Deck 13: Prospecting for Biological Gold: Biodiversity and Classification

Question 1

Fossils of ancient organisms are found in deep layers of rock, while the fossils of more recent organisms are found in shallower layers. Which two groups' common ancestor would be found in relatively shallow fossils?

A) Protista and Bacteria
B) Fungi and Archaea
C) Animals and Plants
D) Plants and Protists

Answer 1

C

Question 2

True or false: It's possible for the same species to be categorized under two different names in different natural history museums around the world.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Of the four kingdoms in the domain Eukarya, which one is most likely to be split into two or more new kingdoms as scientists perform more genetic analyses on evolutionary relationships?

A) kingdom Plantae
B) kingdom Protista
C) kingdom Animalia
D) kingdom Fungi

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In which era did primitive bacteria first appear?

A) Precambrian
B) Paleozoic
C) Mesozoic
D) Cenozoic

Question 5

In what period did all modern animal groups first appear in the oceans?

A) Cambrian
B) Silurian
C) Carboniferous
D) Permian

Question 6

DNA is found in every cell of an organism. What subset of DNA changes would be most useful to molecular biologists to determine evolutionary relationships?

A) DNA changes that occur in genes specific to organisms in one kingdom
B) DNA changes in genes that are shared by a common ancestor
C) DNA changes in genes that occur in body cells and cannot be passed to offspring
D) DNA changes in genes that do not generally code for any function

Question 7

Dr. Smith has discovered a bird that he believes is a new species. Dr. Wilson says he will only be convinced if Dr. Smith finds several more birds of the same type. Why might Dr. Wilson feel this way?

A) He wants to be sure Dr. Smith hasn't killed the last one and made the species extinct.
B) He wants to be sure that the bird Dr. Smith found isn't just an unusual example of an already-described species.
C) He wants to make sure that there will be enough specimens for many scientists to study the bird and see if it is a new species.
D) All the bird species have already been described, so there can't be anymore.

Question 8

Why are companies particularly interested in bioprospecting?

A) Companies hope to become famous for discovering a new species.
B) Companies hope to make more students interested in taxonomy.
C) Companies hope to discover a species that contains an enzyme or another protein that can be marketed.
D) Companies hope to discover how life on Earth began.

Question 9

What does the main trunk at the far left of the "tree of life" represent?

A) all extinct members of the lineage
B) the earliest common ancestor of all the organisms in the tree
C) the most successful members of the lineage
D) the organisms for which most fossils have been discovered

Question 10

Scientists can compare the relationships between all modern species by examining a gene that performs a similar function in species from all kingdoms. What does this one gene encode?

A) Taq polymerase
B) ribosomal RNA
C) enzymes needed for photosynthesis
D) restriction enzymes

Question 11

According to the most current classifications, which of the following groups is the most different from all the others?

A) bacteria
B) fungi
C) animals
D) archaea

Question 12

How does the DNA of related organisms show similarity?

A) The DNA of each organism is unique and therefore shows no similarity.
B) The diverse types of sugars and phosphates are very similar.
C) The sequence of bases is very similar.
D) The locations of DNA within the cell are very similar.

Question 13

An organism that is multicellular, relies on other organisms for food, and reproduces by spores would be classified in which kingdom?

A) kingdom Animalia
B) kingdom Fungi
C) kingdom Plantae
D) kingdom Protista

Question 14

An organism that is multicellular and makes its own food would be classified in which kingdom?

A) kingdom Animalia
B) kingdom Fungi
C) kingdom Plantae
D) kingdom Protista

Question 15

True or false: Organisms on Earth are currently classified first as either plant or animal.

Question 16

Why is it so difficult for scientists to know how many species have already been described?

A) Scientific journals do not publish accounts of new species.
B) There isn't one location for cataloguing all species.
C) Scientists are too busy testing hypotheses to investigate the number of species on Earth.
D) Many species are microscopic, so they are difficult to study.

Question 17

Scientists would change the most current classification system if

A) more species became extinct.
B) more types of vertebrates were discovered.
C) more information became available on the evolutionary history of existing species.
D) new species evolved.

Question 18

Which of the following would be considered bioprospecting?

A) studying how cancer cells reproduce without controls
B) studying the mating rituals of fish species in a coral reef
C) studying a sample of earthworm skin for antibacterial properties
D) studying the number of species a particular species of owl uses as food

Question 19

True or false: Once some bioprospectors have determined that a representative of a species has no useful compounds, that species is excluded from further study by other bioprospectors.

Question 20

How have classification systems for living things changed over the years?

A) Scientists have always recognized five kingdoms of living things, but the placement of species within those kingdoms has changed.
B) Until the last 20 years, organisms had been classified first as animal or plant. Recently, a five-kingdom system became the preferred classification system.
C) The three-domain system has been introduced within the last 30 years, to replace the five-kingdom system.
D) The exact organization proposed in the 18th century by Carl Linnaeus has recently been reinstituted by scientists.

Question 21

Life on Earth is approximately

A) 36 billion years old.
B) 3.6 billion years old.
C) 360 million years old.
D) 36 million years old.

Question 22

What is the result of adaptive radiation?

A) the extinction of one species and the replacement with another
B) the diversification of one or a few species into a varied group of descendants
C) symbiosis between eukaryotes and prokaryotes
D) convergent evolution in which unrelated species take similar forms

Question 23

Both mitochondria and chloroplasts originated from free-living

A) protists.
B) animals.
C) bacteria.
D) plants.

Question 24

Plants possess many compounds that affect animals. Which of the following is the most likely reason?

A) Plants have been subject to mutation-causing pollution for many decades.
B) Plants have cell structures that are very different from animal cells.
C) Plants contain chloroplasts that are derived from free-living prokaryotes.
D) Plants that produce chemical defenses were successful against plant-eating animals.

Question 25

In what way are fungi similar to animals?

A) Both take in food from the outside.
B) Both produce hair-like hyphae.
C) Both form embryos when they reproduce.
D) Both produce antibiotics.

Question 26

The Cambrian explosion is a period in Earth's history when what significant event occurred?

A) life first appeared
B) eukaryotes first appeared
C) plants first appeared
D) multicellular animals first appeared

Question 27

You work for a firm that has hired you to look for drugs that work in a similar way to aspirin. Your first search will be among organisms in which kingdom?

A) Plantae
B) Protista
C) Fungi
D) Animalia

Question 28

Algae are classified as part of which group?

A) Plantae
B) Protista
C) Fungi
D) Archaea

Question 29

To which group are organisms in kingdom Fungi most closely related?

A) Plantae
B) Protista
C) Animalia
D) Bacteria

Question 30

What is the adaptive value of natural antibiotic production for fungi?

A) Bacteria use fungi for food.
B) Bacteria spoil the food that the fungi need for their own nutrition.
C) Bacteria are the main competitors with fungi for food.
D) Bacteria inhibit the reproduction of fungi.

Question 31

Why would bioprospectors for private drug companies be interested in animals that produce venom?

A) The venom could be used to control pests like mice and rats.
B) Venoms often interact with nerves, so at much reduced concentrations, they could act as painkillers.
C) Powerful venoms could be used as biological weapons.
D) Many venoms potentially have antibiotic properties.

Question 32

The leftovers in your refrigerator are guaranteed to eventually grow mold because fungi

A) get nutrients from other organisms.
B) have cell walls.
C) are widespread and reproduce quickly.
D) often produce antibiotics.

Question 33

An organism is described that can live in very high temperature water. This organism is most likely a member of the

A) Bacteria domain.
B) Archaea domain.
C) Protista kingdom.
D) Animalia kingdom.

Question 34

Which group underwent a large increase in diversity during the Cambrian explosion?

A) animals
B) plants
C) fungi
D) bacteria

Question 35

In what way is a member of domain Archaea similar to a member of domain Bacteria?

A) They are both photosynthetic.
B) They both live in extreme environments.
C) They both have DNA enclosed in a nucleus.
D) They are both prokaryotic cells.

Question 36

How are prokaryotes different from eukaryotes?

A) Prokaryotes have no DNA.
B) Prokaryotes have no nucleus separating the DNA from the rest of the cell.
C) Prokaryotes are unicellular, while eukaryotes are multicellular.
D) Prokaryotes cause disease, but eukaryotes don't.

Question 37

Place these categories in the correct order, from most inclusive to least inclusive.

A) phylum, kingdom, domain, species
B) species, phylum, domain, kingdom
C) kingdom, species, phylum, domain
D) domain, kingdom, phylum, species

Question 38

Which of the following animal traits would be of most interest to bioprospectors?

A) the ability to eat other organisms
B) the ability to survive in the ocean
C) the ability to produce venom
D) the ability to produce food

Question 39

How do fungi obtain nutrients?

A) through photosynthesis
B) by secreting chemicals that break down food and then absorbing it
C) by secreting antibiotics and then absorbing killed bacteria
D) by engulfing bacteria directly

Question 40

Different phyla of fungi are distinguished from each other by what trait?

A) their methods of obtaining food
B) the way they form spores
C) the type of hyphae they form
D) the type of antibiotics they produce

Question 41

What were the Ediacaran fauna?

A) organisms that seem to be the first life on Earth
B) symbiotic organisms that evolved into cellular organelles
C) the first multicellular organisms found in the fossil record
D) the most ancient ancestors of organisms in kingdom Protista

Question 42

After dinosaurs became extinct, the number of mammal species increased greatly. This is an example of

A) adaptive radiation.
B) endosymbiosis.
C) competition.
D) eukaryotic development.

Question 43

The first antibiotic, discovered as a result of a laboratory accident, was ________.

Question 44

The most important role of bacteria in the environment is

A) as disease-causing agents.
B) as fungal control.
C) as decomposers.
D) as a source of restriction enzymes.

Question 45

For how long were prokaryotes the only kind of life on Earth?

A) 100 million years
B) 500 million years
C) 1 billion years
D) 1.5 billion years

Question 46

Both algae and plants have the ability to perform ________.

Question 47

There are a number of sites, around the world, that have been made uninhabitable because of chemical pollution in the soil. Which group of organisms might have useful biological tools for breaking down these toxic compounds?

A) animals
B) fungi
C) protists
D) plants

Question 48

How could a molecule from plants that blocks the connection between nerves and muscles be useful as a pharmaceutical?

A) It could be used to produce restriction enzymes.
B) It could be used as a source of antibiotic.
C) It could be used as a muscle relaxant.
D) It could be used as an antiviral medication.

Question 49

In order to construct an evolutionary classification of modern-day aquatic vertebrates, what is the the best source of information?

A) the DNA sequence
B) the structure of organs
C) the position of appendages
D) the distribution of scales

Question 50

With the evolution of ________, plants were able to grow taller.

A) seeds
B) vascular tissue
C) flowers
D) photosynthesis

Question 51

Why would bioprospectors be interested in an animal that is bright red and slow-moving?

A) It could be a good source of pigment.
B) It could make a toxic molecule that could be useful in small quantities.
C) It could make a good pet.
D) It could be a good source of a sedative.

Question 52

A book is being publicized that purports to provide proof that aliens from another planet brought life to Earth. The proof they show are strange fossils of multicellular organisms that look like no animal you have ever seen. These "aliens" are an example of

A) adaptive radiation.
B) the Ediacaran fauna.
C) ancient Archaea.
D) endosymbiosis.

Question 53

What is a virus?

A) an organism in domain Archaea
B) an organism in kingdom Protista
C) an organism in domain Bacteria
D) a non-living particle

Question 54

Organisms that form mats of long, thin chains of cells and are important in decomposition are ________.

Question 55

Why might Archaea be more difficult to grow in the lab than Bacteria?

A) Archaea are larger cells and thus take in more food.
B) Archaea are much smaller than bacteria and are harder to see growing.
C) Archaea often grow in unusual environments that would be hard to reproduce in the lab.
D) Archaea don't usually reproduce in captivity.

Question 56

True or false: Mitochondria and chloroplasts of eukaryotic cells are very similar to prokaryotes.

Question 57

What evolutionary milestone is shown in the figure?

A) bacteria evolving into archaea
B) prokaryotes evolving into eukaryotes
C) protists evolving into animals
D) algae evolving into plants

Question 58

Mycorrhizae are fungi that are symbiotic with plants. What is the likely relationship between these fungi and plants?

A) The fungi provide soil nutrients to the plants; the plants provide food to the fungi.
B) The fungi remove bacteria from the soil; the plants provide water to the fungi.
C) The fungi provide CO? to the plants; the plants protect the fungi from predators.
D) The fungi remove predators from the plants; the plants provide shelter for the fungi.

Question 59

Symbiosis is a relationship that is mutually beneficial to two organisms. Which organelle developed as a result of a symbiotic relationship?

A) golgi body
B) nucleus
C) mitochondrion
D) endoplasmic reticulum

Question 60

When plants first colonized land, the space they occupied was two-dimensional: the surface of the land. Which adaptation allowed plants to occupy a three-dimensional environment?

A) double fertilization
B) seeds
C) vascular system
D) flowers

Question 61

Indigenous healers who have knowledge of the healing properties of native organisms are called ________.

Question 62

Using the "grind 'em and find 'em" strategy, a scientist finds eight promising chemicals that can control the growth of cancer cells in the lab. However, the only one that is useful as a drug for humans

A) kills normal cells as well as cancer cells.
B) is stable in the human body.
C) is difficult to manufacture in a laboratory.
D) is very expensive to gather.

Question 63

True or false: Organisms that live in habitats with high levels of competition are more likely to produce defensive chemicals than those that live with little competition.

Question 64

Why is adult anatomy sometimes a misleading way to construct a phylogeny that reflects evolutionary history?

A) Adult anatomy isn't strongly influenced by natural selection
B) Convergent evolution produces similar traits in unrelated species.
C) Adult anatomy is too variable within a species.

Question 65

Bioprospectors who search for clues in the habitat for whether an organism will be useful are taking advantage of an organism's ________.

Question 66

The entity most likely to profit when a pharmaceutically important molecule is discovered in a species of rainforest tree is

A) the country in which the rainforest is located.
B) the shaman who has been using the bark of that tree to cure disease.
C) the company that discovered the compound.
D) the wildlife federation that has been working to maintain the rainforest and prevent development.

Question 67

Taq polymerase was not among compounds known to be useful to healers of native people. Why not?

A) Taq polymerase is used in molecular biology applications and not for pharmaceutical use.
B) Taq polymerase is used to treat diseases that didn't exist in ancient times.
C) Taq polymerase comes from an organism that only recently evolved.
D) The gene that codes for Taq polymerase has recently evolved new functions.

Question 68

The best source of an antibacterial compound that would limit the growth of a particular kind of soil bacteria would be

A) other bacteria regardless of habitat.
B) animals that live in the same area.
C) fungi from the same soil.
D) flowering plants from the same soil.

Question 69

Taxol is the most well-known anticancer chemical. Taxol was obtained from a species in which of the following groups?

A) Plantae
B) Protista
C) Animalia
D) Bacteria

Question 70

In this phylogeny feather pattern on the head is the trait used to separate the sparrows into groups. DNA analysis suggests a different phylogeny that places white-crowned birds and golden-crowned birds more closely together. Therefore, the striped pattern on the head is a result of

A) convergent evolution.
B) sexual selection.
C) genetic drift.
D) endosymbiosis.

Question 71

Which of these is a true statement about viruses?

A) Viruses are living cells that can invade other organisms.
B) Viruses use energy to perform life functions.
C) Viruses use host cells to make more viruses.
D) Viruses will die unless they are inside an organism.

Question 72

Which of the following is the best way to test a hypothetical evolutionary classification among living organisms?

A) analysis of embryonic development
B) analysis of physical structures
C) analysis of DNA sequence
D) analysis of habitat