Question 1

Natural selection acted on the medium ground finch on Daphne Major because

Accepted Answer

A)  birds with medium beak sizes experienced higher mortality. 
B)  a drought changed the environment where the finches lived. 
C)  offspring of finches with small beaks did not survive the juvenile period. 
D)  the population reached equilibrium. 
A)  birds with medium beak sizes experienced higher mortality. 
B)  a drought changed the environment where the finches lived. 
C)  offspring of finches with small beaks did not survive the juvenile period. 
D)  the population reached equilibrium. B

Question 2

How has an understanding of artificial selection aided our current comprehension of natural selection?

Accepted Answer

Darwin drew from principles of artificial selection to explain natural selection. Artificial selection occurs when humans decide what characteristics of a domesticated animal or plant are desirable (for example, black spots on a white dog in Dalmatians, long ears in basset hounds, large kernels on corn, or large bodies in cows). Humans select for these desired characteristics by frequently mating the individuals that have them. As a result, the number of offspring with desirable characteristics increases. Artificial selection is useful in explaining natural selection because the principles are similar. With natural selection, the environment determines which characteristics are preferred, individuals with those preferred characteristics mate and produce more offspring, and preferred characteristics become more widely represented.

Question 3

Fecundity is defined as the ability of

Accepted Answer

A)  a population to have variation. 
B)  an individual to compete for resources. 
C)  an individual to survive to adulthood. 
D)  an individual to produce offspring. 
A)  a population to have variation. 
B)  an individual to compete for resources. 
C)  an individual to survive to adulthood. 
D)  an individual to produce offspring. D

Question 4

What is unique about evolution by means of artificial selection (for example, domestic dogs)?

Accepted Answer

A)  It takes longer because there is no selection pressure. 
B)  Stabilizing selection commonly occurs. 
C)  Selection pressure occurs in fits and starts. 
D)  It can occur rapidly because selection pressure is constant. 
A)  It takes longer because there is no selection pressure. 
B)  Stabilizing selection commonly occurs. 
C)  Selection pressure occurs in fits and starts. 
D)  It can occur rapidly because selection pressure is constant.

Question 5

Which of the following provides an example of why Jenkin called Darwin's ideas incompatible?

Accepted Answer

A)  Tall and short individuals are not able to breed with one another because they look different. 
B)  If tall and short individuals breed with one another, all of their offspring will be short, and variation will disappear. 
C)  If tall and short individuals breed with one another, all of their offspring will be tall, and variation will disappear. 
D)  If tall and short individuals breed with one another, all offspring will be intermediate in height, and variation will disappear. 
A)  Tall and short individuals are not able to breed with one another because they look different. 
B)  If tall and short individuals breed with one another, all of their offspring will be short, and variation will disappear. 
C)  If tall and short individuals breed with one another, all of their offspring will be tall, and variation will disappear. 
D)  If tall and short individuals breed with one another, all offspring will be intermediate in height, and variation will disappear.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT an example of how selection is able to produce complex evolutionary changes in remarkably short periods of time?

Accepted Answer

A)  Using artificial selection, people intentionally created dozens of different forms of domesticated pigeons in just a few hundred years. 
B)  A study of fish from the genus Poeciliopsis shows that short generation times allowed three different types of placenta to evolve in less than 2.4 million years. 
C)  Theoretical studies of the evolution of the eye in an aquatic organism show that because of a short generation time, a complex eye could evolve in less than a million years. 
D)  The fossil record indicates that the human brain took 2 million years to double in size. 
A)  Using artificial selection, people intentionally created dozens of different forms of domesticated pigeons in just a few hundred years. 
B)  A study of fish from the genus Poeciliopsis shows that short generation times allowed three different types of placenta to evolve in less than 2.4 million years. 
C)  Theoretical studies of the evolution of the eye in an aquatic organism show that because of a short generation time, a complex eye could evolve in less than a million years. 
D)  The fossil record indicates that the human brain took 2 million years to double in size.

Question 7

After a drought, a scientist collects dead birds and finds that most of the individuals that did not survive to adulthood have either small or large beaks. Given this pattern, how would you expect selection to act on the population?

Accepted Answer

A)  Selection will not change the mean beak size. 
B)  Selection will make the mean beak size in the population smaller. 
C)  Selection will make the mean beak size in the population larger. 
D)  The entire population will die out. 
A)  Selection will not change the mean beak size. 
B)  Selection will make the mean beak size in the population smaller. 
C)  Selection will make the mean beak size in the population larger. 
D)  The entire population will die out.

Question 8

Do adaptations always benefit the group, population, or species? Why or why not? Use real or hypothetical examples to illustrate your answer.

Accepted Answer

To answer this question, students need t

Question 9

One of the things that Darwin had difficulty explaining was how inheritance worked. Why was inheritance so difficult for Darwin?

Accepted Answer

A)  The prevailing theory of inheritance was based on random mating. 
B)  The prevailing theory of inheritance was incompatible with the maintenance of variation. 
C)  The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that variation was not inherited from parents. 
D)  The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that too much variation exists for natural selection to operate. 
A)  The prevailing theory of inheritance was based on random mating. 
B)  The prevailing theory of inheritance was incompatible with the maintenance of variation. 
C)  The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that variation was not inherited from parents. 
D)  The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that too much variation exists for natural selection to operate.

Question 10

For natural selection to occur, variation must exist. This is true because without variation

Accepted Answer

A)  there is no way for change to occur between generations. 
B)  the one trait that exists is always advantageous, and change is not necessary. 
C)  there is no competition among individuals. 
D)  traits are never inherited by offspring. 
A)  there is no way for change to occur between generations. 
B)  the one trait that exists is always advantageous, and change is not necessary. 
C)  there is no competition among individuals. 
D)  traits are never inherited by offspring.

Question 11

Why did Darwin's contemporaries believe that natural selection could not move a population beyond its initial range of variation?

Accepted Answer

A)  Because selection cannot permanently change a population 
B)  Because selection does not produce new variants 
C)  Because selection can only act to stabilize variants 
D)  Because small increments of change are highly advantageous and cannot be bred out through blending 
A)  Because selection cannot permanently change a population 
B)  Because selection does not produce new variants 
C)  Because selection can only act to stabilize variants 
D)  Because small increments of change are highly advantageous and cannot be bred out through blending

Question 12

What major difficulty did Darwin have with his theory of natural selection?

Accepted Answer

Darwin had difficulty reconciling his th

Question 13

How fast does evolution by natural selection take place?

Accepted Answer

A)  It is such a slow process that a single adaptation requires millions of years. 
B)  It is so slow that it cannot be seen in the fossil record. 
C)  It is fast enough that several new species can evolve from other forms in a few million years. 
D)  It is so rapid that new species often evolve in a matter of decades. 
A)  It is such a slow process that a single adaptation requires millions of years. 
B)  It is so slow that it cannot be seen in the fossil record. 
C)  It is fast enough that several new species can evolve from other forms in a few million years. 
D)  It is so rapid that new species often evolve in a matter of decades.

Question 14

A complex adaptation like the human eye exists in its present form because

Accepted Answer

A)  past organisms evolved and utilized a transitional form of the modern eye. 
B)  extreme forms of variation allowed it to evolve in a single jump. 
C)  it was created by a chance mutation. 
D)  many organisms have eyes. 
A)  past organisms evolved and utilized a transitional form of the modern eye. 
B)  extreme forms of variation allowed it to evolve in a single jump. 
C)  it was created by a chance mutation. 
D)  many organisms have eyes.

Question 15

Despite its detrimental nature, cannibalism can evolve by natural selection because

Accepted Answer

A)  cannibalistic groups are ferocious enough to scare predators away. 
B)  individuals who cannibalize have higher fitness than those who do not. 
C)  natural selection is always immoral. 
D)  cannibalistic individuals kill off the rest of their population and have no mates left to reproduce with. 
A)  cannibalistic groups are ferocious enough to scare predators away. 
B)  individuals who cannibalize have higher fitness than those who do not. 
C)  natural selection is always immoral. 
D)  cannibalistic individuals kill off the rest of their population and have no mates left to reproduce with.

Question 16

Influential nineteenth-century scientists like Charles Darwin concluded that the complex adaptations we see in plants and animals are problematic and require a special explanation because

Accepted Answer

A)  a divine creator designed them. 
B)  it is very unlikely that they arose by random chance alone. 
C)  they occur in most plants and animals. 
D)  they have no real function. 
A)  a divine creator designed them. 
B)  it is very unlikely that they arose by random chance alone. 
C)  they occur in most plants and animals. 
D)  they have no real function.

Question 17

Which of the following is an example of blending inheritance?

Accepted Answer

A)  A tall individual marries a short individual, and all of their offspring are intermediate in height. 
B)  All of the domestic breeds of dogs that are alive today are descended from a wolf ancestor. 
C)  Offspring from two unrelated species of cats have similar saber-toothed adaptations. 
D)  A red-headed individual marries an individual with black hair, and all of their offspring have black hair. 
A)  A tall individual marries a short individual, and all of their offspring are intermediate in height. 
B)  All of the domestic breeds of dogs that are alive today are descended from a wolf ancestor. 
C)  Offspring from two unrelated species of cats have similar saber-toothed adaptations. 
D)  A red-headed individual marries an individual with black hair, and all of their offspring have black hair.

Question 18

Based on blending inheritance, which Darwin and his contemporaries believed in, if a finch with a large beak depth mates with a finch with a small beak depth, then the offspring will have

Accepted Answer

A)  beaks with small depth. 
B)  beaks with medium depth. 
C)  beaks with large depth. 
D)  beaks with random depth. 
A)  beaks with small depth. 
B)  beaks with medium depth. 
C)  beaks with large depth. 
D)  beaks with random depth.

Question 19

How do complex adaptations usually evolve?

Accepted Answer

A)  By a single large step due to a highly adaptive mutation 
B)  By many small steps, but only when each is an improvement over the last step 
C)  By many small steps, but only when each has a minimal effect on fitness 
D)  By single large steps, but only when natural selection is strong 
A)  By a single large step due to a highly adaptive mutation 
B)  By many small steps, but only when each is an improvement over the last step 
C)  By many small steps, but only when each has a minimal effect on fitness 
D)  By single large steps, but only when natural selection is strong

Question 20

Convergent evolution occurs

Accepted Answer

A)  when all members of a species become more similar. 
B)  as a result of stabilizing selection. 
C)  when natural selection produces similar adaptations in unrelated species. 
D)  when individuals have equal fitness. 
A)  when all members of a species become more similar. 
B)  as a result of stabilizing selection. 
C)  when natural selection produces similar adaptations in unrelated species. 
D)  when individuals have equal fitness.

Natural selection acted on the medium ground finch on Daphne Major because

How has an understanding of artificial selection aided our current comprehension of natural selection?

Fecundity is defined as the ability of

What is unique about evolution by means of artificial selection (for example, domestic dogs)?

Which of the following provides an example of why Jenkin called Darwin's ideas incompatible?

Which of the following is NOT an example of how selection is able to produce complex evolutionary changes in remarkably short periods of time?

After a drought, a scientist collects dead birds and finds that most of the individuals that did not survive to adulthood have either small or large beaks. Given this pattern, how would you expect selection to act on the population?

Do adaptations always benefit the group, population, or species? Why or why not? Use real or hypothetical examples to illustrate your answer.

One of the things that Darwin had difficulty explaining was how inheritance worked. Why was inheritance so difficult for Darwin?

For natural selection to occur, variation must exist. This is true because without variation

Why did Darwin's contemporaries believe that natural selection could not move a population beyond its initial range of variation?

What major difficulty did Darwin have with his theory of natural selection?

How fast does evolution by natural selection take place?

A complex adaptation like the human eye exists in its present form because

Despite its detrimental nature, cannibalism can evolve by natural selection because

Influential nineteenth-century scientists like Charles Darwin concluded that the complex adaptations we see in plants and animals are problematic and require a special explanation because

Which of the following is an example of blending inheritance?

Based on blending inheritance, which Darwin and his contemporaries believed in, if a finch with a large beak depth mates with a finch with a small beak depth, then the offspring will have

How do complex adaptations usually evolve?

Convergent evolution occurs

Genetics

The Modern Synthesis

Speciation and Phylogeny

Primate Diversity and Ecology

Primate Mating Systems

The Evolution of Cooperation

Primate Life Histories and the Evolution of Intelligence

From Tree Shrew to Ape

From Hominoid to Hominin

Oldowan Toolmakers and the Origin of Human Life History

From Hominin to Homo

Homo sapiens and the Evolution of Modern Human Behavior

Human Genetic Variation

Evolution and Human Behavior

Culture Cooperation and Human Uniqueness

Filters

Exam 1: Adaptation by Natural Selection

Natural selection acted on the medium ground finch on Daphne Major because

How has an understanding of artificial selection aided our current comprehension of natural selection?

Fecundity is defined as the ability of

What is unique about evolution by means of artificial selection (for example, domestic dogs)?

Which of the following provides an example of why Jenkin called Darwin's ideas incompatible?

Which of the following is NOT an example of how selection is able to produce complex evolutionary changes in remarkably short periods of time?

After a drought, a scientist collects dead birds and finds that most of the individuals that did not survive to adulthood have either small or large beaks. Given this pattern, how would you expect selection to act on the population?

Do adaptations always benefit the group, population, or species? Why or why not? Use real or hypothetical examples to illustrate your answer.

One of the things that Darwin had difficulty explaining was how inheritance worked. Why was inheritance so difficult for Darwin?

For natural selection to occur, variation must exist. This is true because without variation

Why did Darwin's contemporaries believe that natural selection could not move a population beyond its initial range of variation?

What major difficulty did Darwin have with his theory of natural selection?

How fast does evolution by natural selection take place?

A complex adaptation like the human eye exists in its present form because

Despite its detrimental nature, cannibalism can evolve by natural selection because

Influential nineteenth-century scientists like Charles Darwin concluded that the complex adaptations we see in plants and animals are problematic and require a special explanation because

Which of the following is an example of blending inheritance?

Based on blending inheritance, which Darwin and his contemporaries believed in, if a finch with a large beak depth mates with a finch with a small beak depth, then the offspring will have

How do complex adaptations usually evolve?

Convergent evolution occurs

Genetics

The Modern Synthesis

Speciation and Phylogeny

Primate Diversity and Ecology

Primate Mating Systems

The Evolution of Cooperation

Primate Life Histories and the Evolution of Intelligence

From Tree Shrew to Ape

From Hominoid to Hominin

Oldowan Toolmakers and the Origin of Human Life History

From Hominin to Homo

Homo sapiens and the Evolution of Modern Human Behavior

Human Genetic Variation

Evolution and Human Behavior

Culture Cooperation and Human Uniqueness

Filters