Chapter 16 Questions

According to Malthus, what factors limit population growth? Why did Malthus' ideas apply to other organisms better than they did to humans?

According to Malthus, population growth is limited by overcrowding and lack of food, which in turn led to war, famine, and disease. His ideas apply to other organisms better than to humans, because other organisms can produce many more offspring over their lifetimes than humans.

Lamarck's ideas about evolution were wrong because he proposed that...

Acquired characteristics can be inherited.

An inherited characteristic that increases an organisms ability to survive and reproduce in its specific environment is called a(n).....

Adaptation

DNA and RNA provide evidence of evolution because...

All organisms have nearly identical DNA and RNA

The large ground finch obtains food by cracking seeds. It's short strong beak is an example of...

An adaptation.

A farmer's use of the best livestock for breeding is an example of...

Artificial selection

Which of the following would an animal breeder use to increase the number of cows that give the most milk?

Artificial selection

Why was Darwin confused about the fact that there were no rabbits in Australia?

Australian habitats seemed to beer fact for rabbits and similar grasslands in Europe had rabbits.

How do vestigial structures indicate that present day organisms support the theory of evolution?

Because these features are remnants of structures that functioned in the organism's ancestors.

Which scientist formulated the theory of evolution through natural selection?

Charles Darwin

Who observed variations in the characteristics of plants and animals on different islands of the Galapagos?

Charles Darwin

What connection did Darwin make between Galapagos tortoises and their environments?

Closely related Galapagos tortoises exhibited different traits depending on the environment of the island where they lived.

Which of the following is an important concept in Darwin's theory of natural selection?

Descent with modification

What does the term evolution mean?

Evolution means change over time. An example would be the change over time in some bacteria that allows them to resist drugs.

How well an organism survives and reproduces in it's environment can be described as it's...

Fitness

The ability of an individual organism to survive and reproduce in its natural environment is called...

Fitness

In addition to observing living organisms, Darwin studied the preserved remains of ancient organisms called _______.

Fossils

What accounts for the presence of marine fossils on mountain tops?

Geological processes uplifted a former sea bed to form mountains.

What patterns of variation did Darwin observe among rheas , ostriches, and emus?

He observed that each of these distantly related large, flightless birds found in a different but ecologically similar habitat around the globe shared many similarities in form and function.

Why was Darwin's trip aboard the Beagle so important to his development of his theory of natural selection?

His trip let him observe, in a variety of habitats, the patterns of biodiversity that result from evolution by natural selection.

Structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same embryonic tissue are called __________.

Homologous

Intermediate fossil forms are important evidence of evolution because they show...

How organisms changed over time.

Explain the following statement: "descent with modification explains the diversity of life we see today."

It means that living species are descended, with modification, from ancestors. This implies that all organisms are related if you go far back enough. In other words, a single "tree of life" links all living things.

Explain why Lamarck's made a significant contribution to science even though his explanation of evolution was wrong.

Lamarck was on of the first naturalists to suggest that species are not fixed, and he tried to explain evolution scientifically using natural processes. He also recognized that there is a link between an organisms environment and it's body structures.

How did Lyell's Principles of Geology influence Darwin?

Lyell proposed that earth is extremely old and processes that changed the earth in the past are still at work today. This allowed for the great time span Darwin believed was necessary for evolution to occur. It also provided a geological analogy for biological evolution.

A bird's wings are homologous to a(n)

Mosquito's wings

Which of the following does NOT provide evidence for evolution?

Natural variation within a species

What idea was proposed by Lamarck that was later found to be incorrect?

That acquired characteristics can be inherited.

What is artificial selection? How did this concept influence Darwin's thinking?

The process of selectively breeding plants and animals to have the traits desired by breeders or farmers. Artificial selection showed Darwin how heritable traits of organisms could change over time.

Lyell's Principles of Geology influenced Darwin because it explained how...

The surface of earth changes over time.

How does natural variation affect evolution?

Variation is necessary if some organisms are to have greater fitness than others and to have a greater chance of passing on traits to the next generation.