Evolution QUIZ!

Which of the following is a term for a group of similar organisms that can reproduce fertile offspring?

• individual
• population
• species
• fossil

Which of the following is a fossil?

• a plant that has recently died
• a group of organisms that can reproduce
• a structure or organ that no longer functions
• a trace of an organisms that existed in the past

In natural selection, the selective agent is the

• humans
• mutations
• breeders
• environment

a bird that can easily outcompete other birds for food and that can produce many eggs has a high

• sexuality
• mutation rate
• fitness
• adaptability

What is suggested by the similarity of early embryos of different species of vertebrates?

• no evolutionary relationships between the groups
• recent common ancestry
• similar environments in the past
• evolution from a distant common ancestor

If an organism has a vestigial structure, that structure likely once had a function in a(n)

• close relative
• early ancestor
• unrelated organism
• embryological stage

Two organisms that are closely related would have

• very similar DNA sequence
• exactly the same DNA sequences
• no proteins in common
• completely different DNA sequence

Protein sequences in one organism that resemble those of another suggest a 

• coincidence
• lack of evolutionary relationship
• great number of mutations
• shared ancestry

Genetic variation can arise from a random change in the DNA of a gene.  The change is called a(n)

• mutation
• gene flow
• gene pool
• allele

Mutations are important because they bring about

• death of the organism in which they develop
• genetic variation needed for a population to evolve
• benefits for the individual, not for the population
• Hardey-Weinberg equilibrium within a population