Unit F: Evolution TEST

Ancestors of modern elephants had much shorter trunks than elephants today. Explain how each of the following was important for evolution of the longer trunked modern elephant from its shorter trunked ancestor. (Variation, Mutation, Heredity, & Natural Selection)

1. Because of Variation some elephants were born with longer trunks. If longer trunks were a helpful mutation for survival, eventually the entire population would have longer trunks. 2. The longer trunk is a mutation. 3. Elephants inherited the mutation of longer trunks. 4. If longer trunks helped the elephants to survive more easily, then the longer trunked ones would live long enough to reproduce and pass their traits on. Over time, natural selection caused all of the elephants to have longer trunks.

Humans currently live in the

Cenozoic time period

The environment is NOT used to determine how a species is classified

DNA, skeletons, and physical characteristics are

The statement "organisms have evolved over the last few hundred years" is....

False, evolution can take Millions of years to happen

Imagine that pollution caused the pine trees in a forest to be heavily covered with brown particles. What is most likely to happen?

The brown moths would less likely to be eaten by birds. Over time, the moth population would have more brown moths.

If a female giraffe with a short neck is having a difficult time reaching leaves in a taller tree. According to the theory of natural selection...

The giraffe will have to survive on leaves from shorter trees, but her offspring with longer necks are more likely to survive.

Bringing an extinct species back to life is not yet possible, but someday it will be. Should we bring back an extinct species? Discuss the trade-offs of your decision.

You may support either side as long as you provide evidence in support of your decision. For example: They should not be brought back to life even if we are capable of doing it. We do not know what diseases they may introduce into our population, and we don't know the effects of the new species on the existing ecosystem. Even though we could learn a lot, the risks are too great

A mutation is

a change in the DNA of a gene that can lead to a different trait. (for an example a pelican born with a larger beak, and passes that trait to its offspring)

An observation is

a description gathered by the senses

Something that is not likely to be a fossil is

a piece of cement. A footprint, a piece of bone, and a tooth are likely to be a fossil

Brown moths

are possibly the result of a mutation and increase the variation within the moth population

According to geologic evidence, the earth is

billions of years old

Characteristics that are acquired during one's lifetime ( like lifting weights to get muscular)

cannot be passed on to offspring

When looking at a drill core to determine the time span in which a fish lived for example, you should

compare this column to columns from other locations

A scientist goes to an undisturbed field and begins digging. She finds a leg bone of Dinosaur A about 12 ft below the surface. She keeps digging and finds a jaw bone 27 feet below the surface. Based on this information...

dinosaur B lived before dinosaur A

The extinction of a species could be caused by

environmental change, loss of food source, disease

Over long periods of time, some species have become extinct, while new species have descended from earlier species. These changes are known as

evolution

Charles Darwin developed his theories based on his work with

finches on the Galapagos Islands

A trait that provides genetic variation within a flower population would be

flowers that had twice the normal number of petals

A paleontologist is most likely to study

fossils

An example of a mutation in a population

hornless cows have hornless offspring

The evolution of organisms on earth have been affected by humans. Humans are a result of evolution. Species continue to evolve. A false statement would be..

humans have no effect on the evolution of organisms on earth

DNA, fossils and skeletons provide evidence for the theory of evolution

not the weather!

Extinct organisms may be

related to living organisms and to other extinct organisms.

Geologic time periods are divided by

the appearance and disappearance of life forms

Some evidence you can collect from footprints is

the approximate shape of the organism's feet

The more similar the DNA

the more closely related the organism

When looking at a drill core

the organism that lived most recently is at the top

An inference is

the process of developing a conclusion based on evidence

The green moths survive in the forest because

their coloring makes them better adapted than the brown moths

"Diversity of species" refers to the idea that:

there are many different kinds of organisms.

A man who lifts weight and exercises and wants his children to be strong

should help his children excercise to build muscle

The organisms that have existed for the longest period of time is the

single celled organisms

Mutations are

sometimes helpful, sometimes harmful, sometimes neither

For many generations, a fish population had a lot of color variation. About half of the fish population was white and the other half gray. A species of large fish that eats smaller fish enters the area. This ;large fish can see white fish easier than gray fish. What will happen to the color of the fish population?

Over time the fish population will become gray. Because the white fish get eaten more often, they cannot reproduce and pass the white trait on. Only the gray fish survive to reproduce so over time, the population will be gray.

When looking at a drill core it shows

a series of rock layers and the presence of fossils

List these organisms from youngest to oldest (fish, bacteria, and mammals)

mammals, fish, bacteria

The ability of populations of bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics is an example of

natural selection

Variation is the result of

randomly occuring mutations

A statement that would explain genetic variation is

genetic mutations occur during the process of reproduction

The fact that brown moths are easier to see and are less likely to survive as a result is known as

natural selection