MasteringBio: Chapter 7
Which of the following is evidence for evolution in action?
ANSWER: All are evidence for evolution Bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics over time The different domesticated breeds of dogs customized for our needs Mosquitoes becoming resistant to pesticides
What is an adaptation?
ANSWER: All of the above are correct The result of natural selection The accumulation of favorable traits over time A specialized feature
The eastern meadowlark and the western meadowlark are two bird species that look very similar to each other. Why do biologists not consider them the same species?
ANSWER: All of the above are correct. The two species do not live in the same habitat and thus do not interbreed in nature. The two species experience the reproductive barrier of habitat isolation. Species are not determined by appearance but by their ability to interbreed naturally.
Which of the following are lines of evidence that support the theory of evolution by natural selection?
ANSWER: All of the above are lines of evidence that support the theory of evolution The comparison of DNA sequences in different organisms The study of the geographic distribution of species on Earth The comparison of body structures in modern organisms
Which of the following are considered fossils?
ANSWER:All of the above are considered fossils Footprints or other impressions preserved in stone Animals frozen in ice or preserved in amber Mineralized bones
Which of the following are examples of macroevolution?
ANSWER:All of the above are examples of macroevolution Mass extinctions that wipe 50% or more of living species The creation of new species The evolution of novel biological features
What is the leading hypothesis for what might have brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs?
An asteroid impact
What is the name for the study of the geographic distribution of species?
Biogeography
Today, we are in the ________ geologic era.
Cenozoic
Which of the following best defines microevolution?
Changes in genes within a population over time
Which classification grouping includes the greatest number of species?
Domain
Which grouping includes all of the protists?
Domain Eukarya
Human embryos have a developmental stage during which they have a tail and pharyngeal pouches (those pouches develop into gills in fish). How can we explain these characteristics of human embryos?
Human embryos share a common ancestor who had gills.
Before Darwin published his work, Lamarck and others had suggested mechanisms for evolution. By what means did Darwin propose species evolved over time?
Natural selection
What events can lead to offspring having a unique arrangement of their parents' genes?
Neither crossing over nor independent assortment
Can you inherit physical traits that your parents acquired during their lifetime?
No
Which two observations led Darwin to conclude that there is competition for survival?
Overproduction of organisms and limited food resources
All prokaryotes are in the domain ________.
Prokaryotes are in different domains.
Before the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, what was the prevailing public consensus regarding species evolution?
That species were permanent and unchanging
A zombie apocalypse wipes out almost the entire human species before the zombie threat is eliminated. Only a group of 100 people who were at a family reunion on an uninhabited island survived. They returned to the mainland completely unaware of what had happened to everyone. Answer the following question(s) regarding the few survivors who now begin to rebuild the human population.Despite an abundance of habitat, why will it be difficult for the human species to recover?
The reduced genetic diversity will make it difficult for the population to adapt to new diseases or other environmental changes.
In many ways, a mule is a superior animal to the horse or donkey. Mules are often stronger and can jump higher than either of their parents. Why, then, are mules considered to be a "weak hybrid"?
They are sterile.
A requirement of cladistics is that a grouping must include ________.
a common ancestor and all its descendants
Comparing the body structures of organisms to find evidence of a shared evolutionary history is called ________.
comparative anatomy
The oldest fossils are typically found in the sediments ________.
located deep under the surface
Individuals with variations that make them best suited to their environment are, on average, more likely to ________
survive and reproduce
If two organisms of different species share more similar DNA sequences with each other than with other species, we can conclude that ________.
these two species are very closely related
When did life first appear on the planet?
3.5 billion years ago
Some of the "branches" of a phylogenetic tree do not extend to the end. What do these lines represent?
Extinct species
The four eras each represents an equal time of Earth's history.
False, the four eras are vastly different in their durations
What term describes the failure of one species' sperm to fertilize the egg of a different species?
Gametic incompatibility
What does fitness mean when speaking in terms of evolution?
How many offspring an individual produces
What defines a population in evolution?
Interbreeding members of the same species that share a common space
A zombie apocalypse wipes out almost the entire human species before the zombie threat is eliminated. Only a group of 100 people who were at a family reunion on an uninhabited island survived. They returned to the mainland completely unaware of what had happened to everyone. Answer the following question(s) regarding the few survivors who now begin to rebuild the human population. Certain traits will have been lost from the gene pool forever. This loss of diversity in a reduced population is called ________.
bottleneck effect
Evolution can be best defined as ________.
change in the gene pool of a population