Biology: Formative Assesment

Modern whales have a vestigial pelvis and femur. What does this evidence suggest about ancestors of modern whales?

His ancestor probably walked

What is the correct statement about the relationship between natural select and evolution?

Natural selection is one mechanism of evolution

When farmers select animals or plants to use for breeding, they look for...

Natural variations that are present in a species

If a species is suddenly introduced into a new habitat, what might occur?

Adaptive Radiation

What is the term describing the process that occurs when a species evolves into a new species without a physical barrier separating populations?

Adaptive radiation

Superficially similar features molded by natural selection in very different species are classified as what kind of structures?

Analogous

When a farmer breeds only his or her best livestock, the process involved is...

Artificial Selection

The hypothesis that a species change over times by natural selection was proposed by..

Charles Darwin

What is an accurate comparison of derived traits and ancestral traits?

Derived traits are recent features; ancestral traits are more primitive features.

Darwin's theory of evolution suggest that

Species change over time

Biochemical traits help Darwin unravel his theory of evolution

False

Darwin developed his theory of evolution exclusively from his work on the Galapagos Islands

False

Fossils, although interesting, do no actually provide evidence of evolution

False

In NATURAL SELECTION, human breeders, rather than the environment, select the variations of traits to be passed to offspring.

False; artificial

Embryos of different organisms exhibit homologous structures during certain phases of development that become totally different structure in adult forms. This indicates that organisms evolved from DIFFERENT ancestors.

False; common

Gradualism and punctuated equilibrium are SIMILAR models of evolution

False; different

The term FITNESS refers to an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in a specific environment

False; natural selection

Punctuated equilibrium and gradualism are two models that describe the CAUSE of speciation.

False; rate

Humans born with either below-normal or above-normal birth weights have a lower chance of survival than those born with average birth weights. Consequently, birth weights vary little in human populations. This form of natural selection is called DIRECTIONAL SELECTION.

False; stabalizing

How do fossils demonstrate evidence of evolution?

Homologous structures indicated a common ancestor

A population diverges and becomes reproductively isolated. What is the best description of that phenomenon?

Sexual selection

A mutation is random change in GENETIC material

True

A vestigial structure in one organism can be defined as a reduced form of a functional structure in another organism.

True

According to Charles Darwin, individuals best suited to their environment and REPRODUCE most successfully.

True

Artificial selection as practiced by farmers is also called SELECTIVE BREEDING

True

Homologous structures indicate a shared ancestry, while vestigial structures do not

True

Natural selection is based on the concepts of excess reproduction, variation, inheritance, and the advantages of certain traits

True

The species of finches that Charles Darwin found on the Galapagos Islands displayed different structural adaptations. One of the adaptations that Darwin noted was the

birds's different-shaped beaks

Certain animal structures that have different functions in different species and develop from the same embryonic tissues are called--- structures

homologous

An adaptation is an inherited characteristic that can be..

physical or behavioral

On the Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin observed...

somewhat similar species, with traits that suited their particular environments

Darwin noticed that many organisms seemed well suited to...

surviving in the environment they inhabited