Deck 18: Introduction to Darwinian Evolution

Question 1

Who is responsible for the first concept regarding the passing on traits or characteristics that were acquired during the lifetime of an organism to its offspring?

A) Charles Lyell
B) Charles Darwin
C) Alfred Wallace
D) Thomas Malthus
E) Jean Baptiste de Lamarck

Answer 1

E

Question 2

What did Charles Darwin investigate while visiting the Galapagos Islands?

A) How the island species were completely different.
B) How the island species resembled those from nearby islands.
C) How the island species resembled those on other arid islands.
D) How the island species resembled those from continental South America.
E) How the islands were inhabited at all since they were 600 miles away from South America.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Evolution is genetic change in ____ that occurs over time.

A) an individual
B) a population
C) a community
D) an ecosystem
E) the biosphere

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What process has been used to produce many of today's vegetables, such as broccoli, kohlrabi, and cauliflower, which are all derived from wild cabbage?

A) mutation
B) natural selection
C) artificial selection
D) convergent evolution
E) comparative anatomy

Question 5

Which are evolutionary modifications that improve the survival and reproductive success of an organism?

A) mutations
B) adaptations
C) artificial traits
D) homoplastic traits
E) vestigial structures

Question 6

The rapid evolution of bacteria and fungi in certain environments is used in the field of:

A) bioremediation
B) plant genomics
C) medical diagnostics
D) human disease genetics
E) human genome sequencing

Question 7

The differential distribution of wing length in Drosophila , with larger wings in northern areas and smaller wings in southern climates, provides evidence that:

A) wing length is not a heritable trait.
B) the fossil record is usually inaccurate.
C) the molecular clock cannot be applied to fruit fly traits.
D) chance is the most important agent in evolutionary change.
E) natural selection is the most important agent in evolutionary change.

Question 8

Overproduction, variation, limits on population growth, and differential reproductive success are all components of:

A) gradualism
B) genetic inheritance
C) punctuated equilibrium
D) evolution by natural selection
E) evolution by inheritance of acquired characteristics

Question 9

Darwin might have made greater advances in his theory of evolution by natural selection if he had:

A) read of the work of Charles Lyell
B) taken into consideration the theories of Malthus
C) taken into consideration the work of Gregor Mendel
D) performed experiments in plant growth and development
E) visited other remote islands that contained a limited number of species

Question 10

During the 1920s to 1940s, biologists combined Mendelian genetics with Darwin's theory to form a unified explanation of evolution that is referred to as:

A) neo-evolution
B) genetic evolution
C) classical Darwinism
D) evolutionary genetics
E) the modern synthesis

Question 11

Which process provides the genetic variability that natural selection acts on during evolution?

A) fitness
B) mitosis
C) mutation
D) adaptation
E) artificial selection

Question 12

Who arranged organisms into a scale of nature and first stated that organisms changed toward the more complex and perfect?

A) Aristotle
B) Lamarck
C) Dobzhansky
D) Charles Darwin
E) Erasmus Darwin

Question 13

What is an example of a limit on population growth, and proposed by Darwin to be a mechanism of evolution by natural selection?

A) predation
B) inheritance of traits
C) epidermal coloration
D) resistance to infection
E) spawning of hundreds of eggs

Question 14

Fossil evidence shows that giraffes living 1000 years ago had much shorter necks than the giraffes seen today. Which statement best explains this observation?

A) The two groups of giraffes are not related.
B) The two groups of giraffes arose as a result of convergent evolution.
C) The difference in neck length is evidence for homoplastic inheritance.
D) The two groups of giraffes were located in different geographical locations.
E) The giraffes acquired longer necks through the continuing process of natural selection.

Question 15

In which group of islands Charles Darwin observed variation among organisms and compared these organisms to those found on the mainland?

A) Virgin Islands
B) Canary Islands
C) Channel Islands
D) Falkland Islands
E) Galapagos Islands

Question 16

Who originally published the idea that food supplies, which sustain animal populations, have the capacity to increase arithmetically?

A) Aristotle
B) Charles Darwin
C) Alfred Wallace
D) Thomas Malthus
E) Jean Baptiste de Lamarck

Question 17

Individual species will continually evolve as a result of which evolutionary mechanism?

A) gradualism
B) coevolution
C) natural selection
D) convergent evolution
E) punctuated equilibrium

Question 18

What does the modern synthesis theory of evolution emphasize?

A) population genetics
B) sexual reproduction
C) overproduction of individuals
D) artificial selection of individuals
E) homologous versus vestigial structures

Question 19

Four of the following ideas are consistent with Darwinian evolution . Which one is the exception?

A) Individuals in a population are genetically variable.
B) A struggle for existence exists among individuals of a population.
C) Traits acquired during an individual's life are passed on to its offspring.
D) A population can produce more offspring than the environment can support.
E) Individuals that are best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.

Question 20

Whose findings of evolution by natural selection were presented with those of Darwin?

A) Alfred Wallace
B) Carolus Linnaeus
C) Charles Lyell
D) Gregor Mendel
E) Thomas Malthus

Question 21

Table 18-1 Based on data in the accompanying table, which primate has the most recent common ancestor with humans?

A) tarsier
B) gibbon
C) orangutan
D) chimpanzee
E) rhesus monkey

Question 22

Which important finding from the fossil record supports the theory of evolution?

A) Life has evolved over time.
B) All life evolved in the ocean.
C) Most species are actually extinct.
D) There is an inaccuracy in the fossil record.
E) Ancient species greatly differed from those alive today.

Question 23

Figure 18-11

What is the land mass labeled as 2 in the accompanying figure?

A) Pangea
B) Eurasia
C) Laurasia
D) Gondwana
E) Antarctica

Question 24

Figure 18-11

What is the land mass labeled as 1 in the accompanying figure?

A) Pangea
B) Eurasia
C) Laurasia
D) Gondwana
E) Antarctica

Question 25

Scientific evidence in the field of developmental biology overwhelmingly demonstrates that development in different animals is controlled by the same kinds of:

A) RNA
B) genes
C) habitats
D) embryos
E) populations

Question 26

What mechanism would explain how fossils of the same organism can be found in parts of Africa and South America?

A) biogeography
B) natural selection
C) continental drift
D) homoplastic features
E) convergent evolution

Question 27

Figure 18-3

Refer to the accompanying figure. The average weight of a female guppy in the experimental group is:

A) 70 g
B) 80 mg
C) 170 mg
D) 180 g
E) 190 mg

Question 28

Which best explains how Australia has distinctive organisms, such as marsupials, that cannot be found anywhere else on earth?

A) Australia has an unusual climate that has triggered natural selection.
B) There are fewer species of organisms in Australia than most continents.
C) Australia experienced a significantly slower rate of evolutionary change.
D) The predators of marsupials eliminated the populations in other locations.
E) Australia was separated and isolated from other land masses for a long period of time.

Question 29

Two species have homologous structures. What can we infer?

A) The structures are identical.
B) The structures have the same function.
C) The species have very different ancestors.
D) The species are related by a common ancestry.
E) The structures have the same function and they are identical.

Question 30

The genetic code is sometimes called "universal," meaning that all organisms share the same:

A) genes
B) coding mechanism
C) ribosomal structure
D) mitochondrial DNA
E) nucleic acid composition

Question 31

Figure 18-1

Refer to the accompanying figure. The structure labeled as 2 is homologous with the structure labeled as:

A) 1
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5
E) 7

Question 32

Figure 18-1

Which pair correctly matches two homoplastic features in the accompanying figure?

A) 1 and 4
B) 2 and 7
C) 3 and 6
D) 2 and 4
E) 1 and 5

Question 33

Figure 18-3

The results in the accompanying figure support the conclusion that:

A) natural selection does not occur in guppies.
B) natural selection can occur in guppies within a few generations.
C) predation is not a selective force in determining the average size of guppies.
D) male body weight increased proportionately more than female body weight.
E) in the experimental setting, the guppies produced fewer, larger offspring.

Question 34

DNA sequencing data suggest that evolutionary changes are related to an accumulation of:

A) index fossils
B) vestigial organs
C) convergent structures
D) homologous structures
E) changes in DNA nucleotide sequences

Question 35

Table 18-1 Based on data in the accompanying table, which of the primates listed below is the most distantly related to humans?

A) gorilla
B) gibbon
C) orangutan
D) chimpanzee
E) rhesus monkey

Question 36

The genetic code demonstrates the universality of living things because it is common to virtually all:

A) animals
B) bacteria
C) organisms
D) autotrophs
E) eukaryotes

Question 37

Which of the following would be least likely to form a fossil?

A) a marine organism
B) an organism living in a lake
C) an animal with an exoskeleton
D) an animal with an endoskeleton
E) an organism in the tropical rain forest

Question 38

You have identified a new mammal species. You are surprised to find that it has a pelvis, but there is no evidence the species has legs. What can you conclude about this animal's structure?

A) The animal is very young.
B) The pelvis is a vestigial structure.
C) The animal is a mutant species.
D) The pelvic bones are present because the animal is a mammal.
E) The pelvic bones are analogous to the pelvic bones found in other mammals.

Question 39

Figure 18-11

Based on the accompanying figure, which two present day continents should have the most closely related plant and animal species?

A) Eurasia and India
B) Australia and India
C) Africa and Australia
D) North and South America
E) Africa and South America

Question 40

What is a cladogram?

A) a diagram of radioactivity
B) a diagram showing lines of descent
C) a demonstration of genetic variability
D) a geographical distribution of organisms
E) a similar structure found in different organisms

Question 41

A cactus spine and a pea tendril illustrate homoplasy because both are modified leaves.

Question 42

Briefly, explain how Lamarck's proposed mechanism of evolution differs from Darwin's mechanism.

Question 43

The modern synthesis theory of evolution explains Darwin's observations of variation among offspring in terms of amino acid substitutions.

Question 44

Which is the study of past and present distributions of organisms on earth?

A) biogeography
B) biological ecology
C) distribution biology
D) geographical ecology
E) organismal geography

Question 45

What is the relationship between amino acid sequences in proteins and nucleotide sequences in DNA? What do they reveal about evolutionary relationships?

Question 46

Briefly discuss why the historical record of diversity in North American dinosaurs is more complete than that of rain forest organisms.

Question 47

Where would you most likely find fossilized remains of humans and their immediate ancestors?

A) only in relatively old rock
B) only in relatively young rock
C) only in rock formed from volcanoes
D) only in rock from the Precambrian times
E) in any rock from areas inhabited by humans

Question 48

Which is an example of convergent evolution?

A) the hind limb bones found in pythons
B) the third molars in the human mouth
C) the adaptation of the leaf into a cactus spine
D) the development of thorns to protect the plant
E) the elongated snouts of aardvarks, anteaters, and pangolins

Question 49

Which of the following provides the most direct evidence for evolution?

A) biogeography
B) the fossil record
C) molecular biology
D) convergent evolution
E) comparative analysis

Question 50

Which statement about radioisotopes is FALSE?

A) Potassium-40 has an extremely long half-life.
B) Carbon-14 is typically used to date sedimentary rock.
C) The ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 is used in dating fossils.
D) The half-life of a radioisotope does not vary with temperature or pressure.
E) The nucleus of a radioisotope can change into that of a different element during decay.

Question 51

The decrease of carbon-12 in a fossil indicates the age of that fossil.

Question 52

Acquired variations that are favorable to the survival of an organism tend to be present in greater frequency in the next generation of those organisms.

Question 53

What is the evolutionary relationship between a human arm and a cat's forelimb?

A) They are vestigial structures.
B) They are divergent structures.
C) They are homozygous structures.
D) They are homologous structures.
E) They are homoplastic structures.

Question 54

Which example best illustrates homoplasy?

A) shark fins and dog tails
B) whale fins and bat wings
C) bird wings and insect wings
D) cactus spine and pea tendril
E) elongated snout of aardvarks and pangolins

Question 55

The discovery of fossils of whale intermediates suggest that whales evolved from:

A) sharks
B) aquatic reptiles
C) marine invertebrates
D) a larger marine mammal
E) four-legged, land dwelling mammals

Question 56

Darwin observed that species found on ocean islands do not resemble species on islands with similar environment in other parts of the world.

Question 57

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from different species of stickleback fish in three lakes disproves the hypothesis of a common ancestor for all three species.

Question 58

Compare the following terms: homology and homoplasy. Provide two examples of each.

Question 59

After 11 years, the descendants of transferred guppies in Venezuela and Trinidad were significantly larger than their ancestors, indicating that the larger size of guppies was an adaptation to the new environment.

Question 60

Medicine must respond with new drugs and vaccinations to the slow evolution of disease-causing organisms such as bacteria and viruses.

Question 61

Briefly explain how fossils contribute evidence of evolution. Describe how scientists determine the age of fossils.

Question 62

Consider this statement: "There is bias in the fossil record." Why would bias exist in the fossil record if scientists carefully preserve dig sites and document all findings?

Question 63

Compare the homology that occurs in the forelimbs of mammals.

Question 64

When DNA sequences are compared, the closet living relative of humans is found to be the gorilla.

Question 65

What part of Darwin's theory was incomplete due to a lack of knowledge at the time of publication? How does the modern synthetic theory of evolution explain this?

Question 66

The accumulation of genetic changes in vertebrates that modified the basic body plan laid out in fish development illustrates evolutionary development from a common ancestor.