Chapter 13 Mastering Biology – Flashcards

Darwin's thinking while on the Beagle was greatly influenced by his reading of a book written by _____.

According to this climatograph, London experiences more precipitation during _____ than during any other month.

Which of these is a consequence of uniformitarianism?

The Argentinean pampas are a type of _____.

At the fossil site at Punta Alta, Darwin found evidence _____.

Patagonia is a _____.

His experiences with Fuegians and slavery convinced Darwin that differences among all peoples are primarily _____ differences.

Species in hot climates tend to _____ compared to species in cold climates.

In the Andes, at elevations of 12,000 feet, Darwin collected fossilized marine shells. The existence of marine shells at this altitude provided evidence that _____.

The Galápagos Islands are located _____.

Why were the Galápagos Islands so important to Darwin's formulation of natural selection?

The Galápagos Islands are cooled by the _____.

How many finch species did Darwin send to the British Museum?

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

In Europe at the time Darwin voyaged on HMS Beagle, the popularly accepted explanation of the origin of Earth's plants and animals held that the various species __________.

What was significant to Darwin about the fauna and flora of the Galápagos Islands?

Which best describes the fossil record?

Which best summarizes the order of appearance of major life-forms (from earliest to most recent) and the time at which life first appeared as documented by the fossil record?

The first tetrapods (four-legged animals) were amphibians, which evolved from a specialized group of lobed-fin fish. An unusual fossilized animal (named Tiktaalik) was recently found; this animal possessed a mixture of fish and amphibian characteristics. What is the term used to describe such an intermediate organism?

The wing of a bat is homologous to the _____ of a whale.

The forelimbs of humans, cats, and bats have a number of detailed similarities in their construction. What best explains these similarities?

All known organisms use genetic information to produce protein molecules via the same genetic code. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that __________.

Which option best describes the concept of an evolutionary tree diagram?

Organisms that possess homologous structures probably __________.

The human immune system cannot effectively suppress the HIV virus on its own. What key feature of HIV makes it so hard to beat?

Imagine that four people are infected with HIV from a common source (an infected blood sample). Initially, the patients' HIV populations are genetically identical. By the time they develop full-blown AIDS, how would the viral populations of the four patients compare?

As proposed by Darwin, what sorts of traits are favored by natural selection?

Natural selection is best described as _____.

HIV has become an important source of mortality for humans. If AIDS persists as a major factor for humans for many generations in the future, natural selection theory predicts that _____.

Which of the following list of assumptions was part of Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection?

German shorthaired pointers, Scottish terriers, and Beagles are capable of interbreeding and producing viable, fertile offspring. The diversity seen in these breeds of dogs is the result of __________.

If members of a population have traits that are both heritable and variable among individuals, then _____.

A population of small fish lives in a lake with a sandy bottom. The major predator of these fish is a wading bird that hunts by sight. Most of the fish are light sandy brown, but about 10% are mottled. The color pattern is heritable. 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?

When they were first sold, certain insecticides were highly effective in killing mosquitoes. Today, dozens of mosquito generations later, a much smaller proportion of these insects die when sprayed with the same chemicals. Fewer insects are killed today because _____.

Experiments and observations indicate that natural selection acts _____.

The core theme of biology, which explains both the unity and diversity of life, is

Aristotle believed that

Darwin found that many of the species on the Galápagos islands

Lyell's book Principles of Geology, which Darwin read on board the H.M.S. Beagle, argued in favor of which of the following concepts?

Which of the following would prevent an organism from becoming part of the fossil record when it dies?

Which of the following statements regarding natural selection is false?

Which of the following statements regarding the currently available fossil record is false?

Humans share several features with salamanders. Certain genes and proteins are nearly identical between the two species; both species have four limbs with a similar skeletal structure; the species' early embryos are very similar; and where the salamander has a functional tail, humans have a vestigial tailbone. In evolutionary terms, these are examples of

Which of the following represents a pair of homologous structures?

What evidence is used to determine the branching sequence of an evolutionary tree?

Darwin was the first person to draw an evolutionary tree, a diagram that represents

Broccoli, cabbages, and Brussels sprouts all descend from the same wild mustard and can still interbreed. These varieties were produced by

Which of the following best expresses the concept of natural selection?

Which of the following thinkers argued that much of human suffering was the result of human populations increasing faster than food supply, an argument that later influenced Charles Darwin's ideas of natural selection?

Which of the following assumptions or observations is not part of Darwin's idea of natural selection?