Deck 15: Principles of Evolution

Question 1

The idea that physical changes I make to myself will be passed on to my children was proposed by

A) Plato.
B) Darwin.
C) Lamarck.
D) Lyell.
E) Cuvier.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Who wrote On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection?

A) Lamarck
B) Mendel
C) Darwin
D) Wallace
E) Malthus

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A postulate is

A) a set of four statements that confirm that evolution will occur.
B) an educated guess.
C) an idea that has been proven through scientific investigation.
D) a hypothesis.
E) a statement accepted as true for the purposes of logical argument.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Platoʹs view of species

A) allowed for limited evolution within species.
B) recognized that each individual in a species is unique.
C) included species that do not actually exist.
D) did not allow for evolutionary change.
E) was similar to the modern concept of evolution.

Question 5

The publication date of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection is

A) 1900.
B) 1859.
C) 1869.
D) 1809.
E) 1830.

Question 6

An antibiotic is given repeatedly to treat a recurrent ear infection. It worked initially but now is no longer effective. This indicates that the Streptococcus bacterium

A) is infectious only if it is sensitive to the antibiotic.
B) is very sensitive to the antibiotic.
C) is being treated with an antibiotic that has experienced a manufacturing error, making it infective.
D) experienced natural selection that has allowed the resistant Streptococcus to survive and multiply.

Question 7

The concept that Earthʹs present landscape is due to gradual geological processes was proposed by

A) Aristotle.
B) Lamarck.
C) Malthus.
D) Buffon.
E) Lyell.

Question 8

Who suggested that giraffes developed their long necks over time by stretching?

A) Wallace
B) Lamarck
C) Cuvier
D) Plato
E) Darwin

Question 9

Which of these statements best illustrates the theory of catastrophism?

A) Only extinct species appear in the fossil record.
B) Only plant species have become extinct.
C) There are no humans in early fossil records because they had not been created yet.
D) Species become extinct due to natural disasters, such as floods and volcanic eruptions.
E) The fossil record is incomplete.

Question 10

Fossils include rocks and sediments that

A) have been shaped by people to resemble plants or animals.
B) have been shaped by wind and water to resemble lifelike forms.
C) bear the impressions or shapes of preserved organisms.
D) all of the above.

Question 11

Who presented the idea of natural selection to the Linnaean Society in 1858?

A) Lamarck
B) Cuvier
C) Darwin and Wallace
D) Darwin
E) Plato

Question 12

Modern geologists estimate that the age of Earth is about
A) 4,500 years.

A) 4.5 million years.
B) 4.5 billion years.
B) 4.5 trillion years.
C) 450,000 years.

Question 13

Which geologist described the age of the Earth as ʺeternalʺ?

A) Lamarck
B) Lyell
C) Malthus
D) Buffon
E) Aristotle

Question 14

Which scientist devised the theory of uniformitarianism to account for Earthʹs old age?

A) Cuvier
B) Plato
C) Darwin
D) Lamarck
E) Lyell

Question 15

Which organism is LEAST likely to survive to reproduce?

A) A plant that has a sweet flavor before it flowers
B) A seahorse that mimics the weeds in which it lives
C) A flower that produces a scent that attracts bees
D) A dark-furred rodent that comes out only at night
E) A shrub that produces a toxin in its flower buds that repels deer from eating it

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT one of Darwinʹs postulates?

A) Through natural selection, individuals with useful traits survive longest and leave the most offspring
B) In each generation, some individuals reproduce and others donʹt.
C) Luck is an important factor in determining the fate of individuals.
D) Some of the differences seen in a population result from characteristics passed from parent to offspring.
E) There is variation among members of a population.

Question 17

Which statement illustrates Lamarckʹs theory on the mechanism of evolution?

A) Fish with coloration that matches the river bottom they inhabit will survive to reproduce.
B) Plants that can survive in less light will become the dominant species in shaded areas.
C) Giraffes with longer necks survived and reproduced faster because they could reach a better food source.
D) Birds with bright colors will attract more mates and pass on the colorful plumage.
E) A man who routinely shaves the hair off his head will have sons who become bald.

Question 18

Whose philosophy was based on the ʺideal formʺ?

A) Plato
B) Cuvier
C) Darwin and Wallace
D) Darwin
E) Lamarck

Question 19

Who proposed the geological theory of catastrophism?

A) Plato
B) Cuvier
C) Lamarck
D) Darwin
E) Darwin and Wallace

Question 20

Genetic variations in natural populations develop due to

A) environmental catastrophes.
B) individual activities.
C) changes in the environment.
D) changes in diet.
E) random mutations of the DNA.

Question 21

An emu is a flightless bird that still has wings. These wings are an example of

A) analogous structures.
B) adaptation.
C) vestigial structures.
D) homologous structures.
E) mutation.

Question 22

Boa constrictors have tiny pelvic girdles and leg bones inside their bodies. Because these structures are nonfunctional ʺevolutionary baggage,ʺ they are called

A) analogous.
B) vestigial.
C) homologous.
D) convergent.
E) maladaptive.

Question 23

Sea squirts and lampreys, which are closely related aquatic animals, have a perforated pharynx, a ventral heart, and a notochord at some stage of development. These similarities are best explained by

A) the ʺLadder of Nature.ʺ
B) uniformitarianism.
C) artificial selection.
D) a common ancestry.
E) inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Question 24

Where are the Galápagos Islands?

A) Off the northwest coast of South America
B) Near Southeast Asia
C) Off the west coast of North America
D) Near the center of the south Atlantic Ocean
E) Off the west coast of Australia

Question 25

Which of the following statements about mutations is TRUE?

A) Mutations occur at random and are by chance.
B) Mutations almost always leave the organism worse off than before.
C) Mutations are caused by natural selection.
D) Mutations are almost always better for the organism.
E) Mutations have no effect on the survival and reproduction of an organism.

Question 26

Natural selection can act on a certain trait only if the trait is

A) behavioral.
B) favorable.
C) morphological.
D) new.
E) heritable.

Question 27

Which English economist predicted that the rapid growth of human populations would soon exceed Earthʹs capacity to support it?

A) Malthus
B) Mendel
C) Hutton
D) Wallace
E) Lyell

Question 28

Some animal species found in caves have tiny, nonfunctional eyes. These are best described as

A) homologous structures.
B) vestigial structures.
C) analogous structures.
D) mutations.

Question 29

Some of Darwinʹs most important discoveries were based on studies of birds and tortoises that he observed in

A) Ecuador.
B) the Galápagos Islands.
C) the Bahamas.
D) Jamaica.
E) Tahiti.

Question 30

Humans still have body hair even though it is greatly reduced and serves little function. The hair is a(n)

A) adaptation.
B) homologous structure.
C) vestigial structure.
D) analogous structure.
E) mutation.

Question 31

Natural selection is best described as

A) the ability to generate new traits that better suit the species.
B) driving the species toward an eventual endpoint in which the species possesses the best possible adaptations for that particular environment.
C) working on the existing variation of traits to favor those better suited to the organismʹs environment.
D) causing the death of a significant proportion of the population.
E) increasing the perfection of a species.

Question 32

The theory of natural selection states that

A) all individuals live to reproduce in each generation.
B) the most well-adapted individuals in their environments survive and reproduce, contributing the most genes to the next generation.
C) random assortment of genes results in better physical characteristics in the following generations.
D) only the largest and strongest individuals survive.
E) individuals that mutate in response to changes in their environment will contribute the most genes to the next generation.

Question 33

No one is certain what the function of the human appendix is. But, one thing we do know is that we can live without it, without noticeable consequences. Therefore, the human appendix is an example of a(n)

A) adaptation.
B) mutation.
C) vestigial structure.
D) analogous structure.
E) homologous structure.

Question 34

Which trait provides a survival advantage?

A) A horse that lacks the ability to digest either grains or grass
B) A brightly colored fish that attracts predators
C) A flower that attracts more bees
D) A tree that grows shorter than the surrounding trees
E) A shrub that loses the ability to make seeds

Question 35

Which of the four postulates of Darwinʹs theory of evolution was not well established when On the Origin of Species was first published but is overwhelmingly supported today?

A) Individuals with advantageous traits survive longest and have the most offspring.
B) Some individuals in a population survive and reproduce better than do other individuals.
C) Individuals in a population differ physically from one another in many ways.
D) Some differences among individuals in a population are due to genetics and are heritable.

Question 36

Inheritable mutations in the genes of an individual arise due to

A) vigorous exercise or effort.
B) other species in the environment.
C) artificial selection.
D) random chance.
E) environmental change.

Question 37

Darwin realized that most species produce many more offspring than is necessary to maintain a constant population. The ʺexcessʺ individuals in a population

A) die before they can reproduce.
B) mutate and are able to adapt to new environments.
C) migrate to another location.
D) evolve to become new species.

Question 38

The human upper arm bone (the humerus) is structurally similar to the upper wing bone of a bat. The structural similarity is an example of

A) analogous structures.
B) vestigial structures.
C) homologous structures.
D) adaptation.
E) mutation.

Question 39

Which of the following are vestigial structures?

A) Fish fins
B) Pelvic bones of whales
C) Hoofs of horses
D) Wings of bats
E) Vertebral columns in snakes

Question 40

Darwin was influenced by Thomas Malthusʹs writings on

A) natural selection.
B) evolution.
C) population growth.
D) uniformitarianism.
E) genetics.

Question 41

Daisies and daffodils, have flowers that serve as organs of reproduction, leaves that serve as organs of photosynthesis, and xylem and phloem that move water and food throughout the plant. These similarities are best explained by

A) inheritance of acquired characteristics.
B) a common ancestry.
C) artificial selection.
D) uniformitarianism.
E) the ʺLadder of Nature.ʺ

Question 42

Most commercial pesticides are effective for only 2 or 3 years because

A) the pests learn to hide when the chemicals are being applied.
B) new pests invade the area.
C) those pests born with mutations that provide immunity will survive and reproduce.
D) the chemicals mutate and become ineffective.
E) the chemicals induce mutations that provide immunity.

Question 43

A farmer noticed that two of her cotton plants produce cotton with a slight greenish hue. By repeatedly crossing the greenish plants, she has produced a variety of deep-green cotton without the use of any dyes. This is an example of

A) convergent evolution.
B) natural selection.
C) artificial mutation.
D) artificial selection.
E) inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Question 44

Observations of a wide variety of vertebrate embryos suggest that

A) chickens and humans are closely related because they lack substantial tails.
B) all vertebrate species have similar genes for development.
C) fish are unrelated to other vertebrates because they are the only vertebrates that develop gills.
D) fish, turtles, and mice are more closely related to one another than to either chickens or humans because they have substantial tails.

Question 45

Convergent evolution occurs when

A) analogous structures evolve to be homologous.
B) two or more populations merge into one.
C) unrelated organisms develop analogous structures.
D) two or more different species evolve to become one species.

Question 46

The fact that whales have pelvic and leg bones leads to the conclusion that

A) they probably evolved from fish.
B) ancestral whales had legs.
C) having a pelvis is advantageous.
D) whales should have functional legs.
E) whales did not evolve by natural selection.

Question 47

The amino acid sequences of human and chimpanzee hemoglobin are almost identical, yet they differ considerably from the sequence of the hemoglobin of dogs. This fact

A) neither supports nor opposes the theory of evolution.
B) supports the theory of evolution.
C) opposes the theory of evolution.

Question 48

ʺColeʺ refers to any of various plants belonging to the Cruciferae or mustard family, which include broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, and other familiar vegetables. The controlled breeding of cole crops to produce certain physical traits in those organisms is called

A) physical selection.
B) agricultural selection.
C) natural selection.
D) artificial selection.

Question 49

The many different breeds of domestic dog were produced by

A) physical selection.
B) artificial selection.
C) artificial mutation.
D) natural selection.

Question 50

The controlled breeding of domestic plants and animals by humans to produce certain physical traits in those organisms is called

A) natural selection.
B) physical selection.
C) agricultural selection.
D) artificial selection.

Question 51

Dolphins (which are mammals) and sharks (which are fish) have stiff dorsal fins projecting from their backs that help them maneuver through water. These relationships of structures to each other are best described as

A) mutations.
B) homologous structures.
C) vestigial structures.
D) analogous structures.

Question 52

When unrelated organisms living under similar environmental demands evolve superficially similar structures, it is called

A) superficial selection.
B) comparative anatomy.
C) coevolution.
D) convergent evolution.

Question 53

Imagine that a biologist develops a strain of corn with a lower fat content by choosing low -fat variants and crossbreeding them over several generations. This is an example of

A) convergent evolution.
B) artificial mutation.
C) artificial selection.
D) inheritance of acquired characteristics.
E) natural selection.

Question 54

A farmer produces a variety of apple with deep pink flesh by selectively crossbreeding apples with pinkish hues. This is an example of

A) convergent evolution.
B) natural selection.
C) artificial mutation.
D) artificial selection.
E) inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Question 55

The amino acid sequences of human and bonobo hemoglobin are almost identical, yet they differ considerably from the sequence of the hemoglobin of wolves. This fact indicates that

A) bonobos are more closely related to humans than to wolves.
B) humans are more closely related to wolves than to bonobos.
C) wolves and bonobos are closely related.

Question 56

Strong evidence for the common ancestry of all vertebrates is

A) they all possess DNA.
B) the similarity of their embryological stages.
C) they all evolved from fish.
D) they all have legs.
E) their means of reproduction.

Question 57

Charles Darwin believed that artificial selection was

A) similar in many ways to natural selection.
B) impossible.
C) unimportant.
D) a common phenomenon in nature.
E) a process completely identical to natural selection.

Question 58

Which of the following is an example of artificial selection?

A) Cheetahs that can outrun their prey
B) Green tree frogs that blend perfectly into their leafy surroundings
C) The many different breeds of domestic cats
D) The many different species of Oak trees found in the forest.
E) All of the above

Question 59

Which of the following supports the idea that all organisms share a common ancestry?

A) All cells use the same collection of lipids.
B) All cells use ATP as the template for protein synthesis.
C) All cells use DNA as a cellular energy carrier.
D) All cells use amino acids as a carrier of genetic information.
E) All cells have a similar biochemistry, including amino acids, nucleic acids, and ATP.

Question 60

Of all the possible amino acids, all living organisms make use of only the same 20 amino acids. This supports the idea that

A) all living things are derived from a single common ancestor.
B) bacteria, animals, and plants developed independently.
C) natural selection drives evolution.
D) only a limited number of DNA mutations are possible.
E) only 20 amino acids exist on Earth.

Question 61

Early in embryonic development, all vertebrate embryos have some similarities in their appearance.

Question 62

Insects and bats both have wings. This proves they evolved from a common ancestor.

Question 63

Variations in a population are produced by __________.

Question 64

The theory that earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters cause extinctions of some species while leaving others unharmed is __________.

Question 65

In theory, individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to reproduce.

Question 66

Which of the following would you predict would evolve in guppies that are taken from streams in Trinidad with predators and put into streams lacking predators?

A) Male guppies will become less colorful.
B) Male guppies will become more colorful.
C) Guppies would evolve to have females avoid more colorful males.
D) Male guppies will not change in coloration.
E) Guppies would evolve to have females prefer less colorful males.

Question 67

There were biologists before Darwin who proposed mechanisms for evolution.

Question 68

Coprolites (animal dung), bones, and impressions of body parts in rocks are called__________.

Question 69

Dandelions in a lawn that is mowed have short flower stalks, whereas those in a field have tall flower stocks. This illustrates

A) convergent evolution.
B) natural selection.
C) artificial mutation.
D) artificial selection.
E) inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Question 70

Evidence that supports the theory of evolution is found in the studies of

A) embryos, biochemistry, fossils, and artificial selection.
B) embryos.
C) fossils.
D) biochemistry.
E) artificial selection.

Question 71

Darwin and__________ both developed and proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Question 72

Based on the way natural selection works, what is the best way to make use of antibacterial soap?

A) Never use it because all bacteria are harmless.
B) Use it only when you need to be free of bacterial contamination, so bacteria will be less likely to evolve resistance to it.
C) Always use it because it is unlikely that bacteria will evolve to become resistant to it.
D) Always use it because most bacteria will cause illness.
E) Never use it because bacteria will evolve to become resistant to it.

Question 73

Darwinʹs theory of evolution was based on his observations during his voyage to Asia.

Question 74

In most geological formations, younger rocks are layered over older rocks.

Question 75

Through artificial selection, it is possible to select for characteristics that may not be advantageous to the organism in a natural environment.

Question 76

Anolis lizards can be informally subdivided into long -legged forms (which move by jumping from tree to tree) and short-legged forms (which mostly crawl from one area to another). Both forms are usually found in any population. A group of Anolis lizards with long legs are transplanted from an island with many large trees to an island with many small plants and no trees. In future generations, the transplanted lizard population is most likely to

A) evolve to be able to maneuver less efficiently.
B) undergo no evolutionary change.
C) evolve even longer legs.
D) evolve to be able to run away from predators more quickly.
E) evolve shorter legs adapted for the smaller plants.

Question 77

In any evolving population of organisms, individual variations exist.

Question 78

If a woman learns to speak many languages, her children will inherit fluency in many languages.

Question 79

Pelvic bones in snakes and whales are __________structures.

Question 80

Mammalian appendages with similar bone structures can be used for flying, swimming, running, or grasping. These are examples of __________structures.