Evolutionary Biology Quiz

Why do some scientists believe that RNA, rather than DNA, was the first genetic material?

• RNA has both information storage and catalytic properties.

• RNA contains uracil in place of thymine.

• RNA could have evolved into DNA.

• RNA can replicate more accurately than DNA.

• All the proto-cells on early Earth contained RNA.

Which of the following statements concerning the evolutionary origin of mammals is most likely true?

• Radiometric dating using carbon-14 shows that synapsids existed 300 million years ago.

• The origin of mammals cannot be known because the fossil record is incomplete.

• Mammalian lower jaw bones and teeth changed gradually over time.

• Modern mammals and reptiles are descendants of synapsids.

What features might we expect the mitochondria and chloroplasts in eukaryotic cells to contain if these organelles were the result of endosymbiosis of bacterial cells?

• plasma membrane, DNA, and ribosomes

• plasma membrane, nucleus, and ribosomes

• nucleus, DNA, and ribosomes

• plasma membrane, nucleus, and cilia

• nucleus, ribosomes, and cilia

Photosynthetic eukaryotes contain both mitochondria and chloroplasts. Which sequence of events most likely describes the evolution of this group?

• Ancestral anaerobic prokaryote engulfs a photosynthetic prokaryote and then engulfs an aerobic heterotrophic prokaryote.

• Ancestral anaerobic prokaryote engulfs an aerobic heterotrophic prokaryote and then engulfs a photosynthetic prokaryote.

• Ancestral anaerobic prokaryote engulfs an anaerobic heterotrophic prokaryote and then engulfs a photosynthetic prokaryote.

• Ancestral anaerobic prokaryote engulfs a photosynthetic prokaryote and then engulfs an anaerobic heterotrophic prokaryote.

Which of the following organelles likely originated from endosymbiosis?

• nuclear membrane and Golgi apparatus

• ER and chloroplasts

• chloroplasts and mitochondria

• mitochondria and Golgi apparatus

How many mass extinction events have been documented in the fossil record over the past 500 million years?

• two

• three

• four

• five

According to geological evidence, which event may have triggered the Permian mass extinction?

• an asteroid or comet impact off the coast of Yucatan, Mexico

• global cooling caused by a series of ice ages

• global cooling caused by volcanic eruptions

• global warming caused by volcanic eruptions

A species of bird finds its way to the Galápagos Islands, where there are several ecological niches. This species evolves into many new species to fill all the unfilled niches. This is an example of

• resource partitioning

• adaptive radiation

• endosymbiosis

• gradualism

Which of the following best explains the loss of ventral spines in three spine stickleback fish?

• paedomorphosis

• duplication of the Pitx1 gene

• changes in the Pitx1 gene sequence

• changes in the regulatory sequences of the Pitx1 gene

Based on the graph below, how many new species of snails with nonplanktonic larvae arose between 50 and 35 million years ago?

• 5 species

• 8 species

• 21 species

• 26 species