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WorksheetsEarth History and Evolution
Total questions: 11
Worksheet time: 7mins
Scientists are analyzing a recently unearthed fossil using radiometric dating techniques. Twenty-five percent of the original uranium-235 in the sample has decayed into lead-207.
Scientists determine that the fossil is MOST likely from which Paleozoic period?
Permian
Devonian
Devonian
Cambrian
A geologist uncovered a fossil while digging in the side of a hill. He hypothesized that it was MOST likely from the end of the Paleozoic era or the beginning of the Mesozoic era.
How old would the fossil have to be dated in order to support his hypothesis?
100 million years old
225 million years old
400 million years old
550 million years old
The diagram shows layers of rock, A, B, C, D, and igneous intrusion E.
A, B, C, D, and E MOST likely formed in which sequence?
First→ → →Last
D C B E A
First→ → →Last
A B C D E
First→ → →Last
E D C B A
First→ → →Last
A E B C D
A complete fossil has been found of a type of bird that cannot be identified. What can MOST likely be determined about the bird from the fossil?
Standard(s)
The bird lived for a very short time.
The bird lived in a dry environment.
The bird existed at one time but is now extinct.
The bird was not well preserved during the process of fossilization.
A fossil discovered in Colorado dates from the early Mesozoic era. A year later a similar fossil is found in Wyoming that also dates from the early Mesozoic era. These two organisms most likely lived in
the same environment at about the same time.
the same environment at different times.
different environments at about the same time.
different environments at different times.
Scientists studied the taxonomic relationship between two lizard species living on the sides of a canyon. One species had long toes and one had short toes, but they were alike in most other ways. The table shows what the scientists found.
sunny side- / shady side-
long-toed- yes / long-toed- no
fossil long-toed- yes / fossil long-toed- yes
short-toed- no / short-toed- yes
fossil short toed- no / fossil short-toed- no
What is the MOST likely reason for these findings?
Short-toed lizards evolved from long-toed lizards on the shady side of the canyon.
Short-toed lizards evolved from long-toed lizards on the sunny side of the canyon.
Long-toed lizards evolved from short-toed lizards on the shady side of the canyon.
Long-toed lizards evolved from short-toed lizards on the sunny side of the canyon.
How are organisms classified as Eukarya different from organisms classified as Archaea and Bacteria?
They are all multicellular.
They all reproduce sexually.
They all produce their own food.
They all have membrane-bound nuclei.
This diagram represents a classification of living organisms.
Which word is the BEST title for this diagram?
Phyla
Classes
Families
Domains
Charles Darwin made famous observations of finches on islands in the Pacific Ocean. The birds were believed to have come all from one population, but when separated on the islands with differing habitats, the birds changed. The beaks of the birds on islands with lots of seeds were different from the beaks of the birds on islands with lots of insects. How did their beaks come to match the food in their environments so well?
The birds migrated to the island with the right food supply for their beaks.
The food supply on the islands changed to match the birds’ beaks.
The predators on the islands eliminated the birds with the “wrong” beaks.
The birds with the “right” beaks for the food supply had more young.
Which of these adaptations is LEAST important for human survival?
having thumbs
eye color
walking upright
developing language
Scientists estimate that whaling activity in the 19th and early 20th centuries had reduced the number of adult female southern right whales to as few as sixty individuals by 1920. This reduction resulted in a genetic bottleneck for the species.
Treaties to stop whaling have substantially increased the number of southern right whales. Despite this increase, the bottleneck still threatens the future of the species. Which capacity of the species is MOST severely diminished by the bottleneck?
remaining genetically stable
maintaining a healthy social structure
acquiring random mutations
responding to environmental changes
