front 1 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) The environment is responsible for natural selection. C) Earth changed over the years through a series of catastrophic upheavals. D) Earth is more than 10,000 years old. E) Populations tend to increase at a faster rate than their food supply normally allows. | back 1 E) Populations tend to increase at a faster rate than their food supply normally allows. |
front 2 In the wild, male house finches (Carpodus mexicanus) vary considerably in the amount of red pigmentation in their head and throat feathers, with colors ranging from pale yellow to bright red. These colors come from carotenoid pigments that are found in the birds' diets; no vertebrates are known to synthesize carotenoid pigments. Thus, the brighter red the male's feathers are, the more successful he has been at acquiring the red carotenoid pigment by his food-gathering efforts (all other factors being equal). During breeding season, one should expect female house finches to prefer to mate with males with the brightest red feathers. Which of the following is true of this situation? A) Alleles that promote more effective deposition of carotenoid pigments in the feathers of males should increase over the course of generations. B) There should be directional selection for bright red feathers in males. C) Alleles that promote more efficient acquisition of carotenoid-containing foods by males should increase over the course of generations. D) Three of the statements are correct. E) Two of the statements are correct | back 2 D) Three of the statements are correct. |
front 3 The common ancestors of birds and mammals were very early (stem) reptiles, which almost certainly possessed three-chambered hearts (two atria, one ventricle). Birds and mammals, however, are alike in having four-chambered hearts (two atria, two ventricles). The four-chambered hearts of birds and mammals are best described as A) vestiges. B) the result of shared ancestry. C) homoplasies. D) structural homologies. E) molecular homologies. | back 3 C) homoplasies |
front 4 ) Upon being formed, oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, should feature what characteristic, leading to which phenomenon? A) a variety of empty ecological niches, leading to adaptive radiation B) overcrowding, leading to rafting to nearby lands C) adaptive radiation, leading to founder effect D) mass extinctions, leading to bottleneck effect E) major evolutionary innovations, leading to rafting to nearby continents | back 4 A) a variety of empty ecological niches, leading to adaptive radiation |
front 5 What does the biological species concept use as the primary criterion for determining species boundaries? A) molecular (DNA, RNA, protein) similarity B) gene flow C) niche differences D) geographic isolation E) morphological similarity | back 5 B) gene flow |
front 6 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 shallow estuary on a warm-water coast D) a midcontinental grassland with extreme climatic conditions | back 6 A) an isolated ocean island in the tropics |
front 7 A swim bladder is a gas-filled sac that helps fish maintain buoyancy. The evolution of the swim bladder from the air-breathing organ (a simple lung) of an ancestral fish is an example of A) an evolutionary trend. B) adaptive radiation. C) exaptation. D) changes in Hox gene expression. E) paedomorphosis. | back 7 C) exaptation. |
front 8 Within six months of effectively using methicillin to treat S. aureus
infections in a community, all A) S. aureus can resist vaccines. | back 8 C) Some drug-resistant bacteria were present at the start of treatment, and natural selection increased their frequency. |
front 9 The next few questions refer to the following description. In the ocean, on either side of the Isthmus of Panama, are 30 species of snapping shrimp; some are shallow-water species, and others are adapted to deep water. There are 15 species on the Pacific side and 15 different species on the Atlantic side. The Isthmus of Panama started rising about 10 million years ago. In Figure 22.1, the isthmus separates the Pacific Ocean on the left (side A) from the Atlantic Ocean on the right (side B). The seawater on either side of the isthmus is separated into five depth habitats (1—5), with 1 being the shallowest. Figure 22.1 9) In which habitat should one find snapping shrimp most closely related to shrimp that live in habitat A4? A) B4 B) either A3 or A5 C) any species from any one of the side A habitats D) A3 E) A5 | back 9 A) B4 |
front 10 Which of the following is a true statement concerning genetic variation? A) It must be present in a population before natural selection can act upon the population. B) It arises in response to changes in the environment. C) A population that has a higher average heterozygosity has less genetic variation than one with a lower average heterozygosity. D) It tends to be reduced by the processes involved when diploid organisms produce gametes. E) It is created by the direct action of natural selection. | back 10 A) It must be present in a population before natural selection can act upon the population. |
front 11 ) What is true of natural selection? A) Natural selection is a random process. | back 11 C) Mutations occur at random; natural selection can preserve and
distribute beneficial |
front 12 12) If the curve in Figure 21.3 shifts to the left or to the right, there is no gene flow, and the population size consequently increases over successive generations. Which of the following is (are) probably occurring? 1. immigration or emigration 2. directional selection 3. adaptation 4. genetic drift 5. disruptive selection A) 1, 2, and 3 B) 2 and 3 C) 1 only D) 4 only E) 4 and 5 | back 12 B) 2 and 3 |
front 13 Anopheles mosquitoes, which carry the malaria parasite, cannot live above elevations of 5,900 feet. Consider a hypothetical human population that is adapted to life on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Mt. Kilimanjaro's base is about 2,600 feet above sea level and its peak is 19,341 feet above sea level. If the incidence of the sickle-cell allele in the population is plotted against altitude (feet above sea level), which of the following distributions is most likely, assuming little migration of people up or down the mountain? | back 13 D. linear arrow down |
front 14 Heterozygote advantage should be most closely linked to which of the following? A) directional selection B) disruptive selection C) sexual selection D) random selection E) stabilizing selection | back 14 E) stabilizing selection |
front 15 ) If the original finches that had been blown over to the Galápagos from South America had already been genetically different from the parental population of South American finches, even before adapting to the Galápagos, this would have been an example of A) genetic drift and the founder effect. B) the founder effect. C) the bottleneck effect. D) genetic drift. E) all three of these. | back 15 A) genetic drift and the founder effect. |
front 16 Which extinction event most likely lead to the most rapid loss of species? A) The Permian mass extinction B) The mass extinction of organisms due to the oxygenation of the early atmosphere C) The current mass extincion brought about by human activity D) The extinction event at the end of the Cretacesous | back 16 D) The extinction event at the end of the Cretacesous |
front 17 Which factor most likely caused animals and plants in India to differ
greatly from species in A) The species became separated by convergent evolution. | back 17 E) India was a separate continent until 45 million years ago. |
front 18 Use Figure 21.2 to answer the following question. Figure
21.2 A) genetic bottleneck. B) habitat differentiation. C) sexual selection. D) founder effect. | back 18 D) founder effect. |
front 19 19) When using a cladistic approach to systematics, which of the following is considered most important for classification? A) the number of homoplasies | back 19 E) shared derived characters |
front 20 Which of these should decline in hybrid zones where reinforcement is occurring? A) gene flow between distinct gene pools B) the genetic distinctness of two gene pools C) mutation rate D) speciation E) hybrid sterility | back 20 A) gene flow between distinct gene pools |
front 21 21) Two species of frogs belonging to the same genus occasionally mate, but the offspring fail to develop and hatch. What is the mechanism for keeping the two frog species separate? A) the prezygotic barrier called hybrid sterility B) the postzygotic barrier called hybrid inviability C) gametic isolation D) the postzygotic barrier called hybrid breakdown | back 21 B) the postzygotic barrier called hybrid inviability |
front 22 An organism has a relatively large number of Hox genes in its genome. Which of the following is true of this organism? A) The organism must have multiple paired appendages along the length of its body. B) These genes are fundamental, and are expressed in all cells of the organism. C) Its Hox genes cooperate to bring about sexual maturity at the
proper stage of D) The organism has the genetic potential to have a relatively complex anatomy. E) Most of its Hox genes owe their existence to gene fusion events. | back 22 D) The organism has the genetic potential to have a relatively complex anatomy. |
front 23 Adaptive radiations can be a direct consequence of four of the following five factors. Select the exception. A) vacant ecological niches B) an adaptive radiation in a group of organisms (such as plants)
that another group uses as C) colonization of an isolated region that contains suitable habitat and few competitor species D) evolutionary innovation E) genetic drift | back 23 E) genetic drift |
front 24 Which of the following is not an observation or inference on which natural selection is based? A) Individuals whose characteristics are best suited to the environment generally leave more offspring than those whose characteristics are less well suited. B) Species produce more offspring than the environment can support. C) Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring. D) There is heritable variation among individuals. E) Only a fraction of an individual’s offspring may survive. | back 24 C) Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring. |
front 25 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 yes; evolution of new species no C) extinction of species no; evolution of new species yes D) extinction of species no; evolution of new species no | back 25 B) extinction of species yes; evolution of new species no |
front 26 If two modern organisms are distantly related in an evolutionary sense, then one should expect that A) they should share fewer homologous structures than two more closely related organisms. B) they shared a common ancestor relatively recently. C) their chromosomes should be very similar. D) they live in very different habitats. E) they should be members of the same genus. | back 26 A) they should share fewer homologous structures than two more closely related organisms. |
front 27 Most Swiss starlings produce four to five eggs in each clutch.
Starlings producing fewer, or more, than this have reduced fitness.
Which of the following terms best describes this situation? | back 27 B) stabilizing selection |
front 28 The most likely explanation for the high rate of sympatric speciation
that apparently existed among the cichlids of Lake Victoria in the
past is | back 28 C) sexual selection. |
front 29 Which of the following must exist in a population before natural
selection can act upon that population? | back 29 A) genetic variation among individuals |
front 30 Arrange the following from most general (i.e., most inclusive) to
most specific (i.e., least inclusive): B) 3, 2, 1, 4 C) 1, 2, 3, 4 D) 3, 2, 1, 4 E) 1, 3, 2, 4 | back 30 B) 3, 2, 1, 4 |
front 31 The origin of a new plant species by hybridization, coupled with
accidents during cell division, B) habitat selection. D) sympatric speciation. | back 31 D) sympatric speciation. |
front 32 The following questions refer to Figure 19.1, which shows an outcrop
of sedimentary rock whose strata are labeled A-D. B) B C) C D) D | back 32 C) C |
front 33 Based on the tree below, which statement is not correct? | back 33 A) Lizards are more closely related to salamanders than to humans. |
front 34 Plant species A has a diploid number of 12. Plant species B has a
diploid number of 16. A new species, C, arises as an autopolyploid
from species A The diploid number for species C would probably
be B) 24. C) 14. D) 12. E) 16. | back 34 B) 24. |
front 35 The next few questions refer to the following description. | back 35 A) behavioral isolation |
front 36 Which Taxonomic level was added most recently in reaction to
information about molecular homologies? B) Domain C) Order D) Kindom | back 36 B) Domain |
front 37 Rank the following from most general to most specific: B) 4, 2, 1, 3 C) 2, 4, 1, 3 D) 4, 1, 2, 3 E) 2, 1, 4, 3 | back 37 C) 2, 4, 1, 3 |
front 38 Which of these would, if it had acted upon a gene, prevent this gene
from acting as a reliable | back 38 C) natural selection |
front 39 According to the concept of punctuated equilibrium, | back 39 B) a new species accumulates most of its unique features as it comes into existence. |
front 40 Charles Darwin was the first person to propose | back 40 D) a mechanism for evolution that was supported by evidence. |
front 41 If the half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,000 years, then a fossil
that has one-eighth the normal B) 625 C) 15,000 D) 20,000 E) 10,000 | back 41 C) 15,000 |
front 42 If the early history of life on Earth is accurately depicted by
Figure 20.3, then which statement is least in agreement with the
hypothesis proposed by this tree? | back 42 B) Eukaryotes are more closely related to archaeans than to bacteria. |
front 43 Which of the following statements most detracts from the claim that
the human appendix is a completely vestigial organ? | back 43 D) The appendix has a substantial amount of defensive lymphatic tissue. |
front 44 Which extinct species should be the best candidate to serve as the
outgroup for the clade whose B) B C) C D) D E) E | back 44 A) A most left choice |
front 45 Put the following Taxonomic levels in the correct order from most
inclusive to most specific | back 45 D) 3->2->1->4 |