Deck 1: Science of Zoology and Evolution of Animal Diversity

Question 1

The fossil record is biased because preservation is selective.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The law of stratigraphy states that the oldest fossils will be found at the bottom of a layer of rock.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Genetic drift occurs to some degree in all populations of finite size.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Phenotypic gradualism is generally accepted as fact although phyletic gradualism is still highly controversial.

Question 5

Recurring mutation is the ultimate source of variation in natural populations,but it is usually not sufficient by itself to promote significant evolutionary change.

Question 6

Fighting prowess as characterized by unbridled aggression and violence in a competitive world is regarded as the only means of leading to fitness and reproductive advantage.

Question 7

The main premise underlying Darwinian evolution is that the living world is neither constant nor perpetually cycling,but is always changing.

Question 8

In many human populations,genetically recessive traits may be very common.

Question 9

Darwin's evolutionary theory differs from Lamarck's in being a variational rather than transformational theory.

Question 10

Geographic barriers and reproductive barriers are basically the same thing because geographic barriers will separate two populations,prevent gene exchange,and are a precondition for speciation.

Question 11

The most common mode of speciation in animals is sympatric speciation.

Question 12

According to the Hardy-Weinberg Law,the frequency of each allele remains constant generation after generation in a freely interbreeding,sexually reproducing,large population that experiences natural selection.

Question 13

The Precambrian era of geological time represents 85% of all geological time and contains most of the known fossils of large animals.

Question 14

The most direct evidence for Darwin's theory of perpetual change is the fossil record.

Question 15

Haeckel's theory that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny suggests that early development features were more widely shared among different animal groups than later features.

Question 16

The theory of evolution by natural selection was proposed by

A)Darwin and Lyell.
B)Darwin and Wallace.
C)Darwin and Malthus.
D)Darwin and Lamarck.

Question 17

The possible use of appendages as sails in aquatic insects that may have incidentally evolved into wings supports an evolutionary position.
Multiple Choice Questions

Question 18

Inbreeding tends to decrease the probability that rare recessive traits will be seen in the following population.

Question 19

The evolutionary history of horses from the Eocene to the present shows the progressive evolutionary change of a single species by natural selection.

Question 20

Macroevolutionary studies address large-scale changes in the frequencies of different allelic forms of genes in natural populations.

Question 21

Which of the following is not one of the observations that led Darwin to propose the theory of natural selection?

A)Organisms have great potential fertility.
B)Natural populations normally remain constant in size except for minor fluctuations.
C)Natural resources are limited.
D)The hereditary process features inheritance of discrete and non-blending particular factors.

Question 22

A useful method for dating fossil-bearing rocks that are multiple millions to billions of years old is _____________________.

Question 23

In the formula,p + q = 1

A)p represents the frequency of one of the alleles in the population.
B)p represents the probability of an allele mutating.
C)q represents the selection pressure acting against an allele.
D)none of the above

Question 24

Which of the following was a common early criticism of Darwin's theory of natural selection?

A)It could not explain the origins of new structures or new species,only the modification of existing ones.
B)It could not work because Darwin overestimated the struggle for existence in nature.
C)It could not work because there was no evidence that variable traits could be inherited.
D)It could not work because it appeared to violate the laws of physics.

Question 25

Which of the following best describes the relationship between organismal ontogeny and phylogeny?

A)Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.
B)Ontogeny rarely contains phylogenetic information.
C)Ontogeny usually recapitulates phylogeny in reverse order.
D)Ontogeny may recapitulate phylogeny for some characteristics,but rarely does this occur for the organism as a whole.

Question 26

Structures in different organisms that are similar because they descend with some modification from a corresponding feature of their common ancestor are said to be ___________________.

Question 27

The methods for dating geological formations are based on a process known as ____________.

Question 28

Darwin's thoughts on evolution were greatly influenced by an essay on populations written by ________________.

Question 29

Which of the following is not an inference of Darwin's theory of natural selection?

A)There exists a struggle for existence among members of a population.
B)There is differential survival and reproduction among varying organisms in a population.
C)Characteristics that are harmful to survival are often advantageous for reproduction.
D)Over many generations,differential survival and reproduction of varying organisms generates new species.

Question 30

Darwin's finches represent a good example of

A)punctuated equilibrium.
B)sympatric speciation.
C)adaptive radiation.
D)phyletic gradualism.

Question 31

All of the alleles of all genes possessed by members of a population collectively form the ___________.

Question 32

Evolutionary change in the timing of development is called ______________.

Question 33

Random changes in gene frequency that occur in small populations comprise the concept of ______________.

Question 34

The term that Darwin used to describe the differential propagation of traits that are favorable for obtaining mates,although not necessarily for survival,is _____________.

Question 35

The evolution of ecologically diverse species from a common ancestral stock is called _________________.

Question 36

The biological factors that prevent members of different species from interbreeding are called ___________________.

Question 37

The most serious weakness in Darwin's theory of natural selection was his failure to correctly identify the mechanism of ______________.

Question 38

An explanation for gaps in the fossil record stating that evolutionary change is concentrated in episodic events of branching speciation is called ______________.

Question 39

Which of the following scientists was most important in transforming Darwin's theory from its initial formulation to what we now call neo-Darwinism?

A)Weissmann
B)Lamarck
C)Lyell
D)T.H.Huxley

Question 40

Which of the following is not true of the punctuated equilibrium theory?

A)It was inspired in part by patterns observed in the fossil record of animals.
B)It proposes that most evolutionary change is concentrated in relatively brief episodes of branching speciation.
C)It requires macromutational changes.
D)It suggests that most species experience relatively little phenotypic change throughout their evolutionary duration.

Question 41

To date,the greatest mass extinction was the ___________________ extinction.

Question 42

Certain fossils are very indicative of the geological period in which they occurred.These are referred to as index or _______________ fossils.

Question 43

An example of industrial _____________ is the natural selection seen in the peppered moth of England.

Question 44

Selection for particular biological traits through their utility in permitting species to survive mass extinction is called ______________.

Question 45

Geological time may be broken down into eons,eras,periods and _______________.

Question 46

Lyell is credited with the principle of _____________,which was described in his Principles of Geology.

Question 47

____________________ is a term which relates to the branching interrelationships of all living things.