Deck 10: Where Did We Come From? The Evidence for Evolution

Question 1

What was Lamarck's idea about how organisms changed?

A) He proposed that body parts increased or decreased as a result of extra use or disuse.
B) He proposed that variations in populations were selected by the environment.
C) He proposed that all organisms were unchanging over time.
D) He proposed that humans evolved from fish.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following lists events in the proper order to reflect how natural selection works in a population of lice that could originally be controlled by permethrin?

A) A louse population evolves resistance to permethrin; permethrin is used to kill lice; lice become more common in schoolchildren.
B) Some lice are resistant to permethrin; permethrin is used to kill lice; lice resistant to permethrin become the most common type.
C) Permethrin resistance is common in lice; permethrin is used to kill lice; most lice become sensitive to permethrin.
D) Permethrin is used to kill lice; individual lice change in order to survive exposure to permethrin; most lice become resistant to permethrin.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following descriptions would be considered a theory in the same scientific sense that evolution is considered a theory?

A) a theory about why an apple falls to the ground when dropped
B) a theory about why your neighbor has the nicest car in the neighborhood
C) a theory about which of your classmates is the source of your cold
D) a theory about why blue is your favorite color

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What makes one louse able to survive treatment with permethrin and another louse unable to survive?

A) If there is genetic variation in the louse population independent of permethrin exposure, then some lice are likely to be resistant.
B) If a louse is exposed to low levels of permethrin, then it becomes resistant.
C) If the parents of a louse are exposed to permethrin, then the offspring become resistant.
D) If a louse is exposed to other anti-lice treatments, then it becomes resistant to all anti-lice treatments.

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of microevolution?

A) Birds evolved from dinosaurs.
B) Lions and tigers evolved from a common cat-like ancestor.
C) HIV evolved resistance to antiviral medications.
D) Land plants evolved from algae.

Question 6

Which of the following is what scientists mean when they use the term theory?

A) a hypothesis that has not yet been tested
B) a hypothesis that seems logical but cannot be tested because it's impractical to do so
C) a set of findings that are supported by repeated testing
D) ideas which are so obviously true that they don't need to be tested

Question 7

The most important reason that one can see evolution in a population of mosquitoes more easily than one can see evolution in a population of squirrels is because mosquitoes

A) have a shorter generation time.
B) have a higher mutation rate.
C) feed on blood.
D) lay eggs rather than bear live young.

Question 8

True or false: The common ancestor of all life must have had genes for all traits now present in animals today.

Question 9

What is it about macroevolution that people find controversial?

A) the appearance of new traits in existing populations
B) the common descent of all organisms from one ancestral cell
C) the concept of species being subdivided into separate populations
D) the concept that genes can vary spontaneously

Question 10

True or false: Evolution is a very controversial idea among scientists.

Question 11

The person who also proposed a mechanism for evolution similar to natural selection was

A) Charles Lyell.
B) Jean Baptiste Lamarck.
C) Alfred Russel Wallace.
D) Robert Fitzroy.

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of biological evolution?

A) You are vaccinated against polio and are protected against the disease.
B) A tree branch is broken off and another grows in its place.
C) Over time, a species of caterpillar becomes the same shade of green as the leaves on which it feeds.
D) The average woman's dress size has increased over the last 50 years.

Question 13

The mechanism that results in evolution is ________ (two words).

Question 14

How did the geologist Charles Lyell influence Darwin?

A) He provided evidence that Earth was really only about 10,000 years old.
B) He suggested that slow, gradual changes shaped the features of Earth.
C) He proposed a theory about how small islands were formed.
D) He charted the currents found off the Pacific coast of South America.

Question 15

In the figure, the branching points of the tree represent

A) a modern species.
B) the origin of a new species from an ancestral form.
C) an extinct species.
D) a common ancestor of a group of modern species.

Question 16

When a biologist is looking for a suitable organism in which she can study the process of evolution in a laboratory setting, what would be an important consideration?

A) The organism should be large.
B) The organism should have a short generation time.
C) The organism should produce relatively few offspring.
D) The organism should have a complete fossil record of its ancestry.

Question 17

According to the theory of common descent, each species on Earth today should

A) look very similar to all other species.
B) not have ancestors in common with members of other species.
C) have a single ancestor in common.
D) have DNA that is mostly unique from other species.

Question 18

What was the original purpose of the voyage of the HMS Beagle?

A) to add to the general knowledge of the animals and plants on Earth
B) to gather physical evidence in support of the theory of evolution
C) to chart the coast and harbors of South America
D) to do experiments to test Lamarck's view of inheritance of acquired characteristics

Question 19

Which of the following observations was most influential to Charles Darwin?

A) the wide variety of living things in South America
B) the difference between organisms of South America and organisms of Europe
C) the similarity between organisms of South America and organisms of Europe
D) the slight differences between organisms on nearby islands

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of a nonevolutionary change in a population?

A) an increase in mosquitoes that are resistant to insecticide
B) plants in a dry climate that have faster-growing roots than plants found there 20 years ago
C) after decreases in airborne soot, a change in the most common color of moths
D) an increase in the number of people diagnosed with colon cancer

Question 21

You discover a butterfly that has some similarity to members of the species Faunis canens, but it also has a few important differences. You may have discovered a new

A) order.
B) family.
C) species.
D) genus.

Question 22

You are interested in the evolution of a particular kind of beetle. What sort of analysis might be useful in your study?

A) Look for similarities between the histone genes of other beetles and the one being studied.
B) Find out what kinds of birds eat the beetles and see what else those birds eat.
C) Compare the beetles to other insects in the area.
D) Find all the places where this particular kind of beetle lives.

Question 23

Which of the following levels would contain members that are the most similar?

A) class
B) genus
C) kingdom
D) order

Question 24

Lizards on a dry, sandy island are most likely to be similar to

A) lizards in the rainforest on the mainland 20 miles away.
B) lizards on a rainforest island 200 miles farther out to sea.
C) lizards on a dry, sandy island 500 miles farther out to sea.
D) tortoises on the same dry, sandy island.

Question 25

True or false: Special creation is NOT considered a scientific hypothesis because no one has ever tested it using scientific means.

Question 26

You discover a primate fossil while on an expedition in Africa. Which part of the skeleton would you be most interested in examining in order to classify this primate as a human or a nonhuman primate?

A) the hand bones
B) the base of the skull
C) the ribs
D) the backbone (vertebrae)

Question 27

Which statement best describes the now-discredited theories of Lamarck?

A) All life was created in the form we see today.
B) Modern life forms are the descendants of past individuals who were the most fit.
C) Organisms acquire traits during their lifetime and pass those traits on to their offspring.
D) Earth is extremely old and has undergone many changes.

Question 28

Intelligent design is NOT a testable ________ and thus cannot be considered a scientific explanation for the origin of living things.

A) strategy
B) hypothesis
C) experiment
D) theory

Question 29

Which of these events would most likely result in the creation of large numbers of fossils?

A) a drought
B) an earthquake
C) a fire
D) a volcano

Question 30

Why were Darwin's ideas so widely accepted by scientists of his day?

A) He published his book soon after he returned to England and all his recollections were fresh in his mind.
B) Darwin's ideas fit well with what most people already believed about evolution.
C) Darwin presented extensive evidence from many areas of biology to support his ideas.
D) Darwin was from a rich and powerful family.

Question 31

What aspect of the geology of the Galápagos was important in producing the diversity of organisms seen by Darwin?

A) the islands are in the Pacific
B) the islands are in a chain
C) the islands are very dry
D) there are no mammals on the islands

Question 32

The standard classification system used by biologists today groups and classifies organisms on the basis of similar physical traits. This system was first developed by Carl Linnaeus. At the time of his work, there were other methods for grouping organisms that were based on similar habitats, similar diets, or similar behaviors. Why is Linnaeus's system the most useful one to biologists today?

A) Linnaeus's system is the simplest; the others are too complicated.
B) Classifying on the basis of shared traits points out the underlying evolutionary relationships among organisms.
C) Linnaeus's system included all organisms found on Earth.
D) Linnaeus's system relies on Latin names that make the most sense to biologists.

Question 33

What was the contribution of Wallace to the history of ideas about evolution?

A) He proposed the idea that Earth is very old.
B) He was the main opponent of Darwin's ideas immediately after they were published.
C) He proposed the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics.
D) He proposed a theory of evolution similar to Darwin's.

Question 34

What should you look for when considering whether structures from two kinds of organisms are homologous?

A) The structures should have identical functions in both organisms.
B) The structures should be in different positions on the bodies of the two organisms.
C) The structures should not appear in any close relatives of the organisms.
D) The structures should have similar anatomy in the two organisms.

Question 35

Humans who have mutations in the presenilin genes are at a higher risk for developing early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The human presenilin proteins that are made from these genes are responsible for altering other proteins by cleaving (cutting)them at specific positions. Presenilin proteins that are highly similar to the human ones have been identified in C. elegans, a microscopic nematode worm. These nematodes do not get Alzheimer's disease, as they do not have a brain. What would you expect the function of nematode presenilins to be?

A) They are responsible for the development of the central nervous system.
B) They are responsible for altering other proteins by cleaving them.
C) They are responsible for altering other proteins by transporting them to a new location within cells.
D) They are responsible for the synthesis of new proteins.

Question 36

What is the role of fossils in supporting the theory of common descent?

A) Fossils of dinosaurs show that other types of life existed, but there is no evidence of relationships between them.
B) There have been many fossils of intermediate types discovered that provide strong support for the theory of common descent.
C) There are plenty of fossils to show that animals have evolved, but there are not enough fossils of human ancestors to suggest that humans are related to other animals.
D) Fossil evidence has been found to support the relationship between humans and other primates but only in Europe.

Question 37

Darwin observed that tortoises of the nearby islands, although slightly different, belonged to the same species. How might he have known they were the same species?

A) He probably compared DNA sequence data from the different tortoises.
B) He probably compared the metabolism of the different tortoises and saw they had similar enzymes.
C) He may have been told by local people that when tortoises of different islands were brought together, they could mate with each other.
D) He may have moved one group of tortoises to a new island and observed the accumulation of changes in the moved group.

Question 38

What is the molecular clock?

A) The rate at which mutations accumulate in DNA within a species.
B) The rate at which new species diverge from ancestral species.
C) The rate at which structures no longer needed become small and insignificant.
D) The rate at which new discoveries are made about gene homology.

Question 39

In land mammals, the pelvic girdle is the point where the leg bones attach to the rest of the skeleton. Whales also have a small pelvic girdle. This would be an example of what type of evidence for common descent?

A) a homologous gene
B) a homologous structure
C) fossil evidence
D) a vestigial structure

Question 40

How do fossils support the theory of common descent?

A) They are a record of at least some intermediate types of organisms and thus document the process of evolution.
B) They can be easily and precisely dated.
C) They are found equally all over the world, so they explain all our questions about biogeography.
D) They contain complete DNA genomes, so they can be compared to modern organisms.

Question 41

True or false: A fossil whose age is determined by radiometric dating would be considered very old if only the smallest amount of radioactivity remained.

Question 42

The term that describes distribution patterns of living things around the world is ________.

Question 43

Which of the following observations of species distribution across Earth support the theory of common descent?

A) All continents contain nearly identical organisms.
B) Each part of Earth contains life forms perfectly designed for that region.
C) One can see similarities in organisms that are found in close proximity, but each population has adaptations that suit the organisms to their particular habitat.
D) There are very few similarities among life forms on different tropical islands.

Question 44

The nonfunctional wings of an ostrich are an example of what sort of evidence for the theory of common descent?

A) vestigial structures
B) homologous structures
C) shared developmental pathways
D) DNA similarity

Question 45

Common descent is referred to as a theory because

A) there is overwhelming evidence to support it from many areas of biology.
B) scientists are reasonably sure it's true, but there's little evidence to support it.
C) it's an idea from more than 100 years ago and thus is not a modern idea.
D) it's the only idea about life on Earth that can be tested by observation of the material universe.

Question 46

The DNA of cats and dogs is much more similar than the DNA of cats and hamsters. Why is that?

A) Cats and dogs have lived together with humans for a longer period of time, so they have grown more similar.
B) Cats and dogs have a common ancestor that is more recent than the common ancestor of cats and hamsters.
C) The ancestors of cats and the ancestors of dogs evolved in similar environments.
D) Cats and dogs have fewer offspring during their lifetime than hamsters, so their DNA change less rapidly.

Question 47

Why are fossils from older species found deeper in the earth than those from more recent species?

A) Layers of sediments accumulate every year, covering older fossils in more layers.
B) Older species were more likely to burrow underground.
C) Modern species can swim better than older species.
D) Older species were more likely to be trapped in sediments and form fossils than modern species.

Question 48

Which of the following groupings are in order from broadest to most narrow?

A) kingdom, species, genus
B) class, family, species
C) family, order, class
D) phylum, kingdom, genus

Question 49

The presence of a tailbone in humans and other primates without tails is an example of a(n)________ trait.

Question 50

Which of these species is most likely to share the greatest percentage of DNA with humans?

A) blue jay
B) beaver
C) leopard frog
D) dragonfly

Question 51

True or false: DNA evidence has strongly supported the original groupings proposed by Carl Linnaeus to show relationships between organisms.

Question 52

DNA evidence, fossil evidence, homology, and vestigial structures all provide evidence that humans and chimpanzees share a(n)________ (two words).

Question 53

Bat wings are homologous to the front legs of cats. What does the term "homologous" mean in this context?

A) Both structures are used for the same purpose.
B) The common ancestor of bats and cats had limbs that functioned as wings.
C) The common ancestor of bats and cats had a limb with a bone structure similar to that found in cat legs and bat wings.
D) Bat wings are vestigial legs.

Question 54

You're examining fossils from a variety of hominin species. Which ones would you expect to show the greatest amount of radioactive material in relation to daughter products?

A) Paranthropus aethiopicus
B) Homo habilis
C) Ardepithecus ramidus
D) Australopithecus garhi

Question 55

Humans and apes show such a strong degree of similarity that they are placed in the same

A) species.
B) genus.
C) subfamily.
D) subspecies.

Question 56

True or false: When comparing different families of animals, you would expect gene-coding for proteins that perform basic cell functions to show much higher homology than gene-coding for proteins involved in coordinating organ systems.

Question 57

Which of the following is a somewhat confusing structure found in humans that is best explained by our evolutionary heritage?

A) tailbone
B) lack of body hair
C) upright posture
D) opposable thumb

Question 58

In studying a species of fish, a structure is discovered that has no apparent function. If this is a vestigial structure, what would you find in at least some relatives of this fish?

A) The structure should be absent.
B) A similar structure should be present, but it would be larger and have a function.
C) The structure should look different and also have no function.
D) The structure should be absent from fossils of ancestors of this species.

Question 59

From the perspective of an evolutionary biologist, the most significant thing about this figure is that

A) all vertebrates have bones.
B) all vertebrates have limbs.
C) the relative arrangement of bones is similar.
D) finger bones are usually thin.

Question 60

The presence of goose bumps in humans is an example of what sort of evidence for the theory of common descent?

A) vestigial structures
B) homologous structures
C) shared developmental pathways
D) DNA similarity

Question 61

True or false: Almost as much evidence exists to support the hypothesis of transformation as the theory of common descent.

Question 62

The hypothesis of one common ancestor for all life is best supported by the fact that

A) DNA sequences from bacteria can be transferred to plants and other organisms.
B) species in some groups have homologous anatomical structures.
C) embryonic development is similar for all chordates.
D) species in similar geographic locations show structural similarities.

Question 63

Why is the separate types hypothesis considered so unlikely by most biologists?

A) If different types of life evolved independently, it would be obvious in the fossil record.
B) There are multiple similarities in all life at the cellular level that strongly suggest a common origin for all living things.
C) The separate types model hypothesizes many changes in living things over time, while the fossil record suggests that few of these changes have occurred.
D) The similarity in appearance in many living things suggests that there must have been only one common ancestor.

Question 64

Which piece of evidence would allow you to reject the hypothesis of separate types?

A) fossil evidence showing that organisms have been on Earth for billions of years
B) similarity of physical structures among species
C) universality of DNA to all life
D) fossil evidence that species have changed over time

Question 65

Evidence from radiometric dating of nonfossil rocks allows rejection of the

A) static hypothesis.
B) transformation hypothesis.
C) separate type hypothesis.
D) common descent hypothesis.

Question 66

True or false: The fields of science that support the theory of evolution include geology, molecular biology, and genetics.

Question 67

Of the four hypotheses that explain the origin of modern organisms, which is the one with the least scientific support?

A) the static hypothesis
B) the transformation hypothesis
C) the separate type hypothesis
D) the common descent hypothesis

Question 68

Evidence for the theory of common descent demonstrates consilience, which means that

A) supporting evidence for the theory is derived from different sources.
B) the evidence is able to convince even nonscientists who have doubts about the theory.
C) not enough evidence has been gathered to support the theory.
D) the theory can never be challenged by new evidence.

Question 69

Which of the following is true about predictions made from the theory of common descent?

A) They are almost always supported when they can be tested.
B) They cannot be tested and thus we cannot know if they are correct.
C) They are supported and not supported by experimental evidence with equal frequency.
D) They are supported by experimental evidence for all organisms except humans.

Question 70

What do the fossil records tell us about hominins?

A) Hominins were a series of species, with one set of branches that eventually led to modern humans.
B) Hominins were related to chimpanzees but not to humans.
C) Hominins were a diverse group of human ancestors not related to other primates.
D) Hominins were a diverse group of primate species of which modern humans are the only surviving group.