Natural Selection and Adaptations: 7C, 7D, 7E and 7F

An Alaskan wolf tends to attack and kill animals that are weak rather than those that are strong. This tendency is most closely associated with the concept of -

• natural selection

• geographic isolation

• use and disuse

• punctuated equilibrium

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Certain insects resemble the twigs of trees. Based on modern evolutionary theory, the most probable explanation for this is that -

• A mutation that caused the resemblance

• The insects ate the wood

• Genes were transferred from the trees to the insects

• Predation of insects resembling twigs of trees occurred

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The diagram shows the effect of spraying a pesticide on a population of insects over three generations. Which concept is represented in the

diagram?

• survival of the fittest

• dynamic equilibrium

• succession

• extinction

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Which of the following best explains how natural selection occurs?

• Individuals acquire traits during their lives that they pass on to offspring.

• Only individuals with adaptive traits want to reproduce and pass their traits to offspring.

• Traits are genetically based, and individuals with adaptive traits are more likely to survive and pass on their traits to offspring.

• When organisms reproduce, they pass along only their most useful traits to offspring.

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According to fossil records, the horses that lived 50 million years ago were much smaller, weaker, and slower than modern horses. Which process is most likely responsible for the changes that have led to the increased size, strength, and speed in horses?

• commensalism

• inbreeding

• migration

• natural selection

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The long-term survival of any species of organism of organism is possible only if the organisms can -

• migrate when temperatures change

• reproduce successfully

• find protection from predators

• locate a constant food source

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Why might a species of finch have a slightly shorter beak that its ancestors’ beaks?

• The ancestor finches had a viral fungi that eroded the keratin of the beaks to the size they are today.

• The shorter-beaked finches had a feeding advantage that became more successful over time.

• The shorter-beaked finches had beaks that were worn down from overuse.

• The shorter beaked finches resulted from a finch mating with a different species.

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What is the survival value of a fish or frog species that lays hundreds of eggs each time it reproduces compared to a species which lays only a single egg?

• More eggs laid increases the likelihood that more males will be attracted to the eggs for fertilization.

• Single-egged laying species are generally more reproductively efficient and do not need to lay multiple eggs.

• More eggs laid increases the likelihood that more offspring will survive predation or failed fertilization.

• There is no survival value for the species, only for the individual.

How does genetic diversity help the process of natural selection and aid the survival of a population?

• There are fewer mutations within the gene pool

• There is a reduced predation of the population members

• There is an increased chance for beneficial traits within the gene pool

• There is less competition between the population members

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Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide a scientific explanation for each of the following except—

• the fossil record

• protein and DNA similarities between different organisms

• similar structures among different organisms

• a stable physical environment

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