Deck 5: Evolution and Genetics

Question 1

Which of the following does NOT seek to explain the origin of species by referring to an outside agent?

A) evolution
B) catastrophism
C) creationism
D) extraterrestrial seeding
E) intelligent design

Answer 1

evolution

Question 2

The intelligent design (ID)movement asserts that life forms are too complex to have been formed by natural processes and must therefore have been created by a higher intelligence.Attempts have been made to teach ID as an alternative theory to Darwinian evolution in biology classes in several states in the United States; however,

A) as a federal district judge ruled in a 2005 Pennsylvania case, ID violates the ground rules of science by invoking supernatural causation and making assertions that cannot be tested or falsified, and thus ID does not belong in a school's science curriculum.
B) ID should be taught as a hypothesis of human origins, not a theory.
C) ID should not be taught in schools, since it lacks a research and testing program and is unsupported by peer-reviewed research.
D) the teaching of ID should be restricted to extracurricular activities, since it holds no scientific or cultural value.
E) these attempts have always failed, because ID's proponents argue that it should be taught in place of Darwinian evolution.

Answer 2

as a federal district judge ruled in a 2005 Pennsylvania case, ID violates the ground rules of science by invoking supernatural causation and making assertions that cannot be tested or falsified, and thus ID does not belong in a school's science curriculum.

Question 3

Mutations are the most important source of variety on which natural selection depends and operates.There are two forms of mutations,

A) both discovered by Mendel.
B) cancer-causing mutations and chromosomal rearrangement.
C) and both occur only during the development of an individual.
D) called base substitution mutation and chromosomal rearrangement.
E) and both always result in phenotypic change.

Answer 3

called base substitution mutation and chromosomal rearrangement.

Question 4

Adaptive traits are

A) favored by natural selection.
B) caused by mutation.
C) not selected from one generation to the next.
D) selected against.
E) usually recessive alleles.

Question 5

Darwin and Wallace simultaneously proposed which of the following theoretical models?

A) evolution
B) natural selection
C) creationism
D) uniformitarianism
E) transformism

Question 6

What is the term for the belief that explanations for past events should be sought in ordinary forces that are at work today?

A) uniformitarianism
B) speciation
C) creationism
D) recombination
E) catastrophism

Question 7

What does Mendelian genetics study?

A) changes in gene frequencies in breeding populations
B) the ways in which chromosomes transmit genes across generations
C) how nuclear DNA transmits information to other parts of the cell
D) evolution in pea plants
E) phenotypic mutations

Question 8

We have learned that reliance on culture has increased in the course of human history.Yet the fact and mechanisms of evolution remain a key part of our human present and future because

A) the pace of evolution has been continuously increasing, since human cultural solutions have not been able to keep up with environmental changes such as global warming.
B) they determine, at the genetic level, our phenotype.
C) they provide the clues to building a better human race by promoting directed speciation.
D) people haven't stopped adapting biologically.
E) they continue to justify anthropology's biocultural perspective.

Question 9

What role do recombination and independent assortment play in evolution?

A) They work to limit the amount of variation in a population.
B) They increase the frequencies of deleterious genes.
C) They work to limit the number of potential phenotypes.
D) They act to create genetic variability in a breeding population.
E) They act to reduce the overall fitness of a breeding population.

Question 10

What is the process by which sex cells are produced?

A) directional selection
B) recombination
C) mitosis
D) independent assortment
E) meiosis

Question 11

DNA molecules

A) were discovered in the decade after Darwin's death.
B) make up genes and chromosomes, which are basic hereditary units.
C) initiate and guide the construction of complex sugars.
D) are made up of three bases: adenine, cytosine, and factor.
E) are the messenger molecules of RNA.

Question 12

For natural selection to work on a particular population

A) their members must have a sufficiently long life span.
B) the environment must remain constant.
C) there must be a strong will to survive among the members of the population.
D) there must be variety within that population.
E) there must be genotypic diversity but phenotypic homogeneity.

Question 13

Natural selection is the process by which the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment do so in greater numbers than others in the same population.But more than survival of the fittest,natural selection is the natural process that leads to

A) the toughest members of their population having the longest life span.
B) differential reproductive success.
C) the most fit members collecting the most resources from the environment.
D) the survival of those members of their population that practice true altruism.
E) survival success in any environment.

Question 14

Although Darwin became the best-known evolutionist,the idea of evolution had been around well before him.Darwin's key contribution was to propose a mechanism that drives evolution,which is known as

A) catastrophism.
B) mutation.
C) natural selection.
D) creationism.
E) lamarckianism.

Question 15

During the eighteenth century,many scholars became interested in biological diversity,human origins,and our position within the classification of plants and animals.At that time,the most commonly accepted explanation of the origin of species was

A) catastrophism, the belief that species arise from one another through a long and gradual process of transformation.
B) biblical punctuated equilibrium.
C) creationism, the belief that biological similarities and differences originated at Creation and that these characteristics, once set, could not change.
D) uniformitarianism, the belief that natural forces at work today also explain past events.
E) Mendelianism.

Question 16

Sir Charles Lyell,the father of geology,influenced Darwin with his principle of catastrophism,the view that extinct species were destroyed by fires,floods,and other catastrophes.His geological research was also critical in Darwin's own formulations because it

A) set the foundations for molecular dating techniques.
B) confirmed that the world was only 6,000 years old.
C) influenced the work of Darwin's own grandfather, who would eventually set young Darwin on the path of scientific research.
D) confirmed Linnaeus's comprehensive and still influential taxonomic system, which was key to formulating a mechanism that drives evolution.
E) cast serious doubt on the belief that the world was only 6,000 years old, allowing for a much broader time span for the gradual biological changes to take place as seen in the fossil record.

Question 17

Gregor Mendel's work with hereditary traits of pea plants

A) confirmed the paint-pot theory of inheritance.
B) was the basis for Darwin's theory of evolution.
C) led to the formulation of the law of independent assortment.
D) discredited the phenomenon of balanced polymorphism.
E) proved that natural selection operates on genotypes.

Question 18

Why are genetics and evolution so important to anthropology?

A) They give anthropology some credibility as a scientific field.
B) They provide the key to understanding the rate of environmental change throughout human history.
C) They define humans' position at the top of the hierarchy of biological diversity.
D) They help anthropologists document and explain human biological diversity.
E) They determine the clear distinction between biological and cultural forces acting through human history.

Question 19

This chapter describes the case of giraffes' long necks to illustrate how natural selection works on variety within a population.This explanation contrasts with the incorrect alternative of the inheritance of acquired characteristics,which suggests that

A) in each generation, individual giraffes strain their necks to reach food just a bit higher, and that this straining somehow modifies their genetic material.
B) in each generation, individual giraffes mate with giraffes having longer necks because they are better at getting food, and their offspring's neck size results in an average of the parents' neck sizes.
C) a need for a longer neck activates the long-neck gene throughout development.
D) natural selection works on the genotype, not the phenotype.
E) the presence of variety among a population works against the advantages of natural selection.

Question 20

Which of the following statements about natural selection is NOT true?

A) Natural selection operates directly on genetic variety.
B) Natural selection is the sum of environmental forces that conditions the survival of particular phenotypes.
C) Natural selection operates with respect to specific environments.
D) Natural selection is responsible for the maintenance of sickle hemoglobin polymorphism.
E) Natural selection was first scientifically described by Darwin and Wallace.

Question 21

The inheritance of acquired characteristics is central to Darwin's theory of evolution.

Question 22

The theory of creationism argues that all the species present today were created as natural selection selected the fittest individuals.

Question 23

Mendelian genetics studies the ways in which gene frequencies vary in communities from generation to generation.

Question 24

The study of sickle-cell anemia and its relation to malarial environments demonstrates that

A) homozygotes lack the capacity to digest lactose.
B) changes in cultural adaptation can result in changes in the selective pressures on a human population.
C) selection removes recessive alleles from the gene pool faster than it does dominant alleles.
D) heterozygotes are not as selectively fit as are dominant homozygotes.
E) natural selection improves a gene pool by wiping out deleterious alleles.

Question 25

What does the term gene flow refer to?

A) the random loss of genes through sampling error
B) the genetic mutations that occur during meiosis
C) the movement of alleles from one chromosome to another
D) the exchange of genetic material between populations of the same species
E) a random pattern of chromosome mutations

Question 26

Uniformitarianism states that the natural forces at work today have more or less been the same as those at work in the past.

Question 27

In the debate of how speciation occurs,advocates of punctuated equilibrium

A) describe macroevolution as the gradual accumulation of evolutionary changes over time.
B) agree with the advocates of intelligent design on views about the flaws in fossil-dating techniques.
C) define species the same way creationists and gradualists do.
D) have revived Darwin's classic description of change over time.
E) suggest that long periods of stasis (stability), during which species change little, are interrupted by evolutionary leaps.

Question 28

Which of the following statements about the Hb^S allele is NOT true?

A) It is found in higher gene frequencies in regions where malaria is endemic.
B) It causes sickle-cell anemia in homozygous individuals.
C) It spread through the tropics as communities adopted slash-and-burn agriculture.
D) Heterozygous individuals have an increased immunity to malaria.
E) Homozygous individuals usually develop fatal cases of dysentery.

Question 29

Intelligent design explains some biological facts that evolution cannot explain.

Question 30

The so-called modern synthesis,the currently accepted view of evolution,

A) suggests that speciation occurs after the genetic isolation of two populations, which allows their gene pools to diverge.
B) refers to the combination of catastrophism and Darwin's theory of evolution.
C) suggests that speciation occurs after intense competition.
D) refers to the combination of Mendel's genetic discoveries and the theory of gene flow.
E) has been challenged by recent fossils found in East Africa.

Question 31

Which of the following statements about individuals with the Hb^S allele in the homozygous form is true?

A) They lack the capacity to digest lactose.
B) They usually develop fatal cases of sickle-cell anemia.
C) They rarely develop any form of sickle-cell anemia before reaching reproductive age.
D) They are usually found in temperate regions of the world.
E) They always develop fatal cases of sickle-cell anemia late in life.

Question 32

Fixation due to random genetic drift is more rapid in

A) blue-eyed persons.
B) small populations.
C) the punctuated equilibrium model of evolution.
D) the formation of a new species.
E) tropical environments.

Question 33

How have modern-day creationists sometimes misunderstood the contrast between microevolution and macroevolution to comment on evolution?

A) by noting that no degree of phenotypical difference is implied by the term macroevolution
B) by suggesting that macroevolution, in contrast to microevolution, cannot be demonstrated based on the fossil record
C) by suggesting that speciation occurs after intense competition
D) by avoiding the sharp contrast between microevolution and macroevolution
E) by arguing that the fossil record supports macroevolution but not microevolution

Question 34

Darwin proposed the theory of evolution,although the fact of evolution was known well before his work.

Question 35

What does gene flow act against?

A) migration
B) speciation
C) natural selection
D) mutations
E) balanced polymorphisms

Question 36

Early on in this chapter,we learned that evolution refers to descent with modification over generations.Geneticists,however,have an even more specific definition of evolution:

A) directional selection of the fittest alleles in a breeding population.
B) a change in gene frequency; that is, in the frequency of alleles in a breeding population from generation to generation.
C) a change in the gene frequency within the DNA of a single individual organism.
D) the survival of the chemically fittest allele in the gene pool.
E) a change in gene frequency caused by either chromosomal rearrangement or recombination.

Question 37

The term gene pool refers to all the

A) alleles, genes, chromosomes, and genotypes within a breeding population.
B) mutations in a breeding population.
C) alleles, genes, chromosomes, and genotypes of the animal kingdom.
D) processes of achieving a perfect fit to the environment.
E) mechanisms of competition over strategic resources.

Question 38

Human biology

A) is no longer affected by evolutionary processes.
B) remains the best explanation for genetic evolution.
C) is all in the genes.
D) is 75 percent genotype and 25 percent phenotype.
E) is not set at birth but has considerable plasticity.

Question 39

Any factor that contributes to the change in allele frequency in a breeding population from generation to generation is considered a mechanism of genetic evolution.Those mechanisms are

A) sexual selection, mutation, and human biological plasticity.
B) independent assortment, recombination, and mutation.
C) random genetic drift and random gene flow.
D) phenotypic straining through the organism's development and mutations across the generations.
E) natural selection, mutation, random genetic drift, and gene flow.

Question 40

The example of the sickle-cell allele demonstrates a key aspect of evolution through natural selection,in that

A) adaptation and fitness are in relation to the individual organism, not the general population.
B) human populations in the tropics are the most susceptible to random changes caused by natural selection.
C) natural selection increases the variety in a population upon which subsequent natural selective processes can act.
D) adaptation and fitness are in relation to specific environments; traits are not universally adaptive or maladaptive.
E) although natural selection usually acts upon the phenotype, it can sometimes act upon the genotype.

Question 41

Natural selection is the only mechanism driving genetic evolution.

Question 42

Balanced polymorphism refers to two or more alleles of the same gene that maintain constant frequencies in a population from generation to generation.

Question 43

Mendel's concept of independent assortment is based on the fact that individual traits are inherited independently of one another.

Question 44

One of Gregor Mendel's contributions to genetics was his discovery that traits are inherited as discrete units.

Question 45

Genotype refers to expressed physical traits based on their genetic makeup.

Question 46

Mutations introduce genetic variation into a gene pool.

Question 47

Natural selection operates directly on the genotype of an organism.

Question 48

The Hb^S allele has been maintained in certain populations in Africa,India,and the Mediterranean because heterozygous individuals with this allele are less susceptible to malaria.

Question 49

Genetic evolution involves changes in gene frequencies between generations within a given breeding population.

Question 50

Recessive traits are expressed only in homozygous individuals.

Question 51

Microevolution refers to small-scale change in allele frequencies over generations without speciation.

Question 52

Directional selection has eliminated sickle-cell anemia from all human populations,except those in regions where diabetes is endemic.

Question 53

"Evolution is just a theory!" How would you respond to someone who challenges you with such a statement?

Question 54

Mitosis is the special process by which sex cells are produced.

Question 55

Identify and discuss the genetic sources of variety on which natural selection may operate.

Question 56

Identify and discuss Charles Darwin's major contribution to the study of life forms.What was new about Darwin's views,and what had previously been proposed by others?

Question 57

In molecular genetics,the term crossover refers to a site on the DNA molecule where homologous chromosomes have exchanged segments by breakage and recombination.

Question 58

Directional selection works to reduce genetic variation by removing maladaptive traits from the gene pool.

Question 59

Gene flow between populations works to prevent speciation.

Question 60

How is evolution defined by population geneticists? What are the major mechanisms of genetic evolution?

Question 61

Why is the difference between microevolution and macroevolution hard to distinguish?

Question 62

One of anthropology's main lessons is that biology,language,and culture do not go together in neat bundles.Using the knowledge you have gained from this chapter,explain what this statement means,and provide examples that support your answer.

Question 63

Give an example of how punctuated equilibrium would work.