question

Darwin originally defined evolution as _____.

answer

descent with modification

question

Which of the following is a key observation that must be explained in a unifying theory about life?

answer

Many basic characteristics are shared by all living things.

question

The scala naturae, or scale of nature, is based on the ideas of _____.

answer

Aristotle

question

At the time Darwin voyaged on the HMS Beagle, the popularly accepted theory in Western culture that explained the origin of Earth's plants and animals held that the various species _____.

answer

had been created by divine intervention a few thousand years before

question

Carolus Linnaeus is considered to be the founder of _____, and he _____.

answer

the binomial classification system ... thought that resemblances among different species reflected the pattern of their creation

question

The modern idea of extinction as a common occurrence in Earth's history was first proposed in the early 19th century writings of _____.

answer

Cuvier

question

Lyell's principle of uniformitarianism _____.

answer

strongly influenced Darwin's view of how living organisms could change over time

question

Which of the following is a true statement about Charles Darwin?

answer

He proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution.

question

At the time Charles Darwin sailed on the HMS Beagle, _____.

answer

several biologists had proposed that species might change over time, but none had suggested a convincing mechanism that might cause the change

question

Because he was well aware of the effect his theory of evolution would have on the public and on the Church of England, Darwin delayed publishing his work for several decades while he gathered additional evidence. After invoking selective breeding of domesticated species as evidence that groups of organisms are capable of change, he then proposed that natural populations can change as well. On which two lines of evidence did he base this proposal?

answer

Organisms within a population vary, and all populations produce more offspring than can be supported by the environment, resulting in competition for survival within the population.

question

During his voyage around the world, Darwin was inspired to think about evolution by _____.

answer

All of the listed responses are correct.

question

In Darwin's view of descent with modification _____.

answer

natural selection can improve the match between an organism and its environment

question

What insight did Darwin gain from reading Thomas Malthus's essay on human suffering?

answer

Organisms have the capacity to overproduce.

question

The breeding of plants and animals for particular traits by humans is called _____.

answer

artificial selection

question

During periods of rapid environmental change, what may happen to a species that was well-suited to the former environment?

answer

All of the listed responses are correct.

question

The smallest unit that can evolve is a(n) _____.

answer

population

question

According to the theory of evolution, anatomical and molecular homologies should _____.

answer

produce similar patterns of evolutionary relatedness

question

When they were first sold, aerosol insecticides were highly effective in killing flies and mosquitoes. Now, several decades later, a much smaller proportion of these insects die when sprayed. The reason fewer insects die when they are sprayed is that _____.

answer

many mosquitoes today are descendants of mosquitoes with insecticide-resistant characteristics

question

A population of zooplankton is exposed to a small number of predatory fish that feed on the larger-sized (adult) zooplankton. Which of the following predictions would most likely occur based on the principles of natural selection?

answer

Adult zooplankton will start to reach sexual maturity when they are still relatively small.

question

How did some strains of Staphylococcus aureus become resistant to antibiotic drugs?

answer

Some members of the bacteria population must have had a genetic variation that made them resistant to antibiotics.

question

An important challenge to traditional (pre-1860) ideas about species was the observation that seemingly dissimilar organisms such as hummingbirds, humans, and whales have similar skeletal structures. This most directly suggested to biologists that _____.

answer

dissimilar organisms might have evolved from a distant, common ancestor

question

Animals that possess homologous structures probably _____.

answer

evolved from the same ancestor

question

Vestigial organs are _____.

answer

remnants of structures that were useful to an organism's ancestors

question

All known organisms transcribe genetic information to protein molecules via the same genetic code. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that _____.

answer

all organisms are descended from a single common ancestor

question

Evidence from molecular biology supports the theory of evolution by demonstrating that _____.

answer

closely related organisms have more similar DNA and proteins

question

What did Darwin observe about species on islands?

answer

They are often closely related to species from the nearest mainland or neighboring islands.

question

To describe evolution as a "scientific theory" means that _____.

answer

it is a broad model that is supported by many observations and much experimental evidence

question

The best description of natural selection is

answer

the reproductive success of the members of a population best adapted to the environment.

question

To Cuvier, the differences in fossils from different strata were evidence for

answer

local catastrophic events such as droughts or floods.

question

Darwin proposed that new species evolve from ancestral forms by

answer

the gradual accumulation of adaptations to changing or different environment.

question

All of the following influences Darwin as he synthesized the theory of evolution by natural selection except

answer

Mendel's paper in which he described his "laws of inheritance."

question

Which of the following statements is not considered part of the process of natural selection?

answer

Many adaptive traits may be acquired during an individual's lifetime, contributing to that individual's reproductive success.

question

What might you conclude from the observation that the bones in your arm and hand are similar to the bones that make up a bat's wing?

answer

The bones in a bat's wing are homologous to your arm ad hand bones.

question

The remnants of pelvic and leg bones in a snake

answer

are vestigial structures.

question

The hypothesis that whales evolved from land dwelling ancestors is supported by

answer

fossils of extinct whales that had increasingly reproduced hind limbs.

question

which of the following sources of evidence provides the best support for Darwin's claim that all of life is descended from a common ancestor?

answer

comparative anatomy

question

When cytochrome c molecules are compared, yeasts and molds are found to differ by approximately 46 amino acids per 100 residues (amino acid in proteins); insects and vertebrates are found to differ by 29 amino acids per 100 residues. What can one conclude from these data?

answer

Insects and vertebrates diverged from a common ancestor more recently than did yeast and molds.

Bio – Practice Test Questions; Chapter 19 – Flashcards

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