WorksheetsBiology - Unit 6 Evolution
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 11mins
Modern classification (grouping organisms based on similarities and differences) is mainly based on...
Genetics
The fossil record
Analogous structures
Homologous structures
How does the replication of viruses differ from bacterial reproduction?
Viruses replicate by binary fission.
Viruses replicate using a host.
Viruses replicate asexually.
Viruses replicate sexually.
Which characteristic must a population have in order for natural selection to occur?
Partial survival of a catastrophic event
Reproductive isolation
Geographic isolation
Variety
Using this cladogram, which of the following plant characteristics would you expect to see in a pine tree?
Flowers, xylem and phloem
Xylem and phloem, embryo, wood and seeds
Wood, xylem and phloem, flowers, and seeds
Embryo, xylem and phloem, wood and flowers
To determine the evolutionary history and relationships among organisms, scientists gather evidence from a wide variety of sources including fossil evidence, comparative anatomy, and molecular biology. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from this phylogenetic tree?
Cnidaria and Mollusca are more closely related than Echinodermata and Chordata.
Annelida and Platyhelminthes are more closely related than Annelida and Mollusca.
Platyhelminthes and Nematoda are more closely related than Nematoda and Arthropoda.
Chordata and Echinodermata are more closely related than Arthropoda and Echinodermata
Which of the following conclusions is best supported by this phylogenetic tree?
Brown bear DNA shares more similarities with the American black bear than with the spectacled bear.
The short-faced bear was the most recent common ancestor of the Asiatic black bear.
All modern bears evolved from the Ursus minimus species that is now extinct.
There are less present-day bear species than extinct bear species.
Geographic isolation caused the separation of rainforest frog populations into a population in the north and a population in the south. The separated populations later reconnected. When frogs from the north mated with frogs from the south, the offspring failed to develop past the tadpole stage. Which claim is best supported by this evidence?
The two populations developed into new species.
The two populations mated with other species of frogs.
The two populations began a new method of reproduction.
The two populations had fewer offspring than before the separation.
Scientists noticed that different lizard species – all of which live on twigs – have a similar body type. The body type is thin with short legs, probably to help the lizard look more like a twig. However, when they conducted a DNA analysis on these different species of twig-dwelling lizards, they found that the lizards have less in common with each other than they do with lizards that live on leaves or on the ground and that look very different from them. Which of these conclusions is best supported by the findings?
A species of twig-dwelling anoles developed on one island, and then descendants spread out to other islands.
The twig-dwelling lizards are much better adapted to their environment than the leaf- and ground-dwelling lizards.
The twig-dwelling lizards evolved similar traits because of similar environmental needs despite being only distantly related to each other.
All of the above are supported.
This graph shows the number of differences in the amino acids of the hemoglobin protein in different organisms. What inference can be made from the data in the graph?
Rhesus monkeys and mice do not share a common ancestor.
Hemoglobin is more important to frogs than to other organisms.
Humans are more similar to mice and monkeys than they are to chickens.
Amino acids are the building blocks of hemoglobin in all organisms except humans.
Which argument about chloroplasts best supports endosymbiotic theory?
They are able to convert the sun’s energy into chemical energy but receive other necessary molecules from the cells they reside in. They therefore have a mutualistic relationship with their plant cells.
They are smaller than the eukaryotic cells in which they reside and so could have been engulfed by or absorbed into eukaryotic cells early in evolutionary history.
They have many of the structures necessary and can perform many of the processes necessary for maintaining independent life outside of eukaryotic cells.
They have the ability to maintain energy, which is a requirement for independent life.
A team of scientists studying ocean life discover a new organism with the following characteristics:
· It doesn’t have a nucleus.
· It has a cell wall.
· Its cell membrane is a monolayer.
· It gets its energy from light.
The team decides to classify the organism as an archaeon (singular of the word “archaea”). Which argument best supports their conclusion that the organism is an archaeon?
The fact that it has a monolayered cell membrane indicates that it is more different from plants and animals than bacteria are, and the archaea domain is the domain that is most different from plants and animals.
The ability to obtain energy from light only exists in plants and archaea, and the organism can’t be a plant because plant cells have nuclei.
Only plants and archaea have cell walls, and the organism can’t be a plant because plant cells have nuclei.
Monolayered cell membranes protect cells from harsh/extreme environments.
Of the hypothetical (not real) discoveries listed below, which one would contradict the theory of a universal common ancestor?
The discovery of genes in populations of organisms that originate in viruses.
The discovery of new amino acids that scientists didn’t know organisms on Earth made.
The discovery of an alien lifeform from a distant galaxy (no interaction with Earth) that has DNA and produces many of the amino acids that Earth organisms produce.
The discovery of genes that transferred between domains after they had separated into very different lifeforms (for example, genes that transferred from archaea to bacteria to eukaryotes).
Some antibacterial medicines work by disrupting processes in bacteria that do not occur in human cells, such as the production of folic acid. Both bacteria and humans need folic acid for DNA replication. These antibacterial medicines do not kill viruses. Which statement below best explains the difference between viruses and organisms described here?
Living things engage in a form of replication that requires nutrients. Viruses have no need for folic acid because their DNA can be replicated without nutrients.
Living things must have their DNA replicated. Viruses have no need for folic acid because their DNA can’t be replicated.
Living things are able to replicate their DNA on their own. Viruses have no need for folic acid because they cannot replicate DNA on their own.
Living things must have DNA. Viruses have no need for folic acid because they don’t contain DNA.
Approximately 65 million years ago, there was a mass extinction that killed most of the dinosaurs. Mammals lived at the same time as dinosaurs, but the mass extinction didn’t kill them. Instead, mammals flourished (increased in number dramatically). Many researchers who study the extinction event believe it was caused by a very large meteor hitting the Earth. Based on the data provided here, what is the most likely explanation for why dinosaurs died but mammals survived?
Debris from the meteor made flying impossible
The impact somehow caused the Earth to heat up or cool down.
Eggs were more vulnerable to falling meteor debris than live young were.
Gasses released by the meteor caused animals’ milk to have high levels of toxicity.
A group of herbivores gets geographically separated onto an island that is different from their original habitat. On this island, there are many more predators and no trees. The only places to hide are under shrubs/bushes and in underground holes. Which graph represents how this population will likely change over time?
