Which of these conditions should completely prevent the occurrence of natural selection in a population over time?

All variation between individuals is due only to environmental factors.

The environment is changing at a relatively slow rate.

The population lives in a habitat where there are no competing species present.

Natural selection is based on all of the following except

individuals adapt to their environments and, thereby, evolve.

genetic variation exists within populations.

the best-adapted individuals tend to leave the most offspring.

individuals who survive longer tend to leave more offspring than those who die young.

populations tend to produce more individuals than the environment can support.

A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years. During that time, the population was never fewer than 30 squirrels and never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the squirrels born did not survive to reproduce, because of both competition for food and predation. In a single generation, 90% of the squirrels that were born lived to reproduce, and the population increased to 80. Which inference(s) about this population might be true?

Two of the statements above are correct.

The amount of available food may have increased.

The parental generation of squirrels developed better eyesight due to improved diet; the subsequent squirrel generation inherited better eyesight.

The squirrels of subsequent generations should show greater levels of genetic variation than previous generations, because squirrels that would not have survived in the past will now survive.

Three of the statements above are correct.

Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that population?

genetic variation among individuals

variation among individuals caused by environmental factors

Three of the responses are correct.

Two of the responses are correct.

The role that humans play in artificial selection is to

choose which organisms breed, and which do not.

determine who lives and who dies.

create the genetic variants, which nature then selects.

train organisms to breed more successfully.

perform artificial insemination.

Which of these conditions should completely prevent the occurrence of natural selection in a population over time?

A) All variation between individuals is due only to environmental factors.

B) The environment is changing at a relatively slow rate.

C) The population size is large.

D) The population lives in a habitat where there are no competing species present.

Natural selection is based on all of the following except

E) individuals adapt to their environments and, thereby, evolve.

A) genetic variation exists within populations.

B) the best-adapted individuals tend to leave the most offspring.

C) individuals who survive longer tend to leave more offspring than those who die young.

D) populations tend to produce more individuals than the environment can support.

Which of the following represents an idea that Darwin learned from the writings of Thomas Malthus?

B) Populations tend to increase at a faster rate than their food supply normally allows.

A) Technological innovation in agricultural practices will permit exponential growth of the human population into the foreseeable future.

C) Earth changed over the years through a series of catastrophic upheavals.

D) The environment is responsible for natural selection.

E) Earth is more than 10,000 years old.

A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years. During that time, the population was never fewer than 30 squirrels and never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the squirrels born did not survive to reproduce, because of both competition for food and predation. In a single generation, 90% of the squirrels that were born lived to reproduce, and the population increased to 80. Which inference(s) about this population might be true?

E) Two of the statements above are correct.

A) The amount of available food may have increased.

B) The parental generation of squirrels developed better eyesight due to improved diet; the subsequent squirrel generation inherited better eyesight.

C) The squirrels of subsequent generations should show greater levels of genetic variation than previous generations, because squirrels that would not have survived in the past will now survive.

D) Three of the statements above are correct.

Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that population?

A) genetic variation among individuals

B) variation among individuals caused by environmental factors

D) Three of the responses are correct.

E) Two of the responses are correct.

Which of Darwin's ideas had the strongest connection to Darwin having read Malthus's essay on human population growth?

B) variation among individuals in a population

D) the ability of related species to be conceptualized in "tree thinking"

E) that the ancestors of the Galápagos finches had come from the South American mainland

If Darwin had been aware of genes, and of their typical mode of transmission to subsequent generations, with which statement would he most likely have been in agreement?

A) If natural selection can change one gene's frequency in a population over the course of generations then, given enough time and enough genes, natural selection can cause sufficient genetic change to produce new species from old ones.

B) If an individual's somatic cell genes change during its lifetime, making it more fit, then it will be able to pass these genes on to its offspring.

C) If an individual acquires new genes by engulfing, or being infected by, another organism, then a new genetic species will be the result.

D) A single mutation in a single gene in a single gamete will, if perpetuated, produce a new species within just two generations.

The role that humans play in artificial selection is to

C) choose which organisms breed, and which do not.

A) determine who lives and who dies.

B) create the genetic variants, which nature then selects.

D) train organisms to breed more successfully.

E) perform artificial insemination.

The rise of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be considered to be an example of artificial selection because

C) humans synthesize methicillin and create environments in which bacteria frequently come into contact with methicillin.

A) humans purposefully raise MRSA in large fermenters in an attempt to make the bacteria ever-more resistant.

B) S. aureus is cultivated by humans to replenish the soil with nutrients.

D) Humans are becoming resistant to bacteria by taking methicillin.

In a hypothetical environment, fishes called pike-cichlids are visual predators of algae-eating fish (in other words, they locate their prey by sight). If a population of algae-eaters experiences predation pressure from pike-cichlids, which of the following is least likely to be observed in the algae-eater population over the course of many generations?

C) selection for larger female algae-eaters, bearing broods composed of more, and larger, young

A) selection for drab coloration of the algae-eaters

B) selection for nocturnal algae-eaters (active only at night)

D) selection for algae-eaters that become sexually mature at smaller overall body sizes

E) selection for algae-eaters that are faster swimmers

DDT was once considered a "silver bullet" that would permanently eradicate insect pests. Today, instead, DDT is largely useless against many insects. Which of these would have been required for this pest eradication effort to be successful in the long run?

D) None of the individual insects should have possessed genomes that made them resistant to DDT.

A) Larger doses of DDT should have been applied.

B) All habitats should have received applications of DDT at about the same time.

C) The frequency of DDT application should have been higher.

E) DDT application should have been continual.

If the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus experiences a cost for maintaining one or more antibiotic-resistance genes, then what should happen in environments from which antibiotics are missing?

B) These bacteria should be outcompeted and replaced by bacteria that have lost these genes.

A) These genes should continue to be maintained in case the antibiotics ever appear.

C) The bacteria should try to make the cost worthwhile by locating, and migrating to, microenvironments where traces of antibiotics are present.

D) The bacteria should start making and secreting their own antibiotics.

Of the following anatomical structures, which is homologous to the bones in the wing of a bird?

E) bones in the flipper of a whale

A) cartilage in the dorsal fin of a shark

B) bones in the hind limb of a kangaroo

C) chitinous struts in the wing of a butterfly

D) bony rays in the tail fin of a flying fish

If two modern organisms are distantly related in an evolutionary sense, then one should expect that

B) they should share fewer homologous structures than two more closely related organisms.

A) they live in very different habitats.

C) their chromosomes should be very similar.

D) they shared a common ancestor relatively recently.

E) they should be members of the same genus.

Structures as different as human arms, bat wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the same bones, these bones having developed from very similar embryonic tissues. How do biologists interpret these similarities?

E) Two of the statements above are correct.

A) by identifying the bones as being homologous structures

B) by the principle of convergent evolution

C) by proposing that humans, bats, and dolphins share a common ancestor

D) Three of the statements above are correct.

Over evolutionary time, many cave-dwelling organisms have lost their eyes. Tapeworms have lost their digestive systems. Whales have lost their hind limbs. How can natural selection account for these losses?

C) Under particular circumstances that persisted for long periods, each of these structures presented greater costs than benefits.

A) Natural selection cannot account for losses, only for innovations.

B) Natural selection accounts for these losses by the principle of use and disuse.

D) The ancestors of these organisms experienced harmful mutations that forced them to find new habitats that these species had not previously used.

Which of the following pieces of evidence most strongly supports the common origin of all life on Earth?

B) All organisms use essentially the same genetic code.

A) All organisms require energy.

D) All organisms show heritable variation.

E) All organisms have undergone evolution.

Logically, which of these should cast the most doubt on the relationships depicted by an evolutionary tree?

E) Relationships between DNA sequences among the species did not match relationships between skeletal patterns.

A) None of the organisms depicted by the tree ate the same foods.

B) Some of the organisms depicted by the tree had lived in different habitats.

C) The skeletal remains of the organisms depicted by the tree were incomplete (in other words, some bones were missing).

D) Transitional fossils had not been found.

Which of the following statements most detracts from the claim that the human appendix is a completely vestigial organ?

C) The appendix has a substantial amount of defensive lymphatic tissue.

A) The appendix can be surgically removed with no immediate ill effects.

B) The appendix might have been larger in fossil hominids.

D) Individuals with a larger-than-average appendix leave fewer offspring than those with a below-average-sized appendix.

E) In a million years, the human species might completely lack an appendix.

Members of two different species possess a similar-looking structure that they use in a similar fashion to perform the same function. Which information would best help distinguish between an explanation based on homology versus one based on convergent evolution?

B) The two species share many proteins in common, and the nucleotide sequences that code for these proteins are almost identical.

A) The two species live at great distance from each other.

C) The sizes of the structures in adult members of both species are similar in size.

D) Both species are well adapted to their particular environments.

Ichthyosaurs were aquatic dinosaurs. Fossils show us that they had dorsal fins and tails, as do fish, even though their closest relatives were terrestrial reptiles that had neither dorsal fins nor aquatic tails. The dorsal fins and tails of ichthyosaurs and fish are

E) Two of the responses above are correct.

B) examples of convergent evolution.

C) adaptations to a common environment.

D) Three of the responses above are correct.

What must be true of any organ that is described as vestigial?

B) It must be homologous to some feature in an ancestor.

A) It must be analogous to some feature in an ancestor.

C) It must be both homologous and analogous to some feature in an ancestor.

D) It need be neither homologous nor analogous to some feature in an ancestor.

What is true of pseudogenes?

A) They are composed of RNA, rather than DNA.

B) They are the same things as introns.

C) They are unrelated genes that code for the same gene product.

It has been observed that organisms on islands are different from, but closely related to, similar forms found on the nearest continent. This is taken as evidence that

A) island forms and mainland forms descended from common ancestors.

B) common environments are inhabited by the same organisms.

C) the islands were originally part of the continent.

D) the island forms and mainland forms are converging.

E) island forms and mainland forms have identical gene pools.

If one wanted to find the largest number of endemic species, one should visit which of the following geological features (assuming each has existed for several millions of years)?

A) an isolated ocean island in the tropics

C) a midcontinental grassland with extreme climatic conditions

D) a shallow estuary on a warm-water coast

A high degree of endemism is most likely in environments that are

A) easily reached and heterogeneous.

D) isolated and extremely cold.

E) easily reached and homogeneous.

Which of the following is not an observation or inference on which natural selection is based?

B) Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring.

A) There is heritable variation among individuals.

C) Species produce more offspring than the environment can support.

D) Individuals whose characteristics are best suited to the environment generally leave more offspring than those whose characteristics are less well suited.

E) Only a fraction of an individual's offspring may survive.

Which of the following observations helped Darwin shape his concept of descent with modification?

D) South American temperate plants are more similar to the tropical plants of South America than to the temperate plants of Europe.

A) Species diversity declines farther from the equator.

B) Fewer species live on islands than on the nearest continents.

C) Birds can be found on islands located farther from the mainland than the birds' maximum nonstop flight distance.

E) Earthquakes reshape life by causing mass extinctions.

Within six months of effectively using methicillin to treat S. aureus infections in a community, all new infections were caused by MRSA. How can this result best be explained?

D) Some drug-resistant bacteria were present at the start of treatment, and natural selection increased their frequency.

A) S. aureus can resist vaccines.

B) A patient must have become infected with MRSA from another community.

C) In response to the drug, S. aureus began making drug-resistant versions of the protein targeted by the drug.

E) The drug caused the S. aureus DNA to change.

The upper forelimbs of humans and bats have fairly similar skeletal structures, whereas the corresponding bones in whales have very different shapes and proportions. However, genetic data suggest that all three kinds of organisms diverged from a common ancestor at about the same time. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for these data?

C) Natural selection in an aquatic environment resulted in significant changes to whale forelimb anatomy.

A) Humans and bats evolved by natural selection, and whales evolved by Lamarckian mechanisms.

B) Forelimb evolution was adaptive in people and bats, but not in whales.

D) Genes mutate faster in whales than in humans or bats.

E) Whales are not properly classified as mammals.

DC Biology Chapter 19 Descent with Modification

Authored by David Brake

Biology

12th Grade - University

NGSS covered

Used 92+ times

DC Biology Chapter 19 Descent with Modification

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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

Which of the following statements best describes theories?

They are nearly the same things as hypotheses.

They are supported by, and make sense of, many observations.

They cannot be tested because the described events occurred only once.

They are predictions of future events.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

Catastrophism, meaning the regular occurrence of geological or meteorological disturbances (catastrophes), was Cuvier's attempt to explain the existence of

evolution.

the fossil record.

uniformitarianism.

the origin of new species.

natural selection.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

With what other idea of his time was Cuvier's theory of catastrophism most in conflict?

gradualism

the fixity of species

island biogeography

uniformitarianism

the scala naturae

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

What was the prevailing belief prior to the time of Lyell and Darwin?

Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations are unchanging.

Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations gradually change.

Earth is millions of years old, and populations rapidly change.

Earth is millions of years old, and populations are unchanging.

Earth is millions of years old, and populations gradually change.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

During a study session about evolution, one of your fellow students remarks, "The giraffe stretched its neck while reaching for higher leaves; its offspring inherited longer necks as a result." Which statement is most likely to be helpful in correcting this student's misconception?

Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on through genes.

Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of new traits.

Only favorable adaptations have survival value.

Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance.

If the giraffes did not have to compete with each other, longer necks would not have been passed on to the next generation.

Which of the following is the most accurate summary of Cuvier's consideration of fossils found in the vicinity of Paris?

extinction of species yes; evolution of new species yes

extinction of species no; evolution of new species yes

extinction of species yes; evolution of new species no

extinction of species no; evolution of new species yes

Charles Darwin was the first person to propose

that evolution occurs.

a mechanism for how evolution occurs.

that Earth is older than a few thousand years.

a mechanism for evolution that was supported by evidence.

that population growth can outpace the growth of food resources.

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