Quiz on Evolution

What is evolution?

• A process where species remain the same over time

• A process by which a species changes over time through genetic variation and natural selection

• The ability of organisms to choose their own traits

• A random event that happens to all species every few generations

Who is credited with the theory of evolution?

• Jean-Baptiste Lamark

• Alfred Russel Wallace

• Charles Darwin

• Thomas Malthus

What does natural selection mean?

• Organisms randomly develop traits

• Organisms with traits that help them survive and reproduce pass on these traits to future generations

• Traits are acquired during an organism’s lifetime and passed to offspring

• Species change due to human intervention

What was Jean-Baptiste Lamark’s idea about evolution?

• Evolution happened through natural selection

• Traits acquired during an organism’s lifetime could be passed to offspring

• Evolution did not occur

• Evolution happened instantly in a single generation

Which example represents Lamark’s idea of evolution?

• Giraffes with naturally longer necks survive better and pass on their genes

• Giraffes stretch their necks, making them longer, and then their children are born with longer necks

• Giraffes with shorter necks are removed by humans

• Giraffes randomly develop longer necks at birth

What did Thomas Malthus write about?

• Natural selection

• The Earth’s age

• Overpopulation and population limits

• The inheritance of acquired traits

How did Malthus influence Darwin?

• Malthus showed that natural disasters drive evolution

• Malthus’s ideas on overpopulation helped Darwin understand how competition for resources affects survival

• Malthus’s work proved evolution does not occur

• Darwin was not aware of Malthus’s work

What did Charles Lyell contribute to evolutionary theory?

• He showed the Earth was much older than previously thought

• He proposed the idea of natural selection

• He proved organisms do not change over time

• He studied finches in the Galapagos

What observations did Darwin make in the Galapagos Islands?

• All species on the islands were identical

• Each species on different islands was unique but related

• The animals on the islands were unrelated to each other

• Every species evolved separately from all others

What differences did Darwin notice in Galapagos finches and tortoises?

• They were all identical across the islands

• Their beak and shell shapes were suited to their environment

• They all had the same diet

• They had randomly changing features with no adaptation