Chapter 22

Which of the following evidence most strongly supports the common origin of all life on Earth? All organisms _____.

use essentially the same genetic code

Logically, which of these should cast the most doubt on the relationships depicted by an evolutionary tree?

Relationships between DNA sequences among the species did not match relationships between skeletal patterns.

Parasitic species tend to have simple morphologies. Which of the following statements best explains this observation?

Simple morphologies convey some advantage in most parasites.

Given what we know about evolutionary biology, we expect to find the largest number of endemic species in which of the following geological features, which have existed for at least a few million years?

an isolated ocean island in the tropics

Scientific theories _____.

are supported by, and make sense of, many observations

DDT was once considered a "silver bullet" that would permanently eradicate insect pests. instead, DDT is largely useless against many insects. which would have prevented this evolution of DDT resistance in insect pests?

none of the insect pests would have genetic variations that resulted in DDT resistance

When Cuvier considered the fossils found in the vicinity of Paris, he concluded that the extinction of species _____.

occurs, but that there is no evolution

Of the following anatomical structures, which is homologous to the bones in the wing of a bird?

bones in the flipper of a whale

Pseudogenes are _____.

nonfunctional vestigial genes

Which of the following represents an idea that Darwin learned from the writings of Thomas Malthus?

Populations tend to increase at a faster rate than their food supply normally allows.

During a study session about evolution, one of your fellow student's remarks, "The giraffe stretched its neck while reaching for higher leaves; its offspring inherited longer necks as a result." Which statement is most likely to be helpful in correcting this student's misconception?

Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on through genes.

Which of these conditions are always true of populations evolving due to natural selection? Condition 1: The population must vary in traits that are heritable. Condition 2: Some heritable traits must increase reproductive success. Condition 3: Individuals pass on most traits that they acquire during their lifetime.

Conditions 1 and 2

Structures as different as human arms, bat wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the same bones, which develop from similar embryonic tissues. These structural similarities are an example of _____.

Homology

What must be true of any organ described as vestigial?

It must be homologous to some feature in an ancestor.

In the mid-1900s, the Soviet geneticist Lysenko believed that his winter wheat plants, exposed to increasingly colder temperatures, would eventually give rise to more cold-tolerant winter wheat. Lysenko's attempts in this regard were most in agreement with the ideas of _____.

Lamarck

Members of two different species possess a similar-looking structure that they use in a similar way to perform about the same function. Which of the following would suggest that the relationship more likely represents homology instead of convergent evolution?

The two species share many proteins in common, and the nucleotide sequences that code for these proteins are almost identical.

About thirteen different species of finches inhabit the Galápagos Islands today, all descendants of a common ancestor from the South American mainland that arrived a few million years ago. Genetically, there are four distinct lineages, but the thirteen species are currently classified among three genera. The first lineage to diverge from the ancestral lineage was the warbler finch (genus Certhidea). Next to diverge was the vegetarian finch (genus Camarhynchus), followed by five tree finch species (also in genus Camarhynchus) and six ground finch species (genus Geospiza). If the six ground finch species have evolved most recently, then which of these is the most logical prediction?

Their genomes should be more similar to each other than are the genomes of the five tree finch species.

If the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus experiences a cost for maintaining one or more antibiotic-resistance genes, what would happen in environments that lack antibiotics?

These bacteria would be outcompeted and replaced by bacteria that have lost these genes.

Over long periods of time, many cave-dwelling organisms have lost their eyes. Tapeworms have lost their digestive systems. Whales have lost their hind limbs. How can natural selection account for these losses?

Under particular circumstances that persisted for long periods, each of these structures presented greater costs than benefits

With what other idea of his time was Cuvier's theory of catastrophism most in conflict?

Uniformitarianism

Which of the following scientists argued that variation among individuals allows evolution to occur?

Wallace

Prior to the work of Lyell and Darwin, the prevailing belief was that Earth is _____.

a few thousand years old, and populations are unchanging

Many crustaceans (for example, lobsters, shrimp, and crayfish) use their tails to swim, but crabs have reduced tails that curl under their shells and are not used in swimming. This is an example of _____.

a vestigial trait

Darwin and Wallace were the first to propose _____.

a) natural selection as the mechanism of evolution

A population of organisms will not evolve if _____.

all individual variation is due only to environmental factors

The role that humans play in artificial selection is to _____.

choose which organisms reproduce

Cotton-topped tamarins are small primates with tufts of long white hair on their heads. While studying these creatures, you notice that males with longer hair get more opportunities to mate and father more offspring. To test the hypothesis that having longer hair is adaptive in these males, you should _____.

determine if hair length is heritable

Darwin and Wallace's theory of evolution by natural selection was revolutionary because it _____.

dismissed the idea that species are constant and emphasized the importance of variation and change in populations

Which of the following, if discovered, could refute our current understanding of the pattern of evolution?

diverse fossils of mammals in Precambrian rock

Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that population?

genetic variation among individuals

After the drought of 1977, researchers hypothesized that on the Galápagos island Daphne Major, medium ground finches with large, deep beaks survived better than those with smaller beaks because they could more easily crack and eat the tough Tribulus cistoides fruits. A tourist company sets up reliable feeding stations with a variety of bird seeds (different types and sizes) so that tourists can get a better look at the finches. Which of these events is now most likely to occur to finch beaks on this island?

increased variation in beak size and shape over time

It has been observed that organisms on islands are different from, but closely related to, similar forms found on the nearest continent. This is taken as evidence that ____.

island forms are descended from mainland forms

The greatest number of endemic species is expected in environments that are _____.

isolated and show little ecological diversity

Which of Darwin's ideas had the strongest connection to his reading of Malthus's essay on human population growth?

struggle for existence

Catastrophism was Cuvier's attempt to explain the existence of _____.

the fossil record