Chapter 13 Review Questions

Which of the following is the most recent example of evolution and natural selection?

A. the genetic differences among the various populations on Earth
B. the occurrence of many different breeds of dogs
C. the development of pesticide-resistant insects
D. the presence of long generation times in organisms

The development of pesticide-resistant insects.

A process in which organisms with certain inherited characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than individuals with other characteristics is called ________.

A. evolutionary adaptation
B. descent with modification
C. natural selection
D. evolution

Natural Selection

Which mechanism for evolution was proposed by Lamarck?

A. evolution by inheritance of acquired characteristics
B. evolution by punctuated equilibrium
C. evolution by accumulation of mutations
D. evolution by natural selection

Evolution by inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Which of the following statements about early ideas of evolution is true?

A. Darwin sailed around Earth over a five-year period and gathered information that greatly influenced his thinking about evolution.
B. Charles Darwin came up with the idea that species evolve.
C. Aristotle thought that species evolved.
D. Lamarck suggested the idea of natural selection.

Darwin sailed around Earth over a five-year period and gathered information that greatly influenced his thinking about evolution.

While on his voyage on the HMS Beagle, Darwin was strongly influenced by this book.

A. Encyclopedia Britannica
B. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
C. The Beagle
D. Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell

Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell

What do we call scientists who study fossils?

A. comparative anatomists
B. paleontologists
C. comparative embryologists
D. biogeographers

Paleontologists

Which of the following is the study of the geographic distribution of species on Earth?

A. comparative anatomy
B. biogeography
C. paleontology
D. comparative embryology

Biogeography

The study of comparative anatomy _____________.

A. looks at early stages of development in different animal species
B. supports the idea of fixed species
C. is based on the genetic language of DNA and RNA
D. provides information about the evolutionary history of species

Provides information about the evolutionary history of species.

A challenge to traditional (pre-1860) ideas about species came from embryology, where it was discovered that _________.

A. all animals develop similar embryonic gills
B. embryos of dissimilar organisms, such as sharks and humans, resemble each other
C. the more advanced the animal, the more slowly it develops
D. mutations have a far more dramatic effect on embryos than on adult organisms

Embryos of dissimilar organisms, such as sharks and humans, resemble each other.

Which of the following is a true statement?

A. Species with nucleotide sequences that match closely share a common ancestor.
B. Molecular biologists have suggested that bacteria are more closely related to eukaryotes than are members of the domain Archaea.
C. Adaptation to the environment is not related to the origin of new species.
D. The genetic language of DNA and RNA provides evidence that contradicts evolution of finches and other birds.

Species with nucleotide sequences that match closely share a common ancestor.

Which one of the following was an assumption of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection?

A. Organisms cooperate for limited resources.
B. Earth is very young.
C. Traits are inherited as discrete particles.
D. Populations produce more offspring than their environment can support.

Populations produce more offspring than their environment can support.

Natural selection ___________.

A. is independent of time or place
B. is more of a creative process than an editing process
C. and evolution cannot be directly observed
D. relies on variation among individuals in a population

Relies on variation among individuals in a population

There is a group of small fish living in a lake with a sandy bottom. Most of the fish are light brown, but about 10% are mottled. These fish are normally prey for large birds that live on the shore. A construction company dumps a load of gravel in the bottom of the lake, giving it a mottled appearance. Which of these statements presents the most accurate prediction?

A. The proportion of mottled fish will increase over time.
B. As the mottled fish are eaten, more will be produced to fill the gap.
C. In two generations, all the fish will be mottled.
D. There is now way to guess the result.

The proportion of mottled fish will increase over time.

Which of the following is an example of natural selection that has been seen in our lifetime?

A. the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
B. feeding habits of finches
C. the domain Archaea
D. a rise in the incidence of malaria

The evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Evolutionary biologists studying the evolution of lizard horn length found _________.

A. that lizard horn length evolved as a defense mechanism against predators
B. that the tools of the molecular biologist could not be applied in a study of lizard horn length
C. lizards shedding their horns
D. no particular advantage to longer horns

That lizard horn length evolved as a defense mechanism against predators.

In 1859, Charles Darwin wrote, "The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been represented by a great tree… As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever branching and beautiful ramifications." At the base of the evolutionary tree of all life is ___________.

A. the first tetrapod
B. an amniote
C. an organism that is a common ancestor to all living organisms.
D. a fork that represents the split between plants and animals.

An organism that is a common ancestor to all living organisms.

According to current evolutionary theory, which of the following is true?

A. Segregation and independent assortment explain evolution of the individual and not the species.
B. Evolution is independent of genetics.
C. Populations are the units of evolution.
D. When studying evolution at the population level, biologists are interested in studying the genes of a single individual, not the gene pool

Populations are the units of evolution.

The relationship of the genome to an organism is the same as that of the ___________ to a population.

A. gene pool
B. gene
C. mutation
D. species

Gene Pool

Which of the following statements is true?

A. Many variable traits in a population result from the combined effect of several genes.
B. Only one allele for a particular trait is considered for inclusion into the gene pool.
C. Environmentally induced traits are passed on to offspring.
D. Environmental influences have nothing to do with variation in phenotype within a population.

Many variable traits in a population result from the combined effect of several genes.

According to the Hardy-Weinberg formula, the frequencies of alleles in a population will remain constant if __________ is the only process that affects the gene pool.

A. sexual reproduction
B. genetic drift
C. mutation
D. microevolution

Sexual Reproduction

In recessive lethal diseases such as Tay-Sachs disease, carriers have one copy of the normal allele and one copy of the allele for the disease. Carriers are represented in the Hardy-Weinberg formula by ________.

A. 2pq
B. 1 – q
C. the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
D. the frequency of homozygous dominants plus frequency of heterzygotes plus the frequency of homozygous recessives

2pq

Which of the following defines Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

A. generation-to-generation change in a population’s frequencies of alleles
B. the smallest scale of evolution
C. a nonevolving population in genetic equilibrium
D. 2pq

A nonevolving population in genetic equilibrium

The population of American bison used to number in the millions of animals. Hunting and other problems greatly decreased the number of bison to about 1,000 animals. But today, the numbers are recovering to estimates of more than 200,000 animals. This crash in the population of bison and recent recovery is an example of ________.

A. the bottleneck effect
B. gene flow
C. genetic drift
D. the founder effect

The Bottleneck Effect

Imagine that a new population of humans is established on a new planet from ten randomly selected people in your biology class. Over thousands of years, the descendants of those ten people reproduce and prosper, but do not reflect well the diversity of humans of Earth. This change in the diversity of people on the new planet is an example of _____________.

A. gene flow
B. genetic drift
C. the bottleneck effect
D. the founder effect

The Founder Effect

A significant consequence of gene flow is that it _________.

A. may reduce the overall genetic variability in a population
B. changes the gene pool of a population due to chance
C. may increase the frequency of certain inherited disorders in humans
D. tends to reduce differences between populations

Tends to reduce differences between populations

In evolutionary terms, an organism’s Darwinian fitness is measured by its __________.

A. genetic variability
B. contribution to the gene pool of the next generation
C. mutation rate
D. health

Contribution to the gene pool of the next generation

Blue poppies native to China are grown at a plant-breeding center in California, where those with the thickest leaves survive and reproduce best in the drier climate. This evolutionary adaptation of the poppies to their new environment is due to __________.

A. directional selection
B. genetic drift
C. neutral variation
D. stabilizing selection

Directional Selection

What is the term used to define a secondary sexual characteristic in males, such as manes on lions or colorful plumage on peacocks?

A. gene flow
B. fitness
C. sexual selection
D. sexual dimorphism

Sexual Dimorphism

Sickle-cell disease is caused by ___________.

A. a heterozygous situation
B. a recessive allele
C. the parasite that also causes malaria
D. sexual dimorphism

A recessive allele