Evolution Review

Whales no longer have any use for their hip bones. Even so, in evolutionary history the ancestors of whales once used their hip bones to assist in walking on land. Whale hip bones are an example of what kind of structure?

• analogous structure

• evolution structure

• homologous structure

• vestigial structure

Descent with Modification, one of Charles Darwin’s two main ideas on evolution, states that all living organisms ______________?

• Came from spontaneous generation

• Came from past organisms and have changed over time

• have been the same since the beginning of time

• will become extinct within 1000 years

Which of the following conditions must be met for allopatric speciation to occur?

• temporal isolation

• geographic isolation

• behavioral isolation

• habitat isolation

What process of natural selection favors the extreme phenotypes of a trait and eliminates intermediate phenotypes?

• directional selection

• disruptive selection

• random selection

• stabilizing selection

Most male crickets produce a mating song by rubbing together their curved wings. In a certain geographic area, parasitic flies detected male crickets singing and deposited their larvae into them, which killed the crickets. Eighteen generations later the number of males with flat wings has increased to 90%. The flat winged crickets do not sing, but are still able to mate with females, and parasitic flies cannot detect them. Which type of selection is occurring in this cricket population?

• artificial

• directional

• disruptive

• stabilizing

Dinosaur extinction coincided with a massive asteroid’s collision with Earth. The extreme heat of the impact killed many organisms. The resulting dust cloud prevented photosynthesis for a long period of time, killing many other organisms. Which scenario most likely explains how life survived on Earth after the asteroid impact?

• the large number of dead organisms supplied an abundant food source for surviving carnivores

• some organisms survived the initial impact and adapted to new food sources and habitats

• microscopic organisms survived and evolved into modern forms of terrestrial and aquatic life

• the dust cloud affected terrestrial organisms, but did not affect aquatic organisms

Behaviors are either innate (inherited) or learned. Learned behaviors modify innate behaviors. Which is an example of an innate behavior?

• Young coyotes avoiding porcupines after the porcupines stick them with their quills.

• Chimpanzees stacking boxes to reach bananas hanging from the ceiling.

• Different species of male crickets producing distinctive songs to attract mates.

• Monkeys washing sweet potatoes in a stream before eating them.

Maria wanted to rid her home of cockroaches. She applied pesticide and after 1 day she found many dead cockroaches. Days later, she observed a few live cockroaches. She reapplied the pesticide, but she continued to see some live cockroaches. What best explains the continuing presence of live cockroaches?

• A few cockroaches exhibited pesticide resistance due to natural variability within the population.

• A few cockroaches developed pesticide resistance through contact with other resistant insects.

• A few cockroaches developed pesticide resistance after contact with it.

• A few cockroaches detected the pesticide and avoided sprayed areas.

According to fossil evidence, whales evolved from 4-legged ancestors. The modern baleen whale has forelimbs, but inspection of its skeleton reveals only tiny vestigial hind limbs. What is the best explanation for this loss of hind limbs in the baleen whale?

• The hind limbs adapted into flippers to help the whale swim faster.

• Random chance and genetic drift led to the reduction in size of hind limbs.

• Whales with shorter hind limbs swam faster than those with longer hind limbs.

• Some whales lost longer hind limbs to predators and passed that trait to their offspring.

When comparing 2 populations of animals, which statement most likely indicates that they are the same species?

• They produce fertile offspring.

• They inhabit the same general area.

• Their outward appearance is similar.

• They consume the same type of diet.