Evolution Practice

The longnose butterfly fish has a dark spot near its tail that looks like an eye. Its "eyespot" makes predators think they are attacking the head rather than the tail. Why does the longnose butterfly fish have an evolutionary advantage over other fish?

• It is more effective at finding mates than other fish.
• It uses less energy to swim than other fish
• It is more effective at catching shrimp and worms than other fish
• It is likely to produce more offspring that survive to maturity

Natural selection operates extremely rapidly to develop advantageous traits in

• populations that are facing a change in environmental conditions.
• individuals that are struggling to survive under harsh conditions
• individuals that are able to thrive in a stable environment
• populations that are living in stable environmental conditions

Which population of organisms would be in the greatest danger of becoming extinct?

• a population of organisms with few variations living in a stable environment
• a population of organisms with many variations living in a stable environment
•  population of organisms with few variations living in an unstable environment
• a population of organisms with many variations living in an unstable environment

Natural selection acts on a population to produce individual organisms with different adaptations. Which is true about these adaptations?

• These adaptations are designed so every organism will be perfectly adapted to its environment
• The usefulness of these adaptations is tested by interactions in the surrounding environment
• These adaptations are useful to every organism and their descendants in any environment.
• The usefulness of these adaptations is reduced by interactions in the surrounding environment.

Many types of rose plants have thorns on their stems. If animals started eating a group of rose plants, what variation would most likely help the rose plants to survive?

• developing many thorns to deter animals from eating them
• developing a powerful scent to attract insects for protection
• stopping photosynthesis to no longer be attractive to animals
• stopping the absorption of nutrients from soil to repel organisms

Which of the following factors is necessary in order for natural selection to occur in a species?

• genetic variation within a population
• an abundance of food resources
• a hospitable environment
• a strong family structure

Fossils are most often found in

• sand
• igneous rock
• sedimentary rock
• water

In the late 1700s most moths in England were light-colored. During the Industrial Revolution pollution from factories darkened tree trunks. By 1886 dark-colored moths were common and light-colored moths were rare. What caused this change in the moth population?

• Dark-colored moths were attracted to the dark tree trunks
• Factory pollution killed the light-colored moths
• Dark-colored moths fed on the pollution
• Birds ate more light-colored moths because they were easy to spot.