Natural selection

What is most likely to happen to moth populations in the picture shown?

• Light moths--hunted easily, dark moths--population increase

• Dark moths--hunted easily, dark moths--population increase

• Light moths--hunted easily, light moths--population increase

• Lights moths will change their color to match dark moths.

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Why are advantageous traits more likely to be passed onto offspring?

• Because they are more likely to survive and reproduce.
• Because they come from dominant alleles.
• Because they come from recessive alleles.
• Because the trait is an acquired phenotype.

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Which organisms are most likely to survive?

• the best adapted
• the fastest
• the strongest
• the most domesticated (tamed)

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Why is the mouse population changing over time?

• The light mice can reproduce more successfully than the dark mice
• The hawks eat more dark mice than light mice because the dark mice taste better
• The hawks eat more light mice than dark mice because they can see the light mice more easily
• The hawks eat more dark mice than light mice because they can see the dark mice more easily

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Definition: adaptation

• inherited characteristic that increases chances of survival
• organisms with traits well suited to their environment survive and reproduce at a greater rate
• a growing population causes a scarcity of resources
• differences in the DNA sequence

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Definition: natural selection

• inherited characteristic that increases chances of survival
• organisms with traits well suited to their environment survive and reproduce at a greater rate
• a growing population causes a scarcity of resources
• differences in the DNA sequence

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Definition: fitness

• ability to survive and reproduce in a specific environment
• organisms with traits well suited to their environment survive and reproduce at a greater rate
• a growing population causes a scarcity of resources
• differences in the DNA sequence

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Darwin observed many finch species on the Galapagos Islands. To explain these observations, he

proposed that each species evolved from the same common ancestor, which was a finch species

that migrated to the islands from the mainland. What additional evidence did Darwin use to support

his explanation?

• The finch populations were very numerous, and different species often bred with one another.

• The finch species lived in different habitats on different islands, which isolated them from one another.

• The finch species were distributed evenly among all of the islands, but did not interbreed.

• The beaks of the finches were identical, allowing them to eat the same foods on any of the islands.

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A population of rabbits grows rapidly from one year to the next. Then one year, a disease strikes approximately one fourth of the adult rabbits. The disease remains with the population in the years that follow.

As explained by Darwin’s theory, which of these conditions allows the rabbit population to evolve by natural selection?

• The disease affects adult and juvenile rabbits equally.

• The disease reduces the ability of the rabbits to reproduce.

• Some rabbits are resistant to the disease, and they pass the resistance to their offspring.

• No rabbits are resistant to the disease, and all die when the disease strikes them.

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Which of the following is a situation that could cause evolutionary change that is NOT due to natural selection?

• A volcano erupts and kills many individuals in a population.

• A mutation produces sea stars that are less visible to predators.

• An insecticide is sprayed in a community to combat mosquitoes.

• Cattle are treated with antibiotics to prevent the spread of infections.

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