Intro to Evolution questions

12) Given a population that contains genetic variation, what is the correct sequence of the following events, under the influence of natural selection? 1. Well-adapted individuals leave more offspring than do poorly adapted individuals. 2. A change occurs in the environment. 3. Genetic frequencies within the population change. 4. Poorly adapted individuals have decreased survivorship. A) 2 → 4 → 1 → 3 B) 4 → 2 → 1 → 3 C) 4 → 1 → 2 → 3 D) 4 → 2 → 3 → 1 E) 2 → 4 → 3 → 1

A) 2 → 4 → 1 → 3

9) Which of these conditions should completely prevent the occurrence of natural selection in a population over time? A) All variation between individuals is due only to environmental factors. B) The environment is changing at a relatively slow rate. C) The population size is large. D) The population lives in a habitat where there are no competing species present.

A) All variation between individuals is due only to environmental factors.

5) 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? A) Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on through genes. B) Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of new traits. C) Only favorable adaptations have survival value. D) Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance. E) If the giraffes did not have to compete with each other, longer necks would not have been passed on to the next generation.

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

4) What was the prevailing belief prior to the time of Lyell and Darwin? A) Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations are unchanging. B) Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations gradually change. C) Earth is millions of years old, and populations rapidly change. D) Earth is millions of years old, and populations are unchanging. E) Earth is millions of years old, and populations gradually change.

A) Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations are unchanging.

16) If Darwin had been aware of genes, and of their typical mode of transmission to subsequent generations, with which statement would he most likely have been in agreement? A) If natural selection can change one gene's frequency in a population over the course of generations then, given enough time and enough genes, natural selection can cause sufficient genetic change to produce new species from old ones. B) If an individual's somatic cell genes change during its lifetime, making it more fit, then it will be able to pass these genes on to its offspring. C) If an individual acquires new genes by engulfing, or being infected by, another organism, then a new genetic species will be the result. D) A single mutation in a single gene in a single gamete will, if perpetuated, produce a new species within just two generations.

A) If natural selection can change one gene's frequency in a population over the course of generations then, given enough time and enough genes, natural selection can cause sufficient genetic change to produce new species from old ones.

4) Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that population? A) genetic variation among individuals B) variation among individuals caused by environmental factors C) sexual reproduction D) Three of the responses are correct. E) Two of the responses are correct.

A) genetic variation among individuals

35) 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 A) island forms and mainland forms descended from common ancestors. B) common environments are inhabited by the same organisms. C) the islands were originally part of the continent. D) the island forms and mainland forms are converging. E) island forms and mainland forms have identical gene pools.

A) island forms and mainland forms descended from common ancestors.

27) Which of the following pieces of evidence most strongly supports the common origin of all life on Earth? A) All organisms require energy. B) All organisms use essentially the same genetic code. C) All organisms reproduce. D) All organisms show heritable variation. E) All organisms have undergone evolution.

B) All organisms use essentially the same genetic code.

33) What must be true of any organ that is described as vestigial? A) It must be analogous to some feature in an ancestor. B) It must be homologous to some feature in an ancestor. C) It must be both homologous and analogous to some feature in an ancestor. D) It need be neither homologous nor analogous to some feature in an ancestor.

B) It must be homologous to some feature in an ancestor.

18) Currently, two extant elephant species (X and Y) are placed in the genus Loxodonta, and a third species (Z) is placed in the genus Elephas. Thus, which statement should be true? A) Species X and Y are not related to species Z. B) Species X and Y share a greater number of homologies with each other than either does with species Z. C) Species X and Y share a common ancestor that is still extant (in other words, not yet extinct). D) Species X and Y are the result of artificial selection from an ancestral species Z. E) Species X, Y, and Z share a common ancestor, but nothing more can be claimed than this.

B) Species X and Y share a greater number of homologies with each other than either does with species Z.

30) Members of two different species possess a similar-looking structure that they use in a similar fashion to perform the same function. Which information would best help distinguish between an explanation based on homology versus one based on convergent evolution? A) The two species live at great distance from each other. B) The two species share many proteins in common, and the nucleotide sequences that code for these proteins are almost identical. C) The sizes of the structures in adult members of both species are similar in size. D) Both species are well adapted to their particular environments.

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

1) Which of the following statements best describes theories? A) They are nearly the same things as hypotheses. B) They are supported by, and make sense of, many observations. C) They cannot be tested because the described events occurred only once. D) They are predictions of future events.

B) They are supported by, and make sense of, many observations.

2) Catastrophism, meaning the regular occurrence of geological or meteorological disturbances (catastrophes), was Cuvier's attempt to explain the existence of A) evolution. B) the fossil record. C) uniformitarianism. D) the origin of new species. E) natural selection.

B) the fossil record.

24) If two modern organisms are distantly related in an evolutionary sense, then one should expect that A) they live in very different habitats. B) they should share fewer homologous structures than two more closely related organisms. C) their chromosomes should be very similar. D) they shared a common ancestor relatively recently. E) they should be members of the same genus.

B) they should share fewer homologous structures than two more closely related organisms.

7) In the mid-1900s, the Soviet geneticist Lysenko believed that his winter wheat plants, exposed to ever-colder temperatures, would eventually give rise to ever more cold-tolerant winter wheat. Lysenko's attempts in this regard were most in agreement with the ideas of A) Cuvier. B) Hutton. C) Lamarck. D) Darwin. E) Lyell.

C) Lamarck.

29) Which of the following statements most detracts from the claim that the human appendix is a completely vestigial organ? A) The appendix can be surgically removed with no immediate ill effects. B) The appendix might have been larger in fossil hominids. C) The appendix has a substantial amount of defensive lymphatic tissue. D) Individuals with a larger-than-average appendix leave fewer offspring than those with a below-average-sized appendix. E) In a million years, the human species might completely lack an appendix.

C) The appendix has a substantial amount of defensive lymphatic tissue.

26) Over evolutionary 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? A) Natural selection cannot account for losses, only for innovations. B) Natural selection accounts for these losses by the principle of use and disuse. C) Under particular circumstances that persisted for long periods, each of these structures presented greater costs than benefits. D) The ancestors of these organisms experienced harmful mutations that forced them to find new habitats that these species had not previously used

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

17) The role that humans play in artificial selection is to A) determine who lives and who dies. B) create the genetic variants, which nature then selects. C) choose which organisms breed, and which do not. D) train organisms to breed more successfully. E) perform artificial insemination.

C) choose which organisms breed, and which do not.

32) Both ancestral birds and ancestral mammals shared a common ancestor that was terrestrial. Today, penguins (which are birds) and seals (which are mammals) have forelimbs adapted for swimming. What term best describes the relationship of the bones in the forelimbs of penguins and seals, and what term best describes the flippers of penguins and seals? A) homologous; homologous B) analogous; homologous C) homologous; analogous D) analogous; analogous

C) homologous; analogous

15) Which of Darwin's ideas had the strongest connection to Darwin having read Malthus's essay on human population growth? A) descent with modification B) variation among individuals in a population C) struggle for existence D) the ability of related species to be conceptualized in "tree thinking" E) that the ancestors of the Galápagos finches had come from the South American mainland

C) struggle for existence

8) Charles Darwin was the first person to propose A) that evolution occurs. B) a mechanism for how evolution occurs. C) that Earth is older than a few thousand years. D) a mechanism for evolution that was supported by evidence. E) that population growth can outpace the growth of food resources.

D) a mechanism for evolution that was supported by evidence.

3) With what other idea of his time was Cuvier's theory of catastrophism most in conflict? A) gradualism B) the fixity of species C) island biogeography D) uniformitarianism E) the scala naturae

D) uniformitarianism

28) Logically, which of these should cast the most doubt on the relationships depicted by an evolutionary tree? A) None of the organisms depicted by the tree ate the same foods. B) Some of the organisms depicted by the tree had lived in different habitats. C) The skeletal remains of the organisms depicted by the tree were incomplete (in other words, some bones were missing). D) Transitional fossils had not been found. E) Relationships between DNA sequences among the species did not match relationships between skeletal patterns.

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

31) Ichthyosaurs were aquatic dinosaurs. Fossils show us that they had dorsal fins and tails, as do fish, even though their closest relatives were terrestrial reptiles that had neither dorsal fins nor aquatic tails. The dorsal fins and tails of ichthyosaurs and fish are A) homologous. B) examples of convergent evolution. C) adaptations to a common environment. D) Three of the responses above are correct. E) Two of the responses above are correct.

E) Two of the responses above are correct.

13) A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years. During that time, the population was never fewer than 30 squirrels and never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the squirrels born did not survive to reproduce, because of both competition for food and predation. In a single generation, 90% of the squirrels that were born lived to reproduce, and the population increased to 80. Which inference(s) about this population might be true? A) The amount of available food may have increased. B) The parental generation of squirrels developed better eyesight due to improved diet; the subsequent squirrel generation inherited better eyesight. C) The squirrels of subsequent generations should show greater levels of genetic variation than previous generations, because squirrels that would not have survived in the past will now survive. D) Three of the statements above are correct. E) Two of the statements above are correct.

E) Two of the statements above are correct.

25) Structures as different as human arms, bat wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the same bones, these bones having developed from very similar embryonic tissues. How do biologists interpret these similarities? A) by identifying the bones as being homologous structures B) by the principle of convergent evolution C) by proposing that humans, bats, and dolphins share a common ancestor D) Three of the statements above are correct. E) Two of the statements above are correct.

E) Two of the statements above are correct.

23) Of the following anatomical structures, which is homologous to the bones in the wing of a bird? A) cartilage in the dorsal fin of a shark B) bones in the hind limb of a kangaroo C) chitinous struts in the wing of a butterfly D) bony rays in the tail fin of a flying fish E) bones in the flipper of a whale

E) bones in the flipper of a whale

10) Natural selection is based on all of the following except A) genetic variation exists within populations. B) the best-adapted individuals tend to leave the most offspring. C) individuals who survive longer tend to leave more offspring than those who die young. D) populations tend to produce more individuals than the environment can support. E) individuals adapt to their environments and, thereby, evolve.

E) individuals adapt to their environments and, thereby, evolve.

What is true of natural selection? Select one: a. The only way to eliminate harmful mutations is through natural selection. b. Natural selection is a random process. c. Natural selection creates beneficial mutations. d. Natural selection is based on differential reproductive success.

d. Natural selection is based on differential reproductive success.