1) Which of the following statements best describes theories?
A) They are nearly the same things as hypotheses.
B) They
are supported by, and make sense of, many observations.
C) They
cannot be tested because the described events occurred only once.
D) They are predictions of future events.
Answer: B
2) Catastrophism, meaning the regular occurrence of geological or
meteorological disturbances (catastrophes), was Cuvier's attempt to
explain the existence of
A) evolution.
B) the fossil
record.
C) uniformitarianism.
D) the origin of new
species.
E) natural selection.
Answer: B
3) With what other idea of his time was Cuvier's theory of
catastrophism most in conflict?
A) gradualism
B) the
fixity of species
C) island biogeography
D)
uniformitarianism
E) the scala naturae
Answer: D
4) What was the prevailing belief prior to the time of Lyell and
Darwin?
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.
Answer: A
5) During a study session about evolution, one of your fellow
students remarks, "The giraffe stretched its neck while reaching
for higher leaves; its offspring inherited longer necks as a
result." Which statement is most likely to be helpful in
correcting this student's misconception?
A) Characteristics
acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on through
genes.
B) Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of
new traits.
C) Only favorable adaptations have survival value.
D) Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance.
E) If the giraffes did not have to compete with each other,
longer necks would not have been passed on to the next generation.
Answer: A
6) Which of the following is the most accurate summary of Cuvier's
consideration of fossils found in the vicinity of Paris?
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 yes
Answer: C
7) In the mid-1900s, the Soviet geneticist Lysenko believed that his
winter wheat plants, exposed to ever-colder temperatures, would
eventually give rise to ever more cold-tolerant winter wheat.
Lysenko's attempts in this regard were most in agreement with the
ideas of
A) Cuvier.
B) Hutton.
C) Lamarck.
D)
Darwin.
E) Lyell.
Answer: C
8) Charles Darwin was the first person to propose
A) that
evolution occurs.
B) a mechanism for how evolution occurs.
C) that Earth is older than a few thousand years.
D) a
mechanism for evolution that was supported by evidence.
E) that
population growth can outpace the growth of food resources.
Answer: D
9) Which of these conditions should completely prevent the occurrence
of natural selection in a population over time?
A) All variation
between individuals is due only to environmental factors.
B) The
environment is changing at a relatively slow rate.
C) The
population size is large.
D) The population lives in a habitat
where there are no competing species present.
Answer: A
10) Natural selection is based on all of the following except
A) genetic variation exists within populations.
B) the
best-adapted individuals tend to leave the most offspring.
C)
individuals who survive longer tend to leave more offspring than those
who die young.
D) populations tend to produce more individuals
than the environment can support.
E) individuals adapt to their
environments and, thereby, evolve.
Answer: E
11) Which of the following represents an idea that Darwin learned
from the writings of Thomas Malthus?
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.
Answer: B
12) Given a population that contains genetic variation, what is the
correct sequence of the following events, under the influence of
natural selection?
1. Well-adapted individuals leave more
offspring than do poorly adapted individuals.
2. A change occurs
in the environment.
3. Genetic frequencies within the population
change.
4. Poorly adapted individuals have decreased
survivorship.
A) 2 → 4 → 1 → 3
B) 4 → 2 → 1 → 3
C) 4 → 1 → 2 → 3
D) 4 → 2 → 3 → 1
E) 2 → 4 → 3 → 1
Answer: A
13) A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years.
During that time, the population was never fewer than 30 squirrels and
never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the squirrels
born did not survive to reproduce, because of both competition for
food and predation. In a single generation, 90% of the squirrels that
were born lived to reproduce, and the population increased to 80.
Which inference(s) about this population might be true?
A) The
amount of available food may have increased.
B) The parental
generation of squirrels developed better eyesight due to improved
diet; the subsequent squirrel generation inherited better eyesight.
C) The squirrels of subsequent generations should show greater
levels of genetic variation than previous generations, because
squirrels that would not have survived in the past will now survive.
D) Three of the statements above are correct.
E) Two of
the statements above are correct.
Answer: E
14) Which of the following must exist in a population before natural
selection can act upon that population?
A) genetic variation
among individuals
B) variation among individuals caused by
environmental factors
C) sexual reproduction
D) Three of
the responses are correct.
E) Two of the responses are correct.
Answer: A
15) Which of Darwin's ideas had the strongest connection to Darwin
having read Malthus's essay on human population growth?
A)
descent with modification
B) variation among individuals in a
population
C) struggle for existence
D) the ability of
related species to be conceptualized in "tree thinking"
E) that the ancestors of the Galápagos finches had come from the
South American mainland
Answer: C
16) 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?
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.
Answer: A
17) The role that humans play in artificial selection is to
A)
determine who lives and who dies.
B) create the genetic
variants, which nature then selects.
C) choose which organisms
breed, and which do not.
D) train organisms to breed more
successfully.
E) perform artificial insemination.
Answer: C
18) Currently, two extant elephant species (X and Y) are placed in
the genus Loxodonta, and a third species (Z) is placed in the genus
Elephas. Thus, which statement should be true?
A) Species X and
Y are not related to species Z.
B) Species X and Y share a
greater number of homologies with each other than either does with
species Z.
C) Species X and Y share a common ancestor that is
still extant (in other words, not yet extinct).
D) Species X and
Y are the result of artificial selection from an ancestral species Z.
E) Species X, Y, and Z share a common ancestor, but nothing more
can be claimed than this.
Answer: B
19) The rise of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
can be considered to be an example of artificial selection because
A) humans purposefully raise MRSA in large fermenters in an
attempt to make the bacteria ever-more resistant.
B) S. aureus
is cultivated by humans to replenish the soil with nutrients.
C)
humans synthesize methicillin and create environments in which
bacteria frequently come into contact with methicillin.
D)
Humans are becoming resistant to bacteria by taking methicillin.
Answer: C
20) In a hypothetical environment, fishes called pike-cichlids are
visual predators of algae-eating fish (in other words, they locate
their prey by sight). If a population of algae-eaters experiences
predation pressure from pike-cichlids, which of the following is least
likely to be observed in the algae-eater population over the course of
many generations?
A) selection for drab coloration of the
algae-eaters
B) selection for nocturnal algae-eaters (active
only at night)
C) selection for larger female algae-eaters,
bearing broods composed of more, and larger, young
D) selection
for algae-eaters that become sexually mature at smaller overall body
sizes
E) selection for algae-eaters that are faster swimmers
Answer: C
21) DDT was once considered a "silver bullet" that would
permanently eradicate insect pests. Today, instead, DDT is largely
useless against many insects. Which of these would have been required
for this pest eradication effort to be successful in the long run?
A) Larger doses of DDT should have been applied.
B) All
habitats should have received applications of DDT at about the same
time.
C) The frequency of DDT application should have been
higher.
D) None of the individual insects should have possessed
genomes that made them resistant to DDT.
E) DDT application
should have been continual.
Answer: D
22) If the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus experiences a cost for
maintaining one or more antibiotic-resistance genes, then what should
happen in environments from which antibiotics are missing?
A)
These genes should continue to be maintained in case the antibiotics
ever appear.
B) These bacteria should be outcompeted and
replaced by bacteria that have lost these genes.
C) The bacteria
should try to make the cost worthwhile by locating, and migrating to,
microenvironments where traces of antibiotics are present.
D)
The bacteria should start making and secreting their own antibiotics.
Answer: B
23) Of the following anatomical structures, which is homologous to
the bones in the wing of a bird?
A) cartilage in the dorsal fin
of a shark
B) bones in the hind limb of a kangaroo
C)
chitinous struts in the wing of a butterfly
D) bony rays in the
tail fin of a flying fish
E) bones in the flipper of a whale
Answer: E
24) If two modern organisms are distantly related in an evolutionary
sense, then one should expect that
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.
Answer: B
25) 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?
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.
Answer: E
26) Over evolutionary time, many cave-dwelling organisms have lost
their eyes. Tapeworms have lost their digestive systems. Whales have
lost their hind limbs. How can natural selection account for these
losses?
A) Natural selection cannot account for losses, only for
innovations.
B) Natural selection accounts for these losses by
the principle of use and disuse.
C) Under particular
circumstances that persisted for long periods, each of these
structures presented greater costs than benefits.
D) The
ancestors of these organisms experienced harmful mutations that forced
them to find new habitats that these species had not previously used.
Answer: C
27) Which of the following pieces of evidence most strongly supports
the common origin of all life on Earth?
A) All organisms require
energy.
B) All organisms use essentially the same genetic code.
C) All organisms reproduce.
D) All organisms show
heritable variation.
E) All organisms have undergone evolution.
Answer: B
28) Logically, which of these should cast the most doubt on the
relationships depicted by an evolutionary tree?
A) None of the
organisms depicted by the tree ate the same foods.
B) Some of
the organisms depicted by the tree had lived in different habitats.
C) The skeletal remains of the organisms depicted by the tree
were incomplete (in other words, some bones were missing).
D)
Transitional fossils had not been found.
E) Relationships
between DNA sequences among the species did not match relationships
between skeletal patterns.
Answer: E
29) Which of the following statements most detracts from the claim
that the human appendix is a completely vestigial organ?
A) The
appendix can be surgically removed with no immediate ill effects.
B) The appendix might have been larger in fossil hominids.
C) The appendix has a substantial amount of defensive lymphatic
tissue.
D) Individuals with a larger-than-average appendix leave
fewer offspring than those with a below-average-sized appendix.
E) In a million years, the human species might completely lack
an appendix.
Answer: C
30) 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?
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.
Answer: B
31) Ichthyosaurs were aquatic dinosaurs. Fossils show us that they
had dorsal fins and tails, as do fish, even though their closest
relatives were terrestrial reptiles that had neither dorsal fins nor
aquatic tails. The dorsal fins and tails of ichthyosaurs and fish are
A) homologous.
B) examples of convergent evolution.
C) adaptations to a common environment.
D) Three of the
responses above are correct.
E) Two of the responses above are correct.
Answer: E
32) 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?
A) homologous; homologous
B)
analogous; homologous
C) homologous; analogous
D)
analogous; analogous
Answer: C
33) What must be true of any organ that is described as vestigial?
A) It must be analogous to some feature in an ancestor.
B)
It must be homologous to some feature in an ancestor.
C) It must
be both homologous and analogous to some feature in an ancestor.
D) It need be neither homologous nor analogous to some feature
in an ancestor.
Answer: B
34) What is true of pseudogenes?
A) They are composed of RNA,
rather than DNA.
B) They are the same things as introns.
C) They are unrelated genes that code for the same gene product.
D) They are vestigial genes.
Answer: D
35) It has been observed that organisms on islands are different
from, but closely related to, similar forms found on the nearest
continent. This is taken as evidence that
A) island forms and
mainland forms descended from common ancestors.
B) common
environments are inhabited by the same organisms.
C) the islands
were originally part of the continent.
D) the island forms and
mainland forms are converging.
E) island forms and mainland
forms have identical gene pools.
Answer: A
36) If one wanted to find the largest number of endemic species, one
should visit which of the following geological features (assuming each
has existed for several millions of years)?
A) an isolated ocean
island in the tropics
B) an extensive mountain range
C) a
midcontinental grassland with extreme climatic conditions
D) a
shallow estuary on a warm-water coast
Answer: A
37) A high degree of endemism is most likely in environments that are
A) easily reached and heterogeneous.
B) isolated and
heterogeneous.
C) isolated and homogeneous.
D) isolated
and extremely cold.
E) easily reached and homogeneous.
Answer: B
The following questions refer to Figure 22.1, which shows an outcrop
of sedimentary rock whose strata are labeled A-D.
38) 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?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
Answer: C
The following questions refer to Figure 22.1, which shows an outcrop
of sedimentary rock whose strata are labeled A-D.
39) If
x indicates the fossils of two closely related species, neither of
which is extinct, then their remains may be found in how many of these
strata?
A) one stratum
B) two strata
C) three strata
D) four strata
Answer: B
40) Currently, two extant elephant species (X and Y) are placed in
the genus Loxodonta and a third species (Z) is placed in the genus
Elephas. Assuming this classification reflects evolutionary
relatedness, which of the following is the most accurate phylogenetic
tree?
A. SEE IMAGE
B. SEE IMAGE
C. SEE IMAGE
D. SEE
IMAGE
E. SEE IMAGE
Answer: D
The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure
22.2.
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 labeled 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.
41) How many separate species, both
extant and extinct, are depicted in this tree?
A) two
B)
three
C) four
D) five
E) six
Answer: E
The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure
22.2.
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 labeled 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.
42) According to this tree, what
percent of the species seem to be extant (in other words, not
extinct)?
A) 25%
B) 33%
C) 50%
D) 66%
E) 75%
Answer: D
The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure
22.2.
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 labeled 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.
43) Which of the five common ancestors,
labeled V-Z, has given rise to the greatest number of species, both
extant and extinct?
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.
Answer: E
The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure
22.2.
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 labeled 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.
44) Which of the five common ancestors,
labeled V-Z, has been least successful in terms of the percent of its
derived species that are extant?
A) V
B) W
C) X
D) Y
E) Z
Answer: B
The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure
22.2.
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 labeled 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.
45) Which of the five common ancestors,
labeled V-Z, has been most successful in terms of the percent of its
derived species that are extant?
A) V
B) W
C) X
D) Y
E) Z
Answer: E
The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure
22.2.
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 labeled 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.
46) Which pair would probably have
agreed with the process that is depicted by this tree?
A) Cuvier
and Lamarck
B) Lamarck and Wallace
C) Aristotle and Lyell
D) Wallace and Linnaeus
E) Linnaeus and Lamarck
Answer: B
The following questions refer to the evolutionary tree in Figure
22.2.
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 labeled 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.
47) Evolutionary trees such as this are
properly understood by scientists to be
A) theories.
B)
hypotheses.
C) guesses.
D) dogmas.
E) facts.
Answer: B
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).
48) If the six ground finch species have evolved most recently,
then which of these is the most logical prediction?
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.
Answer: B
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).
49) According to a 1999 study, the vegetarian finch is
genetically no more similar to the tree finches than it is to the
ground finches, despite the fact that it is placed in the same genus
as the tree finches. Based on this finding, it is reasonable to
conclude that the vegetarian finch
A) is no more closely related
to the tree finches than it is to the ground finches, despite its
classification.
B) should be re-classified as a warbler finch.
C) is not truly a descendent of the original ancestral finch.
D) is a hybrid species, resulting from a cross between a ground
finch and a tree finch.
Answer: A
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).
50) 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
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.
Answer: E
51) Which of the following is not an observation or inference on
which natural selection is based?
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.
Answer: B
52) Which of the following observations helped Darwin shape his
concept of descent with modification?
A) Species diversity
declines farther from the equator.
B) Fewer species live on
islands than on the nearest continents.
C) Birds can be found on
islands located farther from the mainland than the birds' maximum
nonstop flight distance.
D) South American temperate plants are
more similar to the tropical plants of South America than to the
temperate plants of Europe.
E) Earthquakes reshape life by
causing mass extinctions.
Answer: D
53) Within six months of effectively using methicillin to treat S.
aureus infections in a community, all new infections were caused by
MRSA. How can this result best be explained?
A) S. aureus can
resist vaccines.
B) A patient must have become infected with
MRSA from another community.
C) In response to the drug, S.
aureus began making drug-resistant versions of the protein targeted by
the drug.
D) Some drug-resistant bacteria were present at the
start of treatment, and natural selection increased their frequency.
E) The drug caused the S. aureus DNA to change.
Answer: D
54) The upper forelimbs of humans and bats have fairly similar
skeletal structures, whereas the corresponding bones in whales have
very different shapes and proportions. However, genetic data suggest
that all three kinds of organisms diverged from a common ancestor at
about the same time. Which of the following is the most likely
explanation for these data?
A) Humans and bats evolved by
natural selection, and whales evolved by Lamarckian mechanisms.
B) Forelimb evolution was adaptive in people and bats, but not
in whales.
C) Natural selection in an aquatic environment
resulted in significant changes to whale forelimb anatomy.
D)
Genes mutate faster in whales than in humans or bats.
E) Whales
are not properly classified as mammals.
Answer: C
55) DNA sequences in many human genes are very similar to the
sequences of corresponding genes in chimpanzees. The most likely
explanation for this result is that
A) humans and chimpanzees
share a relatively recent common ancestor.
B) humans evolved
from chimpanzees.
C) chimpanzees evolved from humans.
D)
convergent evolution led to the DNA similarities.
E) humans and
chimpanzees are not closely related.
Answer: A