Question 1

The Murchison meteorite was a significant discovery for the study of the origin of life,because it ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  contained self-replicating organisms 
B)  contained carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen 
C)  contained significant amounts of amino acids 
D)  contained short lengths of RNA 
E)  descended through the atmosphere slowly enough that friction was negligible 
A)  contained self-replicating organisms 
B)  contained carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen 
C)  contained significant amounts of amino acids 
D)  contained short lengths of RNA 
E)  descended through the atmosphere slowly enough that friction was negligible C

Question 2

The model of life's origins,which posits that all of the necessary ingredients for the origin of life were present on early Earth,has been named after two early twentieth-century scientists.This model is called the ________ [two words] model.

Accepted Answer

Oparin-Haldane

Question 3

Minick Rosing's analysis of microscopic globules of carbon found in rocks 3.7 billion years old showed that they were somewhat higher in ¹²C as opposed to ¹³C.This is significant because ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  ¹³C radiometrically decays into ¹²C, which lets us calculate the age of these rocks 
B)  life could not have arisen in an environment with excessive ¹³C 
C)  these carbon globules contain visible remains of cell walls and nuclei 
D)  living things that fix carbon preferentially incorporate ¹²C over ¹³C 
E)  meteorites must have brought ¹³C to the early Earth 
A)  ¹³C radiometrically decays into ¹²C, which lets us calculate the age of these rocks 
B)  life could not have arisen in an environment with excessive ¹³C 
C)  these carbon globules contain visible remains of cell walls and nuclei 
D)  living things that fix carbon preferentially incorporate ¹²C over ¹³C 
E)  meteorites must have brought ¹³C to the early Earth D

Question 4

After important molecular discoveries in the 1980s,researchers have shifted their attention to RNA as the founding organic molecule for all of life on Earth ("The RNA World").What attributes does RNA have,and what evidence has been generated to support this hypothesis?

Accepted Answer

RNA, or ribonucleic acid, has several ke

Question 5

James Ferris discovered that clay minerals are capable of ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  joining pyrimidines to simple sugars 
B)  catalyzing the polymerization of activated nucleotides 
C)  breaking down biomolecules to release energy 
D)  activating nucleotides by adding phosphate groups 
E)  forming microscopic spheres from short polymers of amino acids 
A)  joining pyrimidines to simple sugars 
B)  catalyzing the polymerization of activated nucleotides 
C)  breaking down biomolecules to release energy 
D)  activating nucleotides by adding phosphate groups 
E)  forming microscopic spheres from short polymers of amino acids

Question 6

Proteins carry out much of the biochemistry of life,including DNA replication,but DNA stores the information needed to build correct proteins.Early life forms would have needed both proteins and DNA,but neither can exist without the other.The RNA world hypothesis is an appealing solution to this problem,because it states that ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  RNA can evolve into DNA by natural selection 
B)  proteins can store the information needed for their own synthesis 
C)  RNA is more chemically stable than DNA 
D)  nucleotides of RNA are chemically similar to amino acids 
E)  some RNA molecules both store information and catalyze chemical reactions 
A)  RNA can evolve into DNA by natural selection 
B)  proteins can store the information needed for their own synthesis 
C)  RNA is more chemically stable than DNA 
D)  nucleotides of RNA are chemically similar to amino acids 
E)  some RNA molecules both store information and catalyze chemical reactions

Question 7

Carl Woese is BEST known for discovering that ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  eukaryote membrane-bound organelles are descended from endosymbionts 
B)  the oldest fossils are 3.4 billion years old 
C)  prokaryotes comprise two very different branches: Bacteria and Archaea 
D)  energy acting on gases and water vapor will create a "primordial soup" of organic molecules 
E)  the last universal common ancestor (LUC
A)  did not have DNA-dependent RNA polymerase 
A)  eukaryote membrane-bound organelles are descended from endosymbionts 
B)  the oldest fossils are 3.4 billion years old 
C)  prokaryotes comprise two very different branches: Bacteria and Archaea 
D)  energy acting on gases and water vapor will create a "primordial soup" of organic molecules 
E)  the last universal common ancestor (LUC
A)  did not have DNA-dependent RNA polymerase

Question 8

An estimate of the universal phylogeny,based on the small subunit rRNA,is reproduced in the accompanying figure.According to this reconstruction,the domain that Eucarya shares the most recent common ancestor with is ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of An estimate of the universal phylogeny,based on...

Question 9

A problem with the basic Oparin-Haldane model for the origin of life (though not necessarily an unsolvable one)is that ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  it does not explain the origin of chirality 
B)  the early Earth is now not thought to have had a highly reducing atmosphere 
C)  monomers have to be chemically activated before they will polymerize 
D)  purine bases can attach to sugars in many equally probable ways 
E)  All of the above. 
A)  it does not explain the origin of chirality 
B)  the early Earth is now not thought to have had a highly reducing atmosphere 
C)  monomers have to be chemically activated before they will polymerize 
D)  purine bases can attach to sugars in many equally probable ways 
E)  All of the above.

Question 10

The Oparin-Haldane model of the origins of life on Earth can be concisely elucidated in three stages.Identify and describe each stage in the context of what is currently known,as well as what has been hypothesized,about the conditions of early Earth.

Accepted Answer

The Oparin-Haldane model proposes three

Question 11

The organisms formerly classified in the Kingdom Protista ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  all contain chloroplasts 
B)  form a single monophyletic group 
C)  include the last universal common ancestor (LUC
A)  of life 
D)  are scattered throughout all branches of the eukaryote family tree 
E)  have a fossil record extending back 3.4 million years 
A)  all contain chloroplasts 
B)  form a single monophyletic group 
C)  include the last universal common ancestor (LUC
A)  of life 
D)  are scattered throughout all branches of the eukaryote family tree 
E)  have a fossil record extending back 3.4 million years

Question 12

Carl Woese has controversially proposed that all three domains of life evolved from a(n)________.

Accepted Answer

A)  single last unique common ancestor (LUC
A)  
B)  extremophilic archaean 
C)  fusion of a bacterium with an archaean 
D)  universal gene-exchange pool 
E)  very large virus 
A)  single last unique common ancestor (LUC
A)  
B)  extremophilic archaean 
C)  fusion of a bacterium with an archaean 
D)  universal gene-exchange pool 
E)  very large virus

Question 13

Which of these is NOT an evolutionary advantage of the first cell membranes?

Accepted Answer

A)  Membranes allow cells to move independently. 
B)  Membranes allow for cells to be compartmentalize. 
C)  Membranes allow substances to be concentrated inside a cell, or pumped outside. 
D)  Membranes allow genotypes and the phenotypes they produce to stay linked. 
E)  All of the above are advantages of cell membranes. 
A)  Membranes allow cells to move independently. 
B)  Membranes allow for cells to be compartmentalize. 
C)  Membranes allow substances to be concentrated inside a cell, or pumped outside. 
D)  Membranes allow genotypes and the phenotypes they produce to stay linked. 
E)  All of the above are advantages of cell membranes.

Question 14

Deductive reasoning generates the conclusion that because we are here to think about and ask questions about the first living thing on Earth,it must have existed.This first living thing presumably gave rise to multiple lineages,at least one of which served as the ancestor for all of life on Earth.The acronym IDA has been applied to the first living thing,and LUCA to the ancestor that gave rise to all of life.What do IDA and LUCA stand for?

Accepted Answer

initial Darwinian an

Question 15

A famous experiment that generated organic molecules from a mixture of gases thought to resemble the early Earth's atmosphere was carried out in 1953 by ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  Stanley Miller 
B)  Charles Darwin 
C)  Thomas Cech 
D)  J. S. Haldane 
E)  Aniela Wochner 
A)  Stanley Miller 
B)  Charles Darwin 
C)  Thomas Cech 
D)  J. S. Haldane 
E)  Aniela Wochner

Question 16

According to Patrick Forterre's hypothesis,viruses are ultimately responsible for ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  introducing DNA into the ancestors of Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya 
B)  fusing with a bacterium and giving rise to the eukaryote nucleus 
C)  introducing information-processing genes into the ancestral chronocytes 
D)  enabling Archaea to withstand extreme environmental conditions causing mass extinctions 
A)  introducing DNA into the ancestors of Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya 
B)  fusing with a bacterium and giving rise to the eukaryote nucleus 
C)  introducing information-processing genes into the ancestral chronocytes 
D)  enabling Archaea to withstand extreme environmental conditions causing mass extinctions

Question 17

Lateral gene transfer means that phylogenetic analyses of different individual genes from the same set of organisms often yield results that are inconsistent with each other.What technique seems to avoid this problem and give us the clearest,most consistent view of the "tree of life"?

Accepted Answer

A)  the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 
B)  molecular clock analyses 
C)  "shotgun" rRNA sequencing from environmental samples 
D)  Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction 
E)  whole-genome phylogenetic analysis 
A)  the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 
B)  molecular clock analyses 
C)  "shotgun" rRNA sequencing from environmental samples 
D)  Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction 
E)  whole-genome phylogenetic analysis

Question 18

The accompanying figure shows the history of large meteorite impacts on both the earth and the moon.What is the graph's major implication for the origin of life on Earth?

Accepted Answer

A)  Huge impacts make it unlikely that life arose and survived on Earth before about 3.8 billion years ago. 
B)  Meteorites could not have brought the organic molecules that were necessary for life appear. 
C)  The moon is considerably older than the Earth. 
D)  Life must have originated on a different body in the solar system and been brought to Earth. 
E)  The Oparin-Haldane model of life's origins applies to the moon as well as to the Earth. 
A)  Huge impacts make it unlikely that life arose and survived on Earth before about 3.8 billion years ago. 
B)  Meteorites could not have brought the organic molecules that were necessary for life appear. 
C)  The moon is considerably older than the Earth. 
D)  Life must have originated on a different body in the solar system and been brought to Earth. 
E)  The Oparin-Haldane model of life's origins applies to the moon as well as to the Earth.

Question 19

Estimates of the age of Earth,taken from meteorites,date our planet to be approximately ________ years old.The BEST estimate of when life emerged,based on extrapolation of known and verifiable fossils,is approximately ________ years ago.In essence,then,life emerged approximately ________ years after Earth formed.

Accepted Answer

4.5 to 4.6

Question 20

The authors of your textbook maintain that "the ability to store and transmit information (genotype)and the ability to express that information (phenotype)are perhaps the most important criteria that set life apart from nonlife." When we compare this statement to Darwin's four natural selection postulates (variation,inheritance,excess reproduction,and differential survival and reproduction),interesting parallels emerge.Evaluate the authors' claim in the context of Darwinian evolution by natural selection.

Accepted Answer

The authors' claim that the ability to s

The Murchison meteorite was a significant discovery for the study of the origin of life,because it ________.

The model of life's origins,which posits that all of the necessary ingredients for the origin of life were present on early Earth,has been named after two early twentieth-century scientists.This model is called the ________ [two words] model.

Minick Rosing's analysis of microscopic globules of carbon found in rocks 3.7 billion years old showed that they were somewhat higher in ¹²C as opposed to ¹³C.This is significant because ________.

After important molecular discoveries in the 1980s,researchers have shifted their attention to RNA as the founding organic molecule for all of life on Earth ("The RNA World").What attributes does RNA have,and what evidence has been generated to support this hypothesis?

James Ferris discovered that clay minerals are capable of ________.

Carl Woese is BEST known for discovering that ________.

An estimate of the universal phylogeny,based on the small subunit rRNA,is reproduced in the accompanying figure.According to this reconstruction,the domain that Eucarya shares the most recent common ancestor with is ________.

A problem with the basic Oparin-Haldane model for the origin of life (though not necessarily an unsolvable one)is that ________.

The Oparin-Haldane model of the origins of life on Earth can be concisely elucidated in three stages.Identify and describe each stage in the context of what is currently known,as well as what has been hypothesized,about the conditions of early Earth.

The organisms formerly classified in the Kingdom Protista ________.

Carl Woese has controversially proposed that all three domains of life evolved from a(n)________.

Which of these is NOT an evolutionary advantage of the first cell membranes?

A famous experiment that generated organic molecules from a mixture of gases thought to resemble the early Earth's atmosphere was carried out in 1953 by ________.

According to Patrick Forterre's hypothesis,viruses are ultimately responsible for ________.

Lateral gene transfer means that phylogenetic analyses of different individual genes from the same set of organisms often yield results that are inconsistent with each other.What technique seems to avoid this problem and give us the clearest,most consistent view of the "tree of life"?

The accompanying figure shows the history of large meteorite impacts on both the earth and the moon.What is the graph's major implication for the origin of life on Earth?

Estimates of the age of Earth,taken from meteorites,date our planet to be approximately years old.The BEST estimate of when life emerged,based on extrapolation of known and verifiable fossils,is approximately years ago.In essence,then,life emerged approximately years after Earth formed.

A Case for Evolutionary Thinking: Understanding HIV

The Pattern of Evolution

Evolution by Natural Selection

Estimating Evolutionary Trees

Variation Among Individuals

Mendelian Genetics in Populations I: Selection and Mutation

Mendelian Genetics in Populations II: Migration, Drift, & Nonrandom Mating

Evolution at Multiple Loci: Linkage and Sex

Evolution at Multiple Loci: Quantitative Genetics

Studying Adaptation: Evolutionary Analysis of Form and Function

Sexual Selection

The Evolution of Social Behavior

Aging and Other Life-History Characters

Evolution and Human Health

Phylogenomics and the Molecular Basis of Adaptation

Mechanisms of Speciation

Evolution and the Fossil Record

Development and Evolution

Human Evolution

Filters

Exam 17: The Origins of Life and Precambrian Evolution

The Murchison meteorite was a significant discovery for the study of the origin of life,because it ________.

The model of life's origins,which posits that all of the necessary ingredients for the origin of life were present on early Earth,has been named after two early twentieth-century scientists.This model is called the ________ [two words] model.

Minick Rosing's analysis of microscopic globules of carbon found in rocks 3.7 billion years old showed that they were somewhat higher in ¹²C as opposed to ¹³C.This is significant because ________.

After important molecular discoveries in the 1980s,researchers have shifted their attention to RNA as the founding organic molecule for all of life on Earth ("The RNA World").What attributes does RNA have,and what evidence has been generated to support this hypothesis?

James Ferris discovered that clay minerals are capable of ________.

Carl Woese is BEST known for discovering that ________.

An estimate of the universal phylogeny,based on the small subunit rRNA,is reproduced in the accompanying figure.According to this reconstruction,the domain that Eucarya shares the most recent common ancestor with is ________.

A problem with the basic Oparin-Haldane model for the origin of life (though not necessarily an unsolvable one)is that ________.

The Oparin-Haldane model of the origins of life on Earth can be concisely elucidated in three stages.Identify and describe each stage in the context of what is currently known,as well as what has been hypothesized,about the conditions of early Earth.

The organisms formerly classified in the Kingdom Protista ________.

Carl Woese has controversially proposed that all three domains of life evolved from a(n)________.

Which of these is NOT an evolutionary advantage of the first cell membranes?

A famous experiment that generated organic molecules from a mixture of gases thought to resemble the early Earth's atmosphere was carried out in 1953 by ________.

According to Patrick Forterre's hypothesis,viruses are ultimately responsible for ________.

Lateral gene transfer means that phylogenetic analyses of different individual genes from the same set of organisms often yield results that are inconsistent with each other.What technique seems to avoid this problem and give us the clearest,most consistent view of the "tree of life"?

The accompanying figure shows the history of large meteorite impacts on both the earth and the moon.What is the graph's major implication for the origin of life on Earth?

A Case for Evolutionary Thinking: Understanding HIV

The Pattern of Evolution

Evolution by Natural Selection

Estimating Evolutionary Trees

Variation Among Individuals

Mendelian Genetics in Populations I: Selection and Mutation

Mendelian Genetics in Populations II: Migration, Drift, & Nonrandom Mating

Evolution at Multiple Loci: Linkage and Sex

Evolution at Multiple Loci: Quantitative Genetics

Studying Adaptation: Evolutionary Analysis of Form and Function

Sexual Selection

The Evolution of Social Behavior

Aging and Other Life-History Characters

Evolution and Human Health

Phylogenomics and the Molecular Basis of Adaptation

Mechanisms of Speciation

Evolution and the Fossil Record

Development and Evolution

Human Evolution

Filters