Inherited vs Learned Traits Quiz

Which phrase best describes evolution?

• Development of characteristics that organisms need in response to changes in environmental conditions

• Change in populations from simple to complex organisms

• Change in populations from complex to simpler organisms

• Genetic change in populations that gives rise to new life forms from common ancestors

The tongue of frog species X is sticky and it evolved by natural selection for trapping flying insects. Other frogs have less sticky tongues. The sticky tongue of species X is an example of

• A fossil

• An adaptation

• Adaptive radiation

• A co-opted feature

Monkeys and apes have blood proteins more similar to each other than either is to the blood proteins of horses. What does this similarity suggest about monkeys and apes as compared to horses?

• Only monkeys and apes can interbreed

• Monkeys and apes live in the same habitat

• Monkeys and apes share a more recent common ancestor

• Monkeys and apes evolved at the same time

Natural selection of bird beak sizes and shapes is most likely to occur when

• The birds cooperate to find and share food.

• Many of the birds fight with one another and the physically strongest ones win.

• There is a shortage of food and so the birds must compete with one another.

• There is more than enough food to meet all the birds’ needs.

How did the different beak types first evolve in the Galapagos finches?

• Changes in beak size and shape occurred because the birds needed to be able to eat different kinds of food to survive.

• There was natural variation in the finch beak structures. When there was a fit between beak structure and available food, those birds had an increased chance for survival and reproduction.

• The environment induced mutations and genetic changes to the size and shape of the finch beaks.

• The finches’ beaks randomly changed a little bit in size and shape with each successive generation. Over time this produced a range of sizes and shapes.

What type of variation in finches is passed to their descendents?

• Behaviors that are chosen during a finch’s lifetime.

• Only characteristics that are beneficial during a finch’s lifetime.

• Characteristics that are genetically determined.

• Characteristics that are positively influenced by the environment during a finch’s lifetime.

On the Galapagos Islands, finch populations with different beak shapes and sizes became distinct species. These species were distributed on the various islands. What statement explains why they became distinct species?

• Finch populations were variable. Individuals whose features were best suited to the available food supply on each island reproduced most successfully.

• Finch populations were essentially alike. The varied environments on the islands induced genetic changes in individuals based on the available food supply.

• Individual finches on each island gradually developed the beaks they needed during their lifetime.

• Species of finches developed different beak types because they needed them to obtain food.

A change in structure, behavior, or physiology that enhances survival and reproductive success in a particular environment is called

• adaptation

• genetic drift

• mimicry

• gene flow

Which of the following can occur when a population is geographically isolated from another population?

• replication

• convergence

• speciation

• mimicry

Which statement is NOT part of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection?

• Individuals in a population of a species vary in many ways.

• Some individuals possess features that increase their probability to survive compared to individuals lacking these features.

• More offspring are produced within a population of a species than can generally survive.

• Changes in the environment cause beneficial mutations.