Troublesome PMA Questions Review

Which of the following examples best represents the mechanism of evolution known as genetic drift?

• A farmer consistently chooses the tastiest watermelons to keep seeds from and plant for the next crop.

• A volcano erupts and lava pours over a population of flowering plants eliminating a large portion of the flowers on the north side of the island while leaving the population of the south side of the island intact.

• An individual goat migrates across a mountain range to a new population of goats where it breeds and produces offspring.

• A mutation results in a population of trees that spread their seeds more widely than their peers, causing their population to grow.

Individuals with type 1 diabetes have to regulate their blood sugar because their pancreas does not produce enough insulin. These individuals manage this irregularity by using insulin injections after eating a meal to compensate for what they are missing. When these injections were first developed, the insulin used was produced by cows or pigs, to be used in humans. What characteristic is one of the factors that allows insulin produced by another species to be used in human injections?

• They all share identical DNA sequences.

• They are all members of the same species.

• They are all omnivores, who can eat meat or plants.

• They all have similar genes that control insulin production

Use the passage provided to help choose the best answer:

A population of green iguanas lived on a tropical island. Originally, most of the iguanas had feet without webbing between their toes and a long rounded tail. A small amount of iguanas had webbed feet and a short, flat tail. The iguanas with webbed feet and flatter tails were better adapted to eating vegetation in aquatic environments; whereas the iguanas without webbing and rounded tails were better adapted to eating vegetation that grew on land. As the years passed, the island became smaller and smaller because of flooding. The remaining land areas became dotted with ponds and pools of water.

How would the iguanas be expected to look many years after the island flooded and food became harder to find?

• There would be fewer iguanas with webbed feet.

• The iguanas would mutate into a new species of fish.

• There would be more iguanas with webbed feet and flat tails.

• The iguanas will look the same but there will be less of them.

Clownfish are tiny, omnivorous fish that find shelter from predators in the poisonous tentacles of sea anemones. The sea anemones sting their prey to capture food, but the clownfish are not hurt by the stinging tentacles. The clownfish clean the tentacles of the sea anemone and scare off butterfly fish, which consume sea anemones.

The relationship between the sea anemone and clownfish is best described by which of the following?

• Competition

• Mutualism

• Predation

• Parasitism

Scientists struggled with classifying lesser pandas and giant pandas because they have physical similarities to both raccoons and spectacled bears. Lesser pandas were previously thought to be closely related to giant pandas. Field photographs of each organism and nucleotide differences are found below.

How has the availability of evidence affected the evolutionary classification of these organisms?

• DNA evidence has shown that the lesser panda is more closely related to the raccoon because it has the most genetic similarities.

• DNA evidence has shown that the lesser panda is more closely related to the giant panda because they live in the same environments.

• DNA evidence has shown that the giant panda is more closely related to the lesser panda because they share many genetic and physical similarities.

• DNA evidence has shown that the giant panda is more closely related to the spectacled bear because they have the most physical characteristics in common.

Eukaryotes are classified into different kingdoms based on characteristics. The table below shows four of those kingdoms and some of their characteristics.

In which kingdom would an orange tree most likely be found?

• Kingdom 1

• Kingdom 2

• Kingdom 3

• Kingdom 4

Which graph below correctly depicts how the concentration of oxygen changed from early earth to later atmosphere conditions?

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The diagram below shows the female reproductive system. Fertilization of the egg most likely occurred in which of the following structures?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4