Evolution and Natural Selection

The theory of natural selection was a hypothesis first proposed by

• Gregor Mendel
• James Waston and Francis Crick
• Charles Darwin
• Robert Hooke

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1000 red and 1000 white ground beetles are placed in a cage on red clay containing beetle eating birds.  The beetles are counted after 2 days. What is expected? 

• Equal number of red and white beetles are left
• More red beetles are left
• More white beetles are left. 
• All the beetles are gone.

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Darwin's studies of finches on the Galapagos Island suggests that the finches' differences in beak structure were most directly due to:

• acquired characteristics in the parent finches
• the size of the island where the finches live.
• mating behaviors of the different finch species
• geographic isolation and adaptations of the finches to different environments 

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Which statement best describes evolution.

• evolution is a predictable change from simple to complex organisms
• evolution is a process of change through time
• evolution causes organisms to develop characteristics they need
• evolution often proceeds from complex to simpler organisms. 

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Characteristics of a species that make its members better able to live and reproduce in their environment are known as

• abiotic factors
• biotic factors
• homologous structures
• favorable adaptations. 

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Which of the following is true about natural selection?

• a population of organisms of the same species are all alike
• organisms posses genetic characteristics that sometimes make no difference on their lives
• organisms choose characteristics that help them adapt to their environment
• only those organisms that survive the environmental change pass on their traits to the next generation 

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Many scientists believe that the great number of different species of organisms which exist on the planet and the present time has resulted from billions of years of

• gel electrophoresis
• recombinant DNA
• cloning
• evolution 

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A change in the gene pool due to death or isolation is called

• natural selection 
• biochemistry
• genetic drift
• mutations 

The information in the chart provides data that can help in the identification of possible evolutionary relationships from the study of comparative __________ 

• cytology
• embryology
• anatomy
• biochemistry 

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Using the information from the chart, which two organisms are the closest in evolutionary distance from a common ancestor?

• horse-zebra
• human-gorilla
• human-chimpanzee
• horse-chimpanzee 

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