Deck 16: Evidence of Evolution

Question 1

The oldest fossils ____.  

A) demonstrate the widest distribution
B) represent the most highly evolved organisms
C) are buried deeper in the ground than newer forms
D) are found in Africa
E) are primitive marine vertebrates

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Glyptodons are fossil forms that resemble ____.  

A) ostriches
B) armadillos
C) kangaroos
D) turtles
E) sloths

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Thomas Malthus proposed that ____.  

A) the food supply increases faster than the population
B) The food supply limits population increase
C) the food supply and population increase at the same rate
D) artificial selection is the key to evolution
E) natural selection is the key to evolution

Answer 3

B

Question 4

When the theory of evolution by natural selection was first presented in 1858,authorship was credited to both Charles Darwin and ____.  

A) Charles Lyell
B) Alfred Wallace
C) Georges Cuvier
D) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
E) Thomas Malthus

Question 5

Which of the following statements is incorrect in the context of fossilization?  

A) Impressions form detailed imprints of only external structures.
B) Extreme pressure transforms the mineralized remains into rock.
C) Sediments that slowly accumulate on top of the site exert increasing pressure.
D) Minerals dissolved in the water gradually replace minerals in bones.
E) Mineral particles settle out of the groundwater and crystallize inside cavities.

Question 6

Fossils have been discovered for about how many species?  

A) 10,000
B) 50,000
C) 100,000
D) 150,000
E) 250,000

Question 7

The study of the distribution of animals and plants around the world is ____.  

A) diversity
B) biogeography
C) ecology
D) natural history
E) environmentalism

Question 8

The most important evidence that Darwin used to develop his theory of natural selection came from ____.  

A) the Argentine pampas
B) his boyhood neighborhood in England
C) the Galápagos Islands
D) Australia and New Zealand
E) South America

Question 9

Most fossils ____.  

A) are found in sedimentary layers of rock
B) form without water
C) contain remnants of soft body parts
D) represent the least common species found in an area
E) have been formed by exposure to air

Question 10

Scientists began to question the perfection of the "great chain of being" partially because of their studies in ____.  

A) radiometric dating
B) uniformity
C) meteorology
D) astrobiology
E) comparative morphology

Question 11

The tailbone of humans provided evidence against _____.  

A) evolution by natural selection
B) evolution by adaptation
C) the idea that each species was formed in its perfect state
D) the idea of uniformitarianism
E) the idea of extinction

Question 12

Natural selection results in changes in ____.  

A) individuals
B) populations
C) kingdoms
D) phyla
E) animals only

Question 13

Cuvier,an anatomist and paleontologist,proposed that ____.  

A) all present-day organisms have descended, with adaptations, from one-or possibly a few-riginal organisms
B) Earth's history has been marked by several periods when destruction of populations was widespread and that, after each such period, the earth was repopulated
C) evolutionary changes in organisms are caused by use and disuse
D) although evolution is responsible for all the changes that happen to species, one center of creation resulted in the original members of each species
E) geologic processes in Earth have not changed over billions of years

Question 14

Which statement is least consistent with the beliefs of Lamarck?  

A) "Fluida" moves into areas of the body in need of change.
B) Acquired characteristics are inherited.
C) Giraffes' necks have become longer in response to stretching.
D) Environmental pressures bring about changes in organisms.
E) Changes in an individual are not passed to its offspring.

Question 15

Darwin's exposure to Lyell gave him insight on the ____.  

A) existing evidence from fossils
B) record of catastrophic changes that encouraged evolution
C) soundness of Lamarck's theories
D) enormous lengths of time required for geologic events
E) arguments for creationism

Question 16

No convincing fossil evidence exists for ____.  

A) evolution
B) extinction
C) Earth's age
D) catastrophism
E) uniformitarianism

Question 17

Darwin's theory states,in part,that individuals with certain traits have an increased competitive edge.What is the source of these traits?  

A) adaptation to stress
B) development over a lifetime
C) inheritance
D) mutation after birth
E) better living conditions

Question 18

Which statement does not represent one of Darwin's observations?  

A) All individuals have an equal chance to survive and reproduce.
B) Changes in populations are gradual and take place over long periods of time.
C) Members of the same species may exhibit considerable variation.
D) Some characteristics are heritable and passed on to offspring.
E) Some characteristics afford their possessor a better chance of survival.

Question 19

Which theory was helpful to Darwin in the formulation of his theory of evolution?  

A) Catastrophism
B) Inheritance of acquired characteristics
C) Uniformitarianism
D) Continental drift
E) Special creationism

Question 20

Which scenario would be a modern example of Lamarckianism?  

A) A strain of houseflies resistant to insecticides emerges.
B) Squirrels separated by a river are found to be unable to interbreed.
C) A son is born with a portion of his right index finger missing-the same portion that was severed from his father's hand in an accident.
D) A species of lizards shows changes in diet and body shape after being moved to a nearby island.
E) Snails are found to have thicker shells after the introduction of a predator.

Question 21

____ are examples of trace fossils.  

A) Skeletons
B) Shells
C) Seeds
D) Footprints
E) Leaves

Question 22

The supercontinent Pangea ____.  

A) existed over 500 million years ago
B) broke apart to form Gondwana
C) formed about 300 million years ago
D) was located only in the southern hemisphere
E) formed only North and South America

Question 23

Select the most appropriate choice for each person.
a.a proponent of uniformitarianism
b.developed the theory of catastrophism
c.believed that giraffes have long necks because their short-necked ancestors stretched their necks and passed this change onto their offspring
d.was a naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches
e.wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources
f.natural historian and author; formed early ideas of the great chain of being
Aristotle

Question 24

The process of fossilization typically begins when an organism or traces of it ____.  

A) settle on the seafloor
B) are pressurized under the weight of sediment
C) crystallize into minerals
D) are saturated with groundwater
E) become covered with sediments, mud, or ash

Question 25

Fossils from the ____ would be the oldest in the Grand Canyon.  

A) hermit shale
B) redwall limestone
C) temple butte formation
D) bright angel shale
E) vishnu basement rocks

Question 26

The time it takes for half of a radioisotope's atoms to decay ____.
 

A) cannot be calculated
B) is used to construct the geologic time scale
C) is its half-life
D) is the same for uranium 238 and carbon 14
E) is highly variable

Question 27

Radiometric dating ____.  

A) is based on the premise that each isotope decays at a constant rate
B) is unpredictable because of changes in temperature and pressure
C) can be used to date sedimentary rock, but not fossils
D) has a substantial error factor
E) can only be used for dating animal fossils

Question 28

Skeletons of modern cetaceans have remnants of a __________.  

A) rib
B) head
C) flipper
D) pelvis
E) spine

Question 29

Fig. 16.15

The accompanying figure illustrates that after two half-lives,____ percent of the parent radioisotope has decayed.  

A) 100
B) 75
C) 50
D) 25
E) 0

Question 30

The large,ancient land mass that contained all the continents is known as ____.  

A) Laurasia
B) Pangea
C) Gondwana
D) Atlantis
E) Europa

Question 31

The Coconino Sandstone,which consists mainly of weathered sand and contains trace fossils such as ripple marks and reptile tracks,suggests that this layer is similar to which of the following environments?  

A) Desert
B) River system
C) Coastal plain
D) Ocean
E) Tropical forest

Question 32

Plate tectonic theory is based on ____.  

A) a model in which cool material in the earth's crust rises and spreads laterally beneath the crustal plates
B) the idea that Earth's crust is fragmented into rigid crusts that are sinking slowly beneath crustal plates
C) the idea that sedimentary rock formation causes continents to drift apart slowly on their crustal plates
D) observations of ridges on the sea floor, where magma pushes the surface upwards, thus moving and pushing older rock down into a ridge at the opposite edge of the sea floor
E) evidence that severe disturbances in Earth's crust shaped the continents in a single large event

Question 33

Which body of evidence is least supportive of plate tectonics theory?  

A) The worldwide fossil record
B) The global distribution of existing species
C) The sea-floor spreading
D) The shape of the continents
E) The size of the oceans

Question 34

The operation of natural selection depends upon the fact that ____.  

A) the strong always survive, whereas the weak always die
B) some individuals have a better chance to produce more offspring
C) mutations are always harmful
D) acquired characteristics are inherited
E) reproduction of all members of a species follows the same path

Question 35

The geologic time scale is often subdivided on the basis of ____.  

A) the appearance of different radioactive isotopes in different strata
B) levels of background extinction
C) periods of extensive environmental change
D) the appearance of new species
E) climate change

Question 36

Which ancient habitat has allowed the formation of the most abundant fossils?  

A) Eroding hillsides
B) Deserts
C) Polar ice caps
D) Rivers and shallow seas
E) Rocky plateau

Question 37

Who was the proponent of uniformitarianism?  

A) Georges Cuvier
B) Lamarck
C) Charles Lyell
D) Cuvier
E) Charles Darwin

Question 38

Radioactive decay can be used to measure which of the following?  

A) Chemical bonding
B) Time
C) Moisture
D) Pressure
E) Temperature

Question 39

Natural selection drives evolution through the following forces except  

A) competition for food.
B) predators.
C) climate.
D) reproduction.
E) competition for mates.

Question 40

The idea that the same geologic processes,occurring over millions of years,have formed Earth's surface is known as ____.  

A) the theory of catastrophism
B) plate tectonics
C) continental drift
D) uniformitarianism
E) the theory of relativity

Question 41

Differential survival and reproduction of individuals of a population that vary in the details of shared traits is called ____________________.

Question 42

The nineteenth-century naturalists tried to reconcile traditional beliefs with physical evidence of ____________________.

Question 43

Select the most appropriate choice for each person.
a.a proponent of uniformitarianism
b.developed the theory of catastrophism
c.believed that giraffes have long necks because their short-necked ancestors stretched their necks and passed this change onto their offspring
d.was a naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches
e.wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources
f.natural historian and author; formed early ideas of the great chain of being
Lamarck

Question 44

____________________ that impart greater ____________________ to an individual become more common in a population over generations,compared with less competitive forms.

Question 45

A fossil is found in a given rock strata.Which of the following would give the best information about its age?

A) The mineral composition of the strata.
B) The density of the strata.
C) The depth of the strata.
D) The water content of the strata.
E) The location of the strata.

Question 46

The best explanation for why the emu,ostrich,and rhea are so similar despite being geographically separated is

A) continental drift.
B) morphological convergence.
C) natural selection.
D) gaps in the fossil record.
E) adaptation.

Question 47

Select the most appropriate choice for each person.
a.a proponent of uniformitarianism
b.developed the theory of catastrophism
c.believed that giraffes have long necks because their short-necked ancestors stretched their necks and passed this change onto their offspring
d.was a naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches
e.wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources
f.natural historian and author; formed early ideas of the great chain of being
Darwin

Question 48

Select the most appropriate choice for each person.
a.a proponent of uniformitarianism
b.developed the theory of catastrophism
c.believed that giraffes have long necks because their short-necked ancestors stretched their necks and passed this change onto their offspring
d.was a naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches
e.wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources
f.natural historian and author; formed early ideas of the great chain of being
Malthus

Question 49

____________________ are evidence of life in the distant past.

Question 50

Select the most appropriate choice for each person.
a.a proponent of uniformitarianism
b.developed the theory of catastrophism
c.believed that giraffes have long necks because their short-necked ancestors stretched their necks and passed this change onto their offspring
d.was a naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches
e.wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources
f.natural historian and author; formed early ideas of the great chain of being
Lyell

Question 51

Select the most appropriate choice for each person.
a.a proponent of uniformitarianism
b.developed the theory of catastrophism
c.believed that giraffes have long necks because their short-necked ancestors stretched their necks and passed this change onto their offspring
d.was a naturalist who sailed on the Beagle and studied finches
e.wrote an essay relating population size to competition for limited resources
f.natural historian and author; formed early ideas of the great chain of being
Cuvier

Question 52

Several times in Earth's history,land masses have converged as supercontinents.____________________ and ____________________ are examples.

Question 53

The characteristic ____________________ of a radioisotope allows us to determine the age of rocks and fossils using a technique called ____________________.

Question 54

How old was the world thought to be when Darwin began his voyage?

A) 6 million years old
B) 6 thousand years old
C) 3.5 million years old
D) 2 billion years old
E) 4.5 billion years old

Question 55

What is the appropriate age range for carbon dating?

A) Fossils older than 60,000 years old.
B) Fossils older than 4.5 billion years old.
C) Fossils between 60,000 years old and 4.5 billion years old.
D) Fossils less than 60,000 years old.
E) Fossils less than 4.5 billion years old.