Deck 13: Evidence of Evolution

Question 1

Earth once consisted of a single large landmass and one ocean.The landmass is named

A) Panthalassa.
B) Pangaea.
C) Laurasia.
D) Gondwana.
E) Ultima Continenta.

Answer 1

B
Explanation: "Pangaea" literally means "all Earth."

Question 2

Marsupials are mammals that

A) lay eggs.
B) do not give live birth.
C) have evolved recently.
D) carry their young in a pouch.
E) breathe through gills.

Answer 2

D
Explanation: Marsupials arose earlier than placental mammals.

Question 3

Absolute dating uses ________ to estimate how old a fossil is.

A) depth within rock layers
B) radioactive isotopes
C) a molecular clock
D) structural features
E) embryonic structures

Answer 3

B
Explanation: Absolute dating uses a directly measurable property, the amount of a radioactive isotope, to give a date for a fossil.

Question 4

Which of the following is most likely to be preserved as a fossil?

A) a leaf or stem
B) a bone or shell
C) an organ like an eye or lung
D) a complete large organism
E) an organism that died on land

Question 5

Potassium-40 is useful in determining the age of a fossil in samples

A) less than 25,000 years of age.
B) of 40,000 to 50,000 years of age.
C) 300,000 years of age and older.
D) aged between 50,000 and 100,000 years of age.
E) aged between 100,000 years and 250,000 years.

Question 6

The sequence of eras beginning with the earliest era and proceeding forward to the most recent era in the geologic timescale is

A) Archean - Mesozoic - Cenozoic.
B) Cenozoic - Archean - Mesozoic.
C) Archean - Paleozoic - Proterozoic.
D) Mesozoic - Cenozoic - Paleozoic.
E) Paleozoic - Mesozoic - Cenozoic.

Question 7

Carbon-14 is useful in determining the age of a fossil up to about ________ years ago.

A) 40,000
B) 10,000
C) 20,000
D) 50,000
E) 100,000

Question 8

The abundant remains of ammonites in Oklahoma indicate that Oklahoma was

A) always a vast desert with almost no rainfall.
B) once part of a mountain range that has now eroded.
C) once covered by a shallow ocean.
D) once part of a vast tropical forest.
E) always a grassland.

Question 9

Relative dating uses ________ to estimate how old a fossil is.

A) radioactive isotopes
B) a molecular clock
C) structural features
D) depth within rock layers
E) embryonic structures

Question 10

A gene that when mutated leads to organisms with structures in abnormal places is termed

A) parsimonious.
B) homeotic.
C) homologous.
D) vestigial.
E) dominant.

Question 11

Fossils may be

A) from impressions left after an organism decays.
B) formed as organic matter is replaced by minerals, turning to stone.
C) formed when plant resin or tar preserves the specimen.
D) casts from footprints that have filled with mud and then turned to stone.
E) All answers are correct.

Question 12

The half life of ¹⁴C is 5,730 years.11,460 years after an organism dies what percent of the initial ¹⁴C will still be present in the organism bones?

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

Question 13

The half life of ¹⁴C is 5,730 years.If you test a fossilized bone and find that it has 1/8th the ¹⁴C as a modern bone,you could conclude that it is approximately ________ years old.

A) 11,460
B) 5,730
C) 42,960
D) 716
E) 17,190

Question 14

Which of the following is least likely to be preserved as a fossil?

A) a bone or shell
B) a leaf or stem
C) an organ like an eye or lung
D) a complete large organism
E) an organism that died on land

Question 15

If similarities between two structures in different organisms reflect common ancestry,these structures are

A) vestigial.
B) analogous.
C) homologous.
D) homeotic.
E) heterologous.

Question 16

If similarities between two structures in different organisms reflect independent evolution,these structures are

A) analogous.
B) vestigial.
C) homologous.
D) homeotic.
E) heterologous.

Question 17

A fossil is defined as any evidence of an organism from at least

A) 500 years ago.
B) 1000 years ago.
C) 25,000 years ago.
D) 10,000 years ago.
E) 100,000 years ago.

Question 18

The Cretaceous and Jurassic periods are part of the

A) Mesozoic era.
B) Archean era.
C) Proterozoic era.
D) Cenozoic era.
E) Paleozoic era.

Question 19

If an isotope's half-life is 100 years,then

A) that isotope will no longer exist in 50 years.
B) that isotope will no longer exist in 200 years.
C) in 50 years only half of the atoms in a sample of that isotope will remain.
D) in 100 years only half of the atoms in a sample of that isotope will remain.
E) in 200 years only half of the atoms in a sample of that isotope will remain

Question 20

If a structure has no apparent function in one species,yet is homologous to a functional organ in another species,this structure is termed

A) analogous.
B) homologous.
C) homeotic.
D) vestigial.
E) heterologous.

Question 21

In the section "Investigating Life: Evolving Backwards," what was hypothesized about the loss of legs in modern-day snakes?

A) Snakes descended from land-dwelling ancestors.
B) Snakes descended only from burrowing lizards on land.
C) Snakes descended only from marine lizards.
D) Snakes do not have forelimbs or hindlimbs.
E) Some extant snakes have forelimbs or hindlimbs.

Question 22

The number of differences between cytochrome c of humans and cytochrome c of other organisms is as follows: Rhesus monkey - 1 difference; pigeon - 12 differences; fruit fly - 24 differences.The order in which these species are most similar to humans is

A) Rhesus monkey, pigeon, fruit fly.
B) pigeon, Rhesus monkey, fruit fly.
C) pigeon, fruit fly, Rhesus monkey.
D) Rhesus monkey, fruit fly, pigeon.
E) fruit fly, pigeon, Rhesus monkey.

Question 23

Dinosaurs lived during the Paleozoic era.

Question 24

The femur in a snake and pelvis in a whale are examples of

A) homologous structures.
B) analogous structures.
C) homeotic structures.
D) vestigial structures.
E) heterologous structures.

Question 25

The wings of a bat and an insect are examples of

A) analogous structures.
B) homologous structures.
C) vestigial structures.
D) homeotic structures.
E) heterologous structures.

Question 26

The fossil record is often incomplete,in part because scientists will never be able to discover some of the fossils that are buried deep in the earth and in part because some living things fossilize more readily than others.

Question 27

The observation that most aquatic animals,like fish,penguins,and whales,all have streamlined bodies and fins or flippers for steering are a result of

A) sexual selection.
B) artificial selection.
C) analogous selection.
D) vestigial selection.
E) convergent evolution.

Question 28

The techniques used to study molecular evolution are based on the comparison of nucleotide and amino acid sequences among species.

Question 29

In a fruit fly embryo,the end that becomes the head contains high amounts of the protein bicoid.What may happen if you injected high levels of bicoid in the other end of the embryo?

A) It would fail to develop a head.
B) It would develop two heads.
C) Legs would grow out of its head.
D) It would not grow legs.
E) It would not have segments.

Question 30

If you were looking for a time line of Earth's history,you would need one spanning about 4.6 billion years.

Question 31

If many human genes differ in about 10% of their bases from another species' same genes and substitutions occur at an estimated rate of 2% per one million years,approximately how many years have passed since the two species diverged?

A) 5 million
B) 3 million
C) 10 million
D) 20 million
E) 200 million

Question 32

When a land bridge formed about 70 million years ago,marsupial mammals moved into South America and displaced many of the placental mammal species.

Question 33

Why do different mutations accumulate in two species once they diverge?

A) They can no longer mate and exchange mutated genes.
B) The molecular clock runs at different speeds in different species.
C) Convergent evolution causes the difference in mutations.
D) Natural selection favors mutations in one species over another.
E) All answers are correct.

Question 34

The wings of a bat and a bird are examples of

A) analogous structures.
B) homologous structures.
C) vestigial structures.
D) homeotic structures.
E) heterologous structures.

Question 35

If many genes from two species differ in about 5% of their bases and substitutions occur at an estimated rate of 5% per one million years,approximately how many years have passed since the two species diverged?

A) 1 million
B) 5 million
C) 10 million
D) 20 million
E) 50 million

Question 36

In the section "Investigating Life: Evolving Backwards," how did the scientists test the hypothesis?

A) They examined decrease in length of hind limbs in land-dwelling snakes.
B) They compared anatomy of fossil ancestors and extant snakes.
C) They examined decrease in length of hind limbs in marine snakes.
D) They compared terrestrial, freshwater, and marine snakes.
E) They compared anatomy of snakes, other reptiles, mammals, and birds.

Question 37

Placental mammals give birth to more fully developed offspring than marsupial mammals and therefore have a greater chance of survival.

Question 38

Amphibians,birds,and mammals look the most similar as

A) newborns.
B) embryos.
C) adults.
D) fossils.
E) juveniles.

Question 39

The abundant presence of ammonite fossils in a large area indicates that the area was once part of an ocean.

Question 40

The fossil record indicates that at one time marsupials were common to both Australia and South America,but today most South American marsupials have become extinct.The most probable explanation for marsupials being common to Australia yet not very common to South America today is that

A) South American marsupials were displaced by placental mammals when a land bridge formed between North America and South America about seven million years ago.
B) marsupials were able to flourish in South America because of its isolation from other land masses.
C) placental mammals are less fully developed than marsupials when born and therefore have a better chance of survival after birth.
D) South American and Australian marsupials interbred.
E) marsupials can survive only in warm climates like Australia.

Question 41

What can be used as a molecular clock to estimate the time since organisms diverged from a common ancestor?

A) DNA
B) all types of RNA
C) only ribosomal RNA
D) ATP
E) All answers are correct.

Question 42

Which of the following evolutionary events did not occur during the Mesozic era?

A) cycads and ferns were abundant
B) widespread dinosaurs extinction
C) first dinosaurs roamed the earth
D) giant reptiles were on land and in water
E) first primates were abundant

Question 43

Data from embyros can be used to help establish evolutionary relationships.

Question 44

In which period of evolution,in the Cenozoic era,would you find Homo sapiens?

A) Neogene
B) Quaternary
C) Paleogene
D) Cretaceous
E) Jurassic

Question 45

Boa constrictors and pythons lack external limbs but their skeletons reveal bones of tiny hindlimbs.What structure is represented in this example?

A) analogous
B) convergent
C) homologous
D) vestigial
E) homeotic

Question 46

During which period of the Paleozoic era did the first winged insects evolve?

A) Carboniferous
B) Devonian
C) Cambrian
D) Permian
E) Ordovician

Question 47

What is needed to estimate species relatedness with a molecular clock?

A) the known mutation rate of a gene
B) the original DNA sequence for the gene without mutations
C) the number of differences in DNA sequences for a gene in two species
D) the same gene identified in two species
E) All answers are correct.

Question 48

The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth's surface is constantly moving from forces exerted on the surface layer.

Question 49

Any gene,when mutated,that leads to an organism with structures in abnormal or unusual places,is referred to as a(n)________ gene.

A) homeotic
B) heterotic
C) embryotic
D) mutagenic
E) vestigial

Question 50

Which of the following pairs radioactive isotopes is used in radioactive fossil dating?

A) ¹⁴C and ⁴⁰K
B) ¹²C and ⁴⁰K
C) ¹²C and ⁴⁰Ar
D) ⁴⁰K and ¹⁴N