Mechanisms of Evolution

Males of the bighorn sheep species fight one another to show females who is the dominant male and are more likely to mate with females.

• Natural Selection

• Mutation

• Genetic Drift

• Non-Random Mating

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During a hurricane, a population of beetles almost gets completely wiped out. The only beetles that survived were lucky that they were in their nest at the time of the hurricane and had enough food to survive.

• Natural selection

• Genetic Drift

• Gene Flow

• Non-Random Mating

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Insects become resistant to pesticides very quickly, sometime in one generation. If an insect is resistant to the chemical, most of the offspring will also be resistant. Considering that insect generations can be a matter of weeks, insects in an area can become immune to a chemical within months.

• Mutation

• Natural Selection

• Genetic Drift

• Gene Flow

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A chemical spill causes the offspring of ladybugs to have blue dots instead of black dots.

• Natural Selection

• Genetic Drift

• Mutation

• Gene Flow

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The country of Sweden is known for having people with blonde hair and blue eyes. One day a family moves from Sweden to India where dark hair and dark eyes are very common. A female from Sweden marries a male from India and their offspring now have blonde hair and blue eyed traits.

• Natural Selection

• Mutation

• Non-Random Mating

• Gene Flow

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Some organisms of a population of birds are born with extra-long beaks instead of a normal sized beak.

• Gene Flow

• Natural Selection

• Genetic Drift

• Mutation

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In a habitat there are red bugs and green bugs. The birds prefer the taste of the red bugs, so soon there are many green bugs and few red bugs. The green bugs reproduce and make more green bugs and eventually there are no more red bugs

• Genetic Drift

• Natural Selection

• Gene Flow

• Mutation

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Which combination of characteristics in a population would provide the greatest potential for evolutionary change?

• Small population, low mutations rates

• Large population, low mutation rates

• Small population, high mutation rates

• Large population, high mutation rates

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Genetic drift and Gene Flow are more likely to have a large effect on...

• small populations

• large, diverse populations

• aquatic populations

• terrestrial populations

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A forest fire in Australia kills many members of the Koala population causing a drastic reduction in the Koala population. The current Koala populations have very little genetic diversity. Which of the following statements is true?  

• Due to behavioral isolation, koalas in current populations are no longer able to successfully breed with other species

• Due to genetic drift, koalas in current populations are less likely to be able to adapt to environmental changes.

• Due to the founder effect, koalas in current populations are less likely to inbreed.

• Due to natural selection, the koalas in current populations are more resistant to new diseases.

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