Evolution

Test

Multiple-Choice (2 points each)
Read all questions carefully and select the best answer to what is being asked.

1. What kind of structure is inherited from ancestors but has lost most of its function or purpose?
a) homologous structure b) analogous structure
c) adaptation d) vestigial structure

2. An inherited characteristic that increases an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its specific environment is
called a(n)
a) homologous structure b) analogous structure
c) adaptation d) speciation

3. About how many years old if the earth?
a) 4.86 trillion b) 4.86 billion
c) 4.86 million d) 486 thousand

4. The type of selection in which, for example, individuals of average size have greater fitness than small or large
individuals is called
a) disruptive selection b) stabilizing selection
c) directional selection d) neutral selection

5. Intermediate fossil forms are important evidence of evolution because they show
a) how organisms changed over time b) how animals behaved in their environments
c) how the embryos of organisms develop d) molecular homologies

6. Which of the following ideas proposed by Lamarck was later found to be incorrect?
a) Acquired characteristic can be inherited. b) All species are descended from other species.
c) Living things change over time. d) There is a relationship between an organism and
its environment.
7. What is fitness?
a) How well an organism can find resources. b) an animal's aerobic capacity
c) the likelihood of creating a new species d) How well an organism is able to survive and
reproduce.
8. A random change in allele frequency is called
a) speciation b) genetic drift
c) fitness d) the founder effect

9. A bat's wings are homologous to a(n)-
a) fish's tailfin b) alligator's claws
c) dog's front legs d) mosquito's wings

10. What occurs when allele frequencies change as a result of migration of a small subunit of the population?
a) directional selection b) the founder effect
c) speciation d) equilibrium
11. Sickle Cell Anemia is caused by what kind of mutation in nucleotides?
a) inversion b) substitution
c) deletion d) insertion

12. What cell in the body is effected by the Sickle Cell anemia trait?
a) red blood cells b) white blood cells
c) neurons d) blood plasma

13. This calculates fossil age by using the proportion of radioactive isotopes of an element present in a fossil.
a) half-life b) relative dating
c) index fossils d) radiometric dating

14. Natural selection will occur in any situation in which
a) more individuals are born than can survive b) individuals compete to survive
c) variations give greater ability to survive d) all of the above

15. Which individual exhibits the greatest fitness in a sub-Saharan African population? An individual carrying:
a) homozygous sickle cell alleles b) one sickle cell allele
c) homozygous normal alleles

16.Patterns in the distribution of living species and fossils is known as:
a) location patterns b) biogeography
c) fossil geography d) distribution

17. All of the following are sources of genetic variation except:
a) mutation b) migration
c) asexual reproduction d) sexual reproduction

18. Malaria is carried by what insect?
a) mosquitos b) ticks c) moths d) spiders

19. A slow and steady pace of evolutionary change is
a) expected b) rare
c) gradualism d) punctuated equilibrium

20. A structure on an organism with similar function but different ancestry than another is:
a) vestigial b) homologous c) analogous d) uncommon

21. Antibiotic resistance is dangerous because it can lead to bacterial strains that:
a) cannot be killed by modern antibiotics b) adapt to human immune systems
c) evolve slowly d) resist competition from other germs

22. What occurs when members of two different species cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring?
a) reproductive isolation b) genetic drift c) equilibrium d) natural selection

23. The process in which two species evolve in response to each other is:
a) responsive evolution b) adaptive radiation
c) equilibrium d) coevolution

24. All of the alleles that are present in a population are known as the:
a) total variation b) population variation
c) gene pool d) allele frequency

25. Speciation is the:
a) final stage in all evolutions b) formation of a new species
c) results of accumulation of acquired traits d) birth of offspring

26. Similar patterns of embryological development show how animals have evolved:
a) analogous structures b) to their habitats
c) from a common ancestor d) in response to pressure

27. What situation occurs when two or more species reproduce at different times?
a) stabilizing selection b) geographic isolation
c) behavioral isolation d) temporal isolation

28. Babies tend to be sickly if they are born too small. Large
newborns tend to cause birth complications that can result
in mother and/or baby dying. So, medium-sized babies are
common.
What form of selection is this?
a) disruptive
b) stabilizing
c) equilibrium
d) directional



29. What type of natural selection takes place when individuals at one end of the curve have greater fitness than those
at the middle or other end?
a) disruptive b) directional
c) equilibrium d) stabilizing

30. Protein chains can serve as molecular clocks because the accumulation of amino acid mutations on them help us
decide:
a) relatively when two species diverged from a common ancestor b) the age of a species
c) how well suited a species is for its environment d) how long the organism will likely live for

31. A group of ponies lives in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Reserve in Virginia. The development of longer legs
over time would be selected for if:
a) it increased the survival rate of long-legged ponies b) it decreased the rate of reproduction of the
long-legged ponies
c) it prohibited the long-legged ponies from using d) it made the long-legged ponies run more slowly
available food sources

32. Darwin's explanation for evolution was dependent on which scientific concept?
a) the ability of organisms to learn b) the significance of social behaviors to survival
c) the existence of variations in a population d) the relationship between size and survival

33. Which of the following is evidence to support the idea that two different species might share a common
ancestor?
a) their fossils were discovered in the same b) many of their genes are the same
location
c) their methods of respiration are alike d) they use the same means of locomotion

34. The eastern meadowlark and the western meadowlark are two closely related bird species. The two species avoid
interbreeding because they have different mating songs. This is an example of:
a) adaptive radiation b) behavioral isolation
c) geographic isolation d) artificial selection

35. Five species of frogs that live in separate habitats within 5 non-overlapping ranges along the Mississippi River share a
common ancestor. Which process is most likely responsible for the formation of these five distinct species?
a) physiological isolation b) geographic isolation
c) behavioral isolation d) reproductive isolation

Fill-in-the-Blank (1 point each)
For the following situation, fill in the numbered blanks with one of the word options given:

The Peppered Moth is a species of moth with two varieties, white winged and dark winged. Trees in the moths' habitat
were white and the (36) white-winged OR dark-winged variety would avoid predators when they landed on the
(37) leaves OR bark of the tree. This created a selective (38) pressure OR advantage that provided these moths with
(39) greater OR less fitness in their environment. The Industrial Revolution in England caused more (40) soot OR snow in
the atmosphere around the factory forests. This change in the environment meant that the outsides of the tree
appeared (41) darker or lighter than before the Industrial Revolution. Now, (42) white-winged OR dark-winged moths
experienced an (43) advantage OR disadvantage and were more likely to survive and reproduce. The most common
phenotype in the population reversed between dark-winged and light-winged varieties.

For Questions 44 - 46, use the chart below. (2 points each)

This chart shows population counts of a particular phenotype (eye color) in two separate populations over three
generations of breeding.
Population 1 Population 2
Phenotype -> Brown Eyes Green Eyes Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Green Eyes Blue Eyes
Generation 1 8 4 2 4 3 7
Generation 2 9 3 2 7 4 5
Generation 3 9 4 1 9 3 3

44.Which population underwent microevolution?
a) Population 1 b) Population 2
45.How do you know this population underwent microevolution?
a) The allele frequencies stayed the same b) The allele frequencies changed a lot
c) The allele frequencies changed a little c) A mutation occurred
46. In Population 2, which phenotype seems to have been selected against by the environment?
a) brown eyes b) green eyes c) blue eyes

True or False (2 pts. each)
For this section, write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false. For all false statements, correct the
statement so that it is true.

47) A mutation is an adaptation if it increases an organism's fitness.
48) A mutation makes an organism less likely to survive and reproduce.
49) Individual organisms can evolve.
50) Species evolve purposefully in order to satisfy a new need.
51) Punctuated equilibrium occurs when a species begins to evolve slowly due to an environmental change.
52) Adaptive radiation is likely to occur after a migration event.
53) According to the law of superposition, the layers of rock get younger as you move towards the surface of the earth.
54) Convergent evolution is the process in which organisms that are not closely related independently evolve similar
traits due to living in similar environments.
55) The hip bones of a whale are an example of a vestigial structure.