Evolution Review

You look at two species and see very similar amino acid sequences. What does this likely tell you?

• These are the same animal.
• These animals have a common ancestor.
• These animals are not likely related.
• These animals are likely becoming one species.

What characteristic do all the organisms on this cladogram share?

• Being bi-pedal & having language

• Complex brains

• Fully binocular vision

• Partial binocular vision & opposable thumbs

Which group of animals on this tree are most closely related to birds?

• Saurischian dinosaurs

• Ornithischian dinosaurs

• Crocodiles

• None of these are related to birds

According to this tree, which of these animal phyla are most closely related?

• Arthropoda & Mollusca

• Arthropoda & Chordata

• Chordata & Mollusca

Which of these is an example of natural selection?

• The largest animal in a population will have more opportunities for reproduction.
• Several species of organisms work together so that they all succeed.
• One species takes all the resources in an environment leaving none for others.
• Organism that are best suited to an environment tend to survive and reproduce more often.

A large herd of goats lives in a field full of poison ivy.  Some goats are able to eat the poison ivy while others have become sick when they eat it. Over time the herd as a whole will tend to

• Become more likely to eat poison ivy.
• Become less likely to eat poison ivy.
• Not change in the proportion of goats that can and can not eat poison ivy.
• Eat all the poison ivy and leave only plants all the goats can eat.

Over time, the climate of an island became drier, which resulted in changes to the populations of various island finch species. Finch populations with a certain beak shape thrived, while those not having that beak shape decreased. Which of the following describes a necessary condition for these changes in the finch populations to occur?

• fewer mutations
• limited food resources
• limited beak variations
• overproduction of offspring

Mutations within a DNA sequence are

• natural processes that produce genetic diversity
• natural processes that always affect the phenotype
• unnatural processes that always affect the phenotype
• unnatural processes that are harmful to genetic diversity

A small population of chimpanzees lives in a habitat that undergoes no changes for a long period. How will genetic drift probably affect this population?

• It will accelerate the appearance of new traits.
• It will promote the survival of chimpanzees with beneficial traits.
• It will increase the number of alleles for specific traits.
  
•  It will reduce genetic diversity.

A small portion of the population that is geographically isolated from the rest of the population runs the risk of decreased.

• genetic drift
• mutation rate
• natural selection
• genetic variation