Unit 1 Test: Evolution

The validity of the Cladogram is best supported by molecular evidence for which of the following changes the amino acid composition of the beta- hemoglobin protein during the evolution of thesis species?

A. Arginine to leucine at position X on the cladogram

The structural similarities between the forelimbs shown in the figure above are evidence that:

A. Divergent evolution of a common ancestor occurred

Freshwater bony fish secrete large volumes of very dilute urine. Many marine bony fish secrete small volumes of concentrated urine. Which of the following best explains the differences in nitrogenous- waste excretion between freshwater and marine bony fish?

A. The differences arose during divergence, as fish from a common ancestor faced different selective pressures in environments of different osmolarity.

In a species of cactus, the number of species on a plant is genetically determined. The graph above shows frequency distributions for populations of the cactus species growing in the presence or absence of two herbivores: peccaries (a New World pig) and wasp larvae. Which of the following best accounts for the different frequency distributions in the graph?

B. Peccaries eat cacti with a smaller number of spines, and wasp larvae eat cacti with a greater number of spines

if the two finch populations are each in Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium and are isolated from each other, then which of the following graphs correctly displays the relative genotype frequencies?

C

Nine percent of a population is homozygous recessive (aa) at a certain locus. Assuming that the population is in Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium, which of the following is closest to the frequency of the recessive allele (a)?

C. 0.30

One of the oldest known mammalian fossils belongs to a small furry species, Hadrocodium woo, that lived 195 million years ago. For the following 100 million years, only a small number of groups of mammalian fossils are founding the fossil record. By 65 million years ago, the Donavan dinosaurs were extinct. By 55 million years ago, therefore 130 mammal genera, including 4,000 different species that occupied a wide variety of habitats. Which of the following best describes the cause of the rapid increase in the number of mammalian species between 65 and 55 million years ago?

C. After the dinosaur extinction, many ecological niches became available, leading to the adaptive radiation of mammals

Based on the morphological characteristics, the phylogenetic tree above has been developed for species I, II, III, IV. DNA sequencing has recently been completed for a particular gene found in all four species. The sequencing will provide additional information for answering which of the following questions?

C. Are species III and IV the most closely related?

The FtsZ protein is present in prokaryotes and in chloroplasts. The protein is structurally and functionally similar to tubulin proteins of eukaryotic cells. Which of the following is a likely conclusion to draw from this information?

C. Tubulin genes are evolutionary derived from the gene that codes for the FtsZ protein.

Which of the following phylogenetic trees can be supported by the data?

D. I and II only I: human, chimpanzee, Rhesus monkey, rabbits II. chimpanzee, human, rhesus monkey, horses

Which of the following includes the most likely change in the coloration of the beetle population after pollution and a correct rationale for the change?

D. IV. The lighter colored beetles were found more easily by the predators than were the darker- colored beetles

A scientist used the amino acid sequence of cytochrome c in different species to consider evolutionary relationships. Interpretation of the data supports which of the following data

E. Mammals are more closely related to reptiles than they are to fish