BYS 120 Final Exam

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

During a study session about evolution, one of your fellow students 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

Starting from the wild mustard Brassica oleracea, breeders have created the strains known as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, and cabbage. Therefore, which of the following statements is correct?

In this wild mustard, there is enough heritable variation to permit these different varieties.

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.

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.

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.

A population of organisms will not evolve if _____.

all individual variation is due only to environmental factors

Darwin and Wallace were the first to propose _____.

natural selection as the mechanism of evolution

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

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

struggle for existence

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 _____.

test whether males with shaved heads are still able to mate