatest cause of extinctions is
habitat change
Having greater evolutionary fitness means
having more offspring
The evolutionary history of this is well documented over the last 50 million years in the fossil record.
horse
Horses and donkeys mate successfully to produce males which are always sterile. Which genetic isolating mechanism is involved here to prevent horses and donkeys from becoming a single species?
hybrid infertility
When offspring are infertile after breeding occurs between individuals of different species, the genetic identities of the two populations are protected by
hybrid infertility
Natural selection on a trait can only occur if the trait is ___
inheritable
Which of the following structures is NOT homologous to the others?
insect wing
A bacterial allele that conveys resistance to the antibiotic streptomycin
is beneficial to the cell in the presence of streptomycin
If there is no gene flow into a population, it is said to be
isolated
A population with ___ is at risk for extinction
low genetic variation
The great dame and the chihuahua are both domestic dogs (the same species), but mating between them is limited by
mechanical incompatibility
Which one of the following is not one of the five major features to emerge in the evolution of humans?
monogamy
Of the following mechanisms of evolution, which are at work in species that only reproduce asexually?
mutation
Equilibrium actually means
no change in allele frequency
Cells of diverse species differ in that they do not all
none of the above: have ribosomes; have RNA; have DNA; have ATP
Fat-insulated streamlined bodies of seals and penguins are superficially similar, although these organisms are not closely related. Such superficially similar structures are
obtained through convergent evolution
New mutations
occur at random and may be good, bad, or have no effect on the organism
The Galapagos Islands visited by Darwin are located where?
off the west coast of South America
An example of a vestigial structure is
pelvic bones of whales
Which of the following categories is the SMALLEST capable of evolution?
population
Imagine a population of monkeys in South America whose habitat has been reduced to the point where only 25 monkeys survive. This is an example of
population bottleneck
Habitat loss is dangerous to a species because it can result in
population bottlenecks
Which of these actually evolves?
populations
Stabilizing selection
preserves average phenotype
The theory of evolution would predict that human DNA is most similar to that of
primates
Which of the following is a major milestone of human evolution that is most directly related to the development of culture?
prolonged parental care
The sexual displays and contests common in the Animal Kingdom (such as male Bighorn Sheep bashing their heads together) result in
sexual selection
Charles Darwin believed that artificial selection was
similar in many ways to natural selection
Before the modern era of science, organisms were assigned to species categories on the basis of
similarities in appearance
What is: "all the populations of organisms that can potentially interbreed with one another under natural circumstances and are reproductively isolated from other populations"?
species
The most important kind of selection acting on a well adapted population in a relatively constant environment is
stabilizing
When a species lives within a constant environment for a long time the "average type" individuals may have the best chance of survival and produce the most offspring. What type of selection is occurring?
stabilizing
Which of the following types of study suggest Homo sapiens originated in Africa and spread, replacing other hominid species?
studies of mitochondrial DNA among living human populations
The flies that show a preference for either hawthorn or apple trees, and are no longer interbreeding populations because of this, illustrates what type of speciation?
sympatric
Moss "A" produces gametes in May, and moss "B" produces gametes in June. This is an example of a ___ isolating mechanism.
temporal
Two species of pines, Pinus radiata and Pinus muricota, live together in California and are capable of forming hybrids under laboratory conditions. However, they do not interbreed because one releases pollen in February and he other in April. What is the genetic isolating mechanism involved?
temporal
The theory of natural selection states that
the best adapted individuals survive and reproduce, contributing the most genes to the next generation.
What determines which traits will be passed on to the next generation in the greatest frequency?
the fit of the trait to the environment
Most of the 700 species of fruit flies found in the Hawaiian archipelago are each restricted to a single island. One hypothesis to explain this pattern is that each species diverged after a small number of flies had colonized each new island. This mechanism is called
the founder effect
Strong evidence for the close relatedness of vertebrates is
the similarity of their embryological stages
Two fossils may be assigned to different species if
they are anatomically different
The existence of species of flightless birds with wings suggests that
they are descended from flying birds
Mutations are important because
they provide new variation for evolutionary change
Most commercial pesticides are effective for only 2-3 years. This is because
those pests with advantageous mutations will survive and reproduce.
Of the following, which is the first distinctively hominid trait to appear in the fossil record?
upright walking
Boa constrictors have tiny pelvic girdles and leg bones within their bodies. Since these structures are nonfunctional, they are called
vestigial
Structures (like molar teeth in vampire bats) which are homologous to important structures in other organisms but serve no purpose in the organism being considered are
vestigial
Some fish species found in caves have reduced eyes. These eyes are BEST describes as
vestigial structures
If the weather in Richmond, Virginia, changed to very cold (snow on the ground 8 moths of each year) over the next few years, what change might occur?
If a mutation occurred which caused white fur to develop, such white squirrels would have a better chance to survive and produce more offspring with the characteristic
Which statement is consistent with the scientific evidence about the genus Homo?
It is originated in Africa
Which of the following statements was NOT one of Darwin's assumptions in proposing natural selection?
Organisms usually have two copies of each gene for each trait.
As predator and prey species coevolve, which is a likely result of the process of evolution?
Predator evolves which kills mostly individuals with some genotypes but not with other genotypes
Which of the following is NOT an example of natural selection?
Scientists breed cows that give greater amounts of milk than their ancestors
Evolution can be defines as
a change in the genetic makeup of a population over time
An organism's phenotype is determined by
a combination of its genotype and its environments
Which of the following "species" cannot be tested via the biological species concept to see if all the individual organisms are in fact a single species?
a dinosaur species
Which example is favored in terms of natural selection?
a woman who lives 25 years and has 6 children
The animals most closely related to humans are the
chimpanzees
Our species, Homo sapiens, has been in existence for approximately how many years?
100,000
The oldest fossils of Homo sapiens are about ___ years old
150,000
The oldest fossils of Homo sapiens are about ___ years old.
150,000
The publication date of Darwin's Origin of Species was
1859
Clearly bipedal hominid fossil footprints date to about ___ years ago.
3.5 million
Earliest hominids were in a group called ___
Australopithecines
According to current scientific evidence, which kind of primate is most closely related to humans?
Australopithecus
In addition to Homo, another genus within the hominid family is
Australopithecus
Hominid species migrated out of Africa
Both B and C: nearly 2 million years ago nearly 800,000 years ago
The author of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection is
Darwin
Which statement BEST describes the reproductive isolation between populations of flies found on apple and hawthorn trees?
Males raised on one type of tree prefer to mate with females who will lay eggs on that same type of tree
DNA analysis recently showed that ___ is probably a separate species from Homo sapiens
Neanderthal
If within a large population no mutations occur, no migration occur, all matings are random, and each individual has an equal chance of reproducing, which of the following will probably happen?
No evolution will occur.
A fish population averages 10 mm in size. A predator population that cannot eat fish larger than 15 mm arrives in the area. After a decade, the fish average 17 mm in size. What is likely to have happened?
The larger fish in the population survived and left more offspring to subsequent generations.
Which statement BEST describes how evolution proceeds?
There are new species continually evolving and replacing species going extinct.
The fossil record indicates that over the last 50 million years the horse has evolved in all but which of the following ways?
abundance of hair
When a species invades a new habitat and evolved rapidly into several new species to better exploit new resources (e.g. Darwin's Finches), what has occurred?
adaptive radiation
The genus Australopithecus
all of the above: gave rise to species of the genus Homo; originated in Africa; included both larger and smaller species; coexisted with species of the genus Homo during their early history
Population bottlenecks are dangerous to a population because
all of the above: the potential for evolution is decreased; inbreeding depression often results; genetic variability is lost
An insect population may evolve adaptations to
all of them: better chew the tough leaves of the plants it eats; an increased concentration of pesticide in its environment; attract members of the opposite sex; avoid being seen by bird predators
Mutations
all of these: can be helpful or harmful; must rely on natural selection or drift to spread through a population; are very rare; provide only the potential for evolution
Evidence which supports the theory of evolution is found in the studies of
all of these: embryos; biochemistry; artificial selection; fossils
Dolphins, which are mammals, and fish have fins. These structures are BEST described as
analogous structures
That whales have pelvic bones indicates
ancestral whales had legs
Overspecialized adaptations
are a result of natural selections
A biologist develops a strain of corn with lower fat content by choosing low fat variants and crossing them over a period of several generations. This is an example of
artificial selection
The many different breeds of domestic dog were produced by
artificial selection
The many different breeds of domestic dog were produces by
artificial selection
In many species of fireflies males flash to attract females. Each species has a different flashing pattern. This is an example of
bahavioral isolation
If two or more phenotypes in a population are both favored by selection, what happens?
balanced polymorphism
The elaborate courtship rituals of many bird species help to preserve genetic isolation due to
behavior isolation
Blue-footed boobies of the Galapagos will only mate after a very specific courtship display on the part of the male. He high steps to advertise his bright blue feet. What isolating mechanism discourages mating outside the species?
behavioral isolation
Specific inheritable mutations, which may allow a population to evolve, are produced
by chance
Natural selection is BEST described as
working on existing variation of traits to favor those better suited to the organisms's environment
Which of the following is NOT capable of evolving?
your professor