Natural Selection Quiz

Earth has experienced several ice ages. Which types of organisms would natural selection most likely favor if Earth had another ice age?

• organisms that swim

• organisms that are predators

• organisms that carry out photosynthesis

• organisms adapted for surviving cold temperatures

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Which of the following best characterizes natural selection?

• Faced with an environment in which leaves grew only at the tops of short trees, giraffes responded by growing long necks.

• Only giraffes with long necks moved into an environment where leaves grew only at the tops of short trees.

• The necks of giraffes that did not eat leaves from the tops of short trees grew shorter from lack of exercise.

• Among a population of giraffes, those with long necks were able to survive better in an environment in which leaves grew only at the tops of short trees.

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Which of the following is required for natural selection to occur?

• All individuals of a population must be identical.

• There must be a small number of individuals in a population.

• There must be variation among the members of a population.

• A population of individuals must be forced out of their natural habitat.

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Most of the moths in a pre-industrialized area were white. Industrialization caused an increase in air pollution. The pollution blackened the surface of rocks and tree trunks. About 100 years later, most of the moths in that area were black. This change in moth color is an example of what?

• Genetic drift

• Natural selection

• Artificial selection

• Mutation

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Which of the following is NOT one of the main principles of Darwin’s theory of natural selection?

• Organisms will pass traits to their offspring according to a concept known as descent with modification.

• Organisms will compete for resources in a given environment.

• Organisms with characteristics most suited to their environments will survive.

• Organisms will produce only as many offspring as will survive.

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Many fish move in groups called schools. Schooling is a behavioral adaptation that makes the fish resemble a larger animal. Which of the following is the most likely reason for this adaptation?

• The food supply is limited.

• It helps them avoid being eaten by predators.

• It helps them survive the changing water temperature.

• They must compete for mates.

A mutation has increased the ability of a bird to catch and eat certain insects. Which of these is the most likely outcome of this mutation?

• The insects that are eaten by this bird will become extinct.

• All birds with short beaks will die.

• Other bird species will be more likely to also develop pointed beaks in order to compete.

• Individual birds with the mutation will be more likely to survive and reproduce.

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Farmer Fran sprays her sugarcane field with a highly effective pesticide called “Bayou Bug Blast.” For five years, the pesticide works well. However, during the 6th year, some of the crop takes a hit. During the 7th year, she loses half of her crop, and during the 8th year, she loses almost the entire cane field to Bayou weevils, despite using twice the usual dose of Bayou Bug Blast. Which of the following best explains Farmer Fran’s situation?

• The sugarcane became used to the pesticide, rendering it ineffective.

• Over time, the weevils became resistant to the “Bayou Bug Blast.”

• Bayou weevils over-populated because the Bayou Bug Blast killed all of the predatory insects.

• A small population of weevils survived on other food sources and returned to the sugarcane field to feed.

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A bacterial population is treated with an antibiotic. Because of variation in the population of bacteria, what is a possible outcome of the treatment?

• The bacterial population will increase rapidly.

• All of the bacterial population will be resistant to the antibiotic.

• The bacterial population will be better able to obtain a food source.

• Some of the bacterial population may be resistant to the antibiotic and survive.

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During his visit to the Galapagos Islands in 1831, Charles Darwin observed that the beaks of finches varied from one island to another. What was Darwin's conclusion about these differences in beak shapes?

• The beak shapes changed randomly over time without any specific reason.

• The differences in beak shapes were due to the varying food sources available on each island.

• Finches with larger beaks were more aggressive and dominated the islands.

• Beak shapes were influenced by the climate conditions on each island.

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