Evolution 2

What is true about the topmost layers of fossils in a fossil layer?

• The topmost layers are the oldest layers and look like dinosaurs.

• The layers do not matter, but only how long ago the organisms were alive matters.

• They are the simplest organisms overall, since the more complex organisms lived long ago.

• They most closely resemble modern day plants and animals because they are the most recent fossils.

What is an example of the effects of natural selection on a species?

• In a cold environment, organisms will survive and pass on the genes to be larger and stronger.

• When there is a drought (a time with very little rain), the species that has the best traits to survive with less water will survive and reproduce.

• When there are fast running predators, the fastest predators will always survive and reproduce until they eat all of the prey.

• When there are camouflaged beetles, they will not have mutations anymore but will stay the same to remain camouflaged.

The Galapagos Tortoises are giant turtles that eat different plants. Many of them are going extinct as their food sources are being destroyed by humans clearing the land. What is the best explanation for why the tortoises are going extinct?

• The changes caused by the humans are too sudden for the tortoises to develop useful adaptations for eating new types of food.

• Many of the tortoises are afraid of humans and are dying from fear.

• Many of the tortoises cannot crawl away from the humans because they are slow moving.

• The tortoises are picky eaters and refuse to look for new food.

Galapagos tortoises are a type of giant turtle, and they are going extinct quickly because the plants that they eat are changing due to human pollution. Explain why the tortoises are going extinct, even though there are still many plants they could eat.

• The plants all developed poisonous juices so the tortoises eat them and get sick.

• Tortoises do not have many offspring, so there is not a good chance that mutations could produce favorable adaptations to eat new food.

• Tortoises move very slowly, so they are not able to crawl to find new food in time.

• Tortoises are extremely picky eaters and do not like the new food.

When scientists view layers from the fossil record, what do they look at to see what the environment was like in each layer?

• Scientists can only tell the environment from the top layers, since those are the most like our modern environment.

• Scientists collect DNA from dinosaurs and clone it to see what type of dinosaur grows from it.

• Scientists look at the fossils in each layer to see what types of organisms were alive. The type of fossil matched the environment; for example, fish fossils meant a watery environment.

• Scientists had no way of knowing what the environment was like because it was millions of years ago.

Choose the types of environments that would match the fossils that a scientist sees in the fossil layers below -

bottom layer: shell and trilobite fossils

middle layer: fish and shell fossils

top layer: four legged creature and leaf fossils

• water environment, water environment, land environment

• water environment, land environment, water environment

• land environment, water environment, water environment

• water environment, land environment, air environment

Peacocks have long blue tail feathers that they flutter in order to attract a female. Male hummingbirds have brightly colored wings that are blue, green, or red. These are not good camouflage, so how do they help ensure that those males get to survive and reproduce?

• Birds with flashy feathers actually distract the predators to eat them, allowing the birds with less flashy feathers to survive and reproduce.

• The flashiest feathers show that the male is the strongest and allows him to protect his offspring. This allows his offspring to pass on the genes for flashy feathers.

• They are used to attract a predator so it will not eat the female. The male with the flashiest feathers leads the predator away from the female, and she is thankful and only breeds with him.

• They are used to attract a female simply by looks. The birds with the flashiest feathers survive and reproduce, passing on their genes for flashy feathers.

Camouflage is one adaptation that helps organisms hide from predators. Which answer choice best explains how camouflage patterns are passed from parent to offspring?

• The butterflies became coated in pollution and hid from the birds. This allowed them to pass on their dirty wings to their offspring.

• The leopard's spots helped it hide from its prey. The leopard with the best spot pattern was able to catch the most prey, survive, and pass on its traits to its offspring.

• Camouflage is the result of caterpillars constantly hiding in the leaves. When birds fly by, the caterpillars turn a little bit greener.

• Camouflaged animals run faster than other animals, which helps them survive and reproduce.

Fossils found in rock layers are the oldest at the bottom layer. This means that:

• The fossils in the bottom layer are the organisms that lived the longest time ago.

• The fossils in the middle layers may have evolved from organisms in the bottom layers.

• The fossils in the bottom layers may have evolved from organisms in the top layers.

• The fossils in layers that are close to each other are more closely related than the layers that are farther apart.

Pest control companies are getting worried. They have been using one kind of pesticide for years, spraying it on plants and around houses. They are worried because they have noticed one type of cockroach does not die when it is sprayed? Explain why this is true.

• The cockroaches have gotten stronger due to being exposed to the pesticide for so many years. It does not affect them any more, and they have passed this on to their offspring.

• Due to a random mutation, one group of cockroaches developed a resistance to the pesticide. Since they survived the spray, the were able to reproduce and pass on this mutation to their offspring.

• The pesticide spray weakens the cockroaches, but when they recover from their weakness they develop a resistance to the pesticide. They pass this on to their offspring.

• Humans have artificially selected a strong group of cockroaches to breed, producing a super bug that will take over the world.