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Theories of Evolution

Total questions: 27

Worksheet time: 33mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

When organisms are better adapted to their environment they will survive and reproduce more successfully than organisms less adapted. This process is called what?

a)

Selective breeding

b)

Natural Selection

c)

Cloning

d)

Evolution of all species

2.

Which scientist visited the Galapagos Islands and came up with the theory of natural selection?

a)

Theodor Schwann

b)

Gregor Mendel

c)

Charles Darwin

d)

Rudolf Virchow

3.

A physical or behavioral trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment is called a what?

a)

An adaptation

b)

A response to a stimulus

c)

A mutation

d)

Evolution

4.

What most likely caused the finches on the Galapagos Islands to have beaks that were different from the finches on the mainland?

a)

There were different types of predators on the island.

b)

There were different types of food available on the island.

c)

The finches had no water to drink.

d)

The finches on the mainland could not fly high enough.

5.

When looking at two birds of the same species, you notice that one has darker feathers than the other one. You also notice that one has a beak that is just a little longer. These slight differences within members of the same species are called.....

a)

Fossils

b)

Extinction

c)

Meiosis

d)

Variations

6.

What do we call a change in a species over time?

a)

Adaptation

b)

Evolution

c)

Extinction

d)

Environmental influences

7.
Which of the following is a term for a group of similar organisms that can reproduce fertile offspring?
a)
individual
b)
population
c)
species
d)
fossil
8.
Mutations are important because they bring about
a)
death of the organism in which they develop
b)
genetic variation needed for a population to evolve
c)
benefits for the individual, not for the population
d)
Hardey-Weinberg equilibrium within a population
9.
Extinction can occur because of which of the following?
a)
All can be causes of extinction.
b)
Increased competition with other species
c)
New predators within the environment
d)
Loss of habitat and/or catastrophes
10.
This scientist came up with the idea of natural selection.
a)
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
b)
Gregor Mendel
c)
Charles Darwin
d)
Thomas Malthus
11.
A remnant or trace of an organism from the past is called a _______.
a)
Ancestor
b)
Skeleton
c)
Fossil
d)
Imprints
12.

He is known for his idea that acquired characters are inheritable.

a)

A. Charles Darwin

b)

B. Jean Baptiste de Lamarck

c)

C. Albert Einstein

d)

D. Isaac Newton

13.

Which of the following statements explains Lamarck’s Theory of Use and Disuse?

a)

Body structures develop because of mutation.

b)

Body structures develop because they are not in use.

c)

Body structures develop because of competition.

d)

Body structures develop because they are used extensively.

14.

What is a gene pool?

a)

All the alleles/genes of a population.

b)

All the individuals within a population.

c)

A pool containing genes

15.

tt an example of a....

a)

Genotype

b)

Phenotype

16.

A flower's red color an example of a....

a)

Genotype

b)

Phenotype

17.
The physical characteristics of an organism.  (What you can see.)
a)
Genotype 
b)
Phenotype
18.
The economist Thomas Malthus suggested that
a)
in the human population, people die faster than babies are born.
b)
without certain checks on population size, there would soon be insufficient food for the growing human population.
c)
in the 1700s, England needed more housing.
d)
the majority of a species’ offspring die.
19.
Darwin realized that the economist Malthus’s theory of population control 
a)
applied only to humans.
b)
 could be generalized to any population of organisms.
c)
could be generalized only when populations lived in crowded conditions.
d)
explained why the number of deaths exceeded that of births.
20.
Charles Darwin’s observation that finches of different species on the Galápagos Islands have many similar physical characteristics supports the hypothesis that these finches 
 
a)
have the ability to interbreed.
have the ability to interbreed.
b)
acquired traits through use and disuse.
c)
all eat the same type of food.
d)
descended from a common ancestor.
21.

What were Darwin's 4 major finding about evolution?

a)

Millions of species alive today arose from single original

life form branching through a process known as speciation

b)

Evolutionary change was gradual

c)

Evolution is process that moves towards complexity and perfection

d)

Evolution did occur

e)

The primary mechanism for evolution is natural selection

22.

Who am I? I wrote about human populations. Darwin built off of my research and came up with the idea of natural selection.

a)

John Hutton

b)

Charles Lyell

c)

Alfred Russel Wallace

d)

John Baptiste LaMarck

e)

Thomas Malthus

23.

Who am I? My idea was called the inheritance of acquired traits. Darwin disagreed with me but did believe traits could be passed down.

a)

John Hutton

b)

Charles Lyell

c)

Alfred Russel Wallace

d)

John Baptiste LaMarck

e)

Thomas Malthus

24.

The idea that the earth is millions of years old gave Darwin the idea that evolution of species could happen.

a)

John Hutton and Charles Lyell

b)

Thomas Malthus

c)

Alfred Russel Wallace

d)

John Baptiste LaMarck

25.
_____ believed that organisms could pass down _____  characteristics 
a)
Jean Lamarck,  
b)
Georges Cuvier,  acquired 
c)
Jean Lamarck, acquired 
d)
Georges cuvier, New
26.
According to the diagram, which bird has the most similar DNA to a large tree finch?
a)
small tree finch
b)
medium tree finch
c)
large ground finch 
d)
green warbler finch
27.

Darwin proposed organisms descended from

a)

apes

b)

bacteria

c)

common ancestors

d)

other organisms

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