Question 1

Which of the following represents an idea that Darwin learned from the writings of Thomas Malthus?

Accepted Answer

A) Technological innovation in agricultural practices will permit exponential growth of the human population into the foreseeable future. 
B) Populations tend to increase at a faster rate than their food supply normally allows. 
C) Earth changed over the years through a series of catastrophic upheavals. 
D) The environment is responsible for natural selection. 
E) Earth is more than 10 000 years old.

Question 2

Both ancestral birds and ancestral mammals shared a common ancestor that was terrestrial.Today,penguins (which are birds)and seals (which are mammals)have forelimbs adapted for swimming.What term best describes the relationship of the bones in the forelimbs of penguins and seals,and what term best describes the flippers of penguins and seals?

Accepted Answer

A) homologous; homologous 
B) analogous; homologous 
C) homologous; analogous 
D) analogous; analogous

Question 3

The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree shown below.
The horizontal axis of the cladogram depicted below is a timeline that extends from 100 000 years ago to the present; the vertical axis represents nothing in particular.The labelled branch points on the tree (V-Z)represent various common ancestors.Let's say that only since 50 000 years ago has there been enough variation between the lineages depicted here to separate them into distinct species,and only the tips of the lineages on this tree represent distinct species.
 
-Which of the five common ancestors,labelled V-Z,has given rise to the greatest number of species,both extant and extinct?

Accepted Answer

A) V 
B) W 
C) Z 
D) Both W and Z can be considered to have given rise to the greatest number of extant and extinct species. 
E) Both X and Y can be considered to have given rise to the greatest number of extant and extinct species.

Question 4

Which of the following criteria is not useful when trying to determine how closely related two types of organisms are?

Accepted Answer

A) DNA sequence data 
B) that both organisms are endemic to the region and utilize the same habitat 
C) developmental stages 
D) homologous structures 
E) vestigial structures

Question 5

If Darwin had been aware of genes,and of their typical mode of transmission to subsequent generations,with which statement would he most likely have been in agreement?

Accepted Answer

A) If natural selection can change one gene's frequency in a population over the course of generations then, given enough time and enough genes, natural selection can cause sufficient genetic change to produce new species from old ones. 
B) If an individual's somatic cell genes change during its lifetime, making it more fit, then it will be able to pass these genes on to its offspring. 
C) If an individual acquires new genes by engulfing, or being infected by, another organism, then a new genetic species will be the result. 
D) A single mutation in a single gene in a single gamete will, if perpetuated, produce a new species within just two generations.

Question 6

Use the following information to answer the questions below.
About 13 different species of finches inhabit the Galápagos Islands today,all descendants of a common ancestor from the South American mainland that arrived a few million years ago.Genetically,there are four distinct lineages,but the 13 species are currently classified among three genera.The first lineage to diverge from the ancestral lineage was the warbler finch (genus Certhidea).Next to diverge was the vegetarian finch (genus Camarhynchus),followed by five tree finch species (also in genus Camarhynchus)and six ground finch species (genus Geospiza).
-If the six ground finch species have evolved most recently,then which of these is the most logical prediction?

Accepted Answer

A) They should be limited to the six islands that most recently emerged from the sea. 
B) Their genomes should be more similar to each other than are the genomes of the five tree finch species. 
C) They should share fewer anatomical homologies with each other than they share with the tree finches. 
D) The chances of hybridization between two ground finch species should be less than the chances of hybridization between two tree finch species.

Question 7

Which pair of structures best represents convergent evolution?

Accepted Answer

A) the fusiform shape of a shark and a dolphin 
B) the bones in the forelimb of a horse and wing of a bat 
C) the bones in a human arm and flipper of a seal 
D) the tailbone of a human and the tail of a monkey 
E) the wing of a penguin and the wing of an eagle

Question 8

If two modern organisms are distantly related in an evolutionary sense,then one should expect that

Accepted Answer

A) they live in very different habitats. 
B) they should share fewer homologous structures than two more closely related organisms. 
C) their chromosomes should be very similar. 
D) they shared a common ancestor relatively recently. 
E) they should be members of the same genus.

Question 9

What was the prevailing belief prior to the time of Lyell and Darwin?

Accepted Answer

A) Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations are unchanging. 
B) Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations gradually change. 
C) Earth is millions of years old, and populations rapidly change. 
D) Earth is millions of years old, and populations are unchanging. 
E) Earth is millions of years old, and populations gradually change.

Question 10

Members of two different species possess a similar-looking structure that they use in a similar fashion to perform the same function.Which information would best help distinguish between an explanation based on homology versus one based on convergent evolution?

Accepted Answer

A) The two species live at great distance from each other. 
B) The two species share many proteins in common, and the nucleotide sequences that code for these proteins are almost identical. 
C) The sizes of the structures in adult members of both species are similar in size. 
D) Both species are well adapted to their particular environments.

Question 11

The following questions refer to the description below.
You have read that soapberry bugs,Jadera haematoloma,adapt to available food sources.For example,in southern Florida,soapberry bugs feed on seeds of a native plant,the balloon vine.In central Florida,the balloon vine is rare and soapberry bugs have switched to eating seeds of an introduced species,the goldenrain tree.The seeds of the goldenrain tree fruits are much closer to the fruit surface than the seeds of the native balloon vine fruit.As a result,natural selection results in beaks that are shorter in soapberry bugs that utilize goldenrain tree fruits than those that feed on balloon vine fruit seeds.
-Which of the following is not an observation or inference on which natural selection is based?

Accepted Answer

A) There is heritable variation among individuals. 
B) Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring. 
C) Species produce more offspring than the environment can support. 
D) Individuals whose characteristics are best suited to the environment generally leave more offspring than those whose characteristics are less well suited. 
E) Only a fraction of an individual's offspring may survive.

Question 12

Structures as different as human arms,bat wings,and dolphin flippers contain many of the same bones,these bones having developed from very similar embryonic tissues.How do biologists interpret these similarities?

Accepted Answer

A) by identifying the bones as being homologous structures 
B) by the principle of convergent evolution 
C) by proposing that humans, bats, and dolphins share a common ancestor 
D) Three of the statements above are correct. 
E) Two of the statements above are correct.

Question 13

The following questions refer to the figure below,which shows an outcrop of sedimentary rock whose strata are labelled A-D.
 
-If x indicates the location of fossils of two closely related species,then fossils of their most recent common ancestor are most likely to occur in which stratum?

Accepted Answer

A) A 
B) B 
C) C 
D) D

Question 14

Which of the following observations supports the claim that ancestors of snakes had legs?

Accepted Answer

A) We see vestigial scales on the ventral side of snakes. 
B) Snakes have the ability to swim. 
C) It is much easier to escape predators if you have legs. 
D) Skeletons of some snakes retain vestiges of a pelvis and leg bones. 
E) Snakes with long legs left fewer offspring.

Question 15

Which of the following is the most accurate summary of Cuvier's consideration of fossils found in the vicinity of Paris?

Accepted Answer

A) extinction of species yes; evolution of new species yes 
B) extinction of species no; evolution of new species yes 
C) extinction of species yes; evolution of new species no 
D) extinction of species no; evolution of new species no

Question 16

The following questions refer to the description below.
You have read that soapberry bugs,Jadera haematoloma,adapt to available food sources.For example,in southern Florida,soapberry bugs feed on seeds of a native plant,the balloon vine.In central Florida,the balloon vine is rare and soapberry bugs have switched to eating seeds of an introduced species,the goldenrain tree.The seeds of the goldenrain tree fruits are much closer to the fruit surface than the seeds of the native balloon vine fruit.As a result,natural selection results in beaks that are shorter in soapberry bugs that utilize goldenrain tree fruits than those that feed on balloon vine fruit seeds.
-If soapberry bug populations become isolated by habitat preference/use,which of the following outcomes is most likely to occur?

Accepted Answer

A) Variation in beak size of soapberry bugs will decrease. 
B) Soapberry bugs with intermediate beak lengths will die off quickly. 
C) Over time, reduced gene flow between the two populations may lead to formation of separate species. 
D) If the introduced goldenrain tree outcompetes the native balloon vine, soapberry bugs will show a decrease in variation in beak lengths. 
E) Two of the above statements are correct.

Question 17

A dog breeder of long-haired and long-tailed sheepdogs has decided to select for short fur and short tails in this particular breed.The breeder selects dogs with the shortest fur in each generation and only breeds these dogs.In order to have dogs with short tails,the breeder docks the dogs' tails shortly after birth.After many generations of this artificial selection,you would expect to see which of the following characteristics in the sheepdogs.

Accepted Answer

A) sheepdogs with short fur and long tails 
B) sheepdogs with short fur and intermediate-sized tails 
C) sheepdogs with short fur and short tails 
D) sheepdogs with medium length fur and short tails 
E) sheepdogs with long legs and short tails

Question 18

The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree shown below.
The horizontal axis of the cladogram depicted below is a timeline that extends from 100 000 years ago to the present; the vertical axis represents nothing in particular.The labelled branch points on the tree (V-Z)represent various common ancestors.Let's say that only since 50 000 years ago has there been enough variation between the lineages depicted here to separate them into distinct species,and only the tips of the lineages on this tree represent distinct species.
 
-Evolutionary trees such as this are properly understood by scientists to be

Accepted Answer

A) theories. 
B) hypotheses. 
C) guesses. 
D) dogmas. 
E) facts.

Question 19

The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree shown below.
The horizontal axis of the cladogram depicted below is a timeline that extends from 100 000 years ago to the present; the vertical axis represents nothing in particular.The labelled branch points on the tree (V-Z)represent various common ancestors.Let's say that only since 50 000 years ago has there been enough variation between the lineages depicted here to separate them into distinct species,and only the tips of the lineages on this tree represent distinct species.
 
-Which of the five common ancestors,labelled V-Z,has been least successful in terms of the percentage of its derived species that are extant?

Accepted Answer

A) V 
B) W 
C) X 
D) Y 
E) Z

Question 20

Use the following information to answer the questions below.
About 13 different species of finches inhabit the Galápagos Islands today,all descendants of a common ancestor from the South American mainland that arrived a few million years ago.Genetically,there are four distinct lineages,but the 13 species are currently classified among three genera.The first lineage to diverge from the ancestral lineage was the warbler finch (genus Certhidea).Next to diverge was the vegetarian finch (genus Camarhynchus),followed by five tree finch species (also in genus Camarhynchus)and six ground finch species (genus Geospiza).
-A 14th species that descended from the original ancestral finch,the Cocos Island finch,is endemic to its namesake island,located 550 km off Costa Rica.The Cocos Island finch is genetically much more similar to the tree finches than is the vegetarian finch,yet it is classified in its own genus Pinarolaxias.Moreover,the Cocos Island finch and the vegetarian finch are the two finch species that are most genetically different from the ancestral Galápagos finch.Thus,if classification is to reflect evolutionary relationships,the vegetarian finch should

Accepted Answer

A) remain in the genus Camarhynchus. 
B) be switched from Camarhynchus to Certhidea. 
C) be switched from Camarhynchus to Pinarolaxias. 
D) be switched from Camarhynchus to Geospiza. 
E) be placed in its own genus.

Exam 22: Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life