WorksheetsEnd of Book questions CH. 1-4
Total questions: 30
Worksheet time: 28mins
Define Biological Evolution
Any process by which populations of organisms change over time
Any change in the inherited traits of a population that occurs from one generation to the next
Change within a lineage due to natural selection and other mechanisms
All of the above are possible definitions
None of the above are appropriate
Explain why Theodosius Donzhansky said that “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”
He was an atheist
He was fascinated by the capacity for evolution to explain the diversity of life and it’s universal biological similarities
He wanted to explain the origin of life
All of the above
Why do baleen whales still have genes for building teeth
These genes are now used to make baleen
Their ancestors had teeth and they inherited these genes from them, even though the genes no longer function
Their descendants might need teeth, so evolution keeps the genes around
Evolution can take away genes, only add new ones
What makes hemagglutinin important in the evolution of influenza viruses?
It allows a virus to attack the red blood cells of its host
It is the basic building block of virus cell walls
It allows the virus to bind to the cells of its host
All of the above
Which of the following is a true statement?
The ancestors of whales needed more food than what could be found in land, so they evolved features that allowed them to survive in the water
Whales and humans share a common ancestor
Mutations always cause the improvement of a trait
Viruses mutate because they want to have the best adapted hemagglutinins throughout their evolution
Which of the following is NOT a place scientists look for evidence of evolution?
The fossil remains of extinct animals
Comparison of homologous traits in various species
Change during an individual organisms lifetime
Change in populations in the wild
Which of these statements about phenotypes is TRUE?
Individuals that adjust their phenotypes in response to their environment cannot be favored by natural selection
Natural selection does not act on phenotypes
An individuals behavior is not part of its phenotype
Most phenotypes are perfectly adapted to their environments
Why do scientists overwhelmingly accept the theory of evolution
Because the theory has overwhelming evidentiary support
Because the theory explains and predicts independent lines of evidence
Because scientists have retested its predictions
Because a scientific theory is a comprehensive explaination of many diverse observations
All of the above
What is the correct definition of homology
Common traits due to shared inheritance from a common ancestor
Common function of traits due to similar usage
Structure of limbs that are common among all mammals
All of the above
What did early scientists learn from fossils?
The earth changes
The history of an area can be found in its rocks
Organisms different from current organisms once lived on the planet
All of the above
Which of these statements is a concept found in George’s Buffon’s ideas about evolution but not in the way we understand now?
Populations can change over time
Life is divided into a number of distinct types that are not related to each other
Loving things are made of the same particles found in rocks and water
Life too more than a few thousand years to evolve
What would Jean Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin have agreed upon
One generation can pass on its traits to the next
Individual animals and plants can adapt to their environment
Life was driven from simplicity to complexity
Both a and b
What set Darwin and Wallace's concept of natural selection apart from earlier ideas of evolution?
Their concept explained why organisms were related to each other
Their concept depended on a process that is observable
Their concept depended on the inheritance of characteristics from one generation to the next
Their concept suggested that change was very gradual
Did Charles Darwin invent the theory of evolution?
Yes, "On the Origin of Species" outlines the theory of evolution as scientists understand it today
Yes, the theory of evolution is based entirely on natural selection, which was Darwin's idea
No, Natural selectiion and evolution were theories long before Darwin wrote "On the Origin of Species"
No, Darwin described a mechanism for evolutionary change, but natural selection is only a component of the theory of evolution
What evidence did Darwin use to predict the age of the Earth?
Darwin didn't predict the age of the Earth.
Darwin couldn't predict the age of the Earth, Because he didn't understand radioactive assay
Darwin used processes he could observe, such as erosion and sedimentation, to predict that the Earth must be hundreds of million years old.
It doesn't matter, because Lord Kelvin refuted Darwin's evidence
What is an isochron?
The ratio of Rubidium (Rb) to Strontium (Sr)
The half-life of an isotope
The slope of the line describing the ratio of (87 Sr) to (86 Sr)
A line on a graph of isotope ratios that indicates mineral samples formed at a similar time
which isotope would be useful for dating a fossil found in relatively recent sediments?
An Isotope with a moderately HIGH probability of decay
An isotope with a relatively LOW probability of decay
Rubidium
Strontium
How did the fossils of the Burgess Shale form?
The animals fell to the bottom of a deep lake and over thousands of years turned to rock
The animals dropped into anoxic ocean depths and were covered by fine sediment
The animals were rapidly covered by ash falling from a volcano
Both A and B
How did scientists determine that a T-rex could not run very fast?
They compared skeletal structures of T-rex to modern animals to determine the size of muscles
They used living animals to test a model they had developed on the biomechanics of running
They developed a biomechanical model of running animals to determine how much force leg muscles of a given size could generate
They used evolutionary theory to determine the most closely related living organisms to T-rex
All of the above
What independent lines of evidence have scientists used to determine the history of life on Earth?
Zircons
Behavior of living species
Oxygen Isotopes
Fossilized dung
All of the above
Which group is not considered one of the major lineages of all living organisms?
Bacteria
Microbes
Archaea
Eukarya
How can scientists determine that multicellular life arose more then once?
Animals are more closely related to single-celled eukaryotes than to fungi
Fungi can produce multiicellular structures
Bacteria live as multicellular groups called biofilms
Scientists have no idea if multicellular life arose more than once
Define Prokaryote
A descriptive grouping for microorganisms that lack membrane-bound organelles
A grouping useful in the classification of early microorganisms
A group often used instead of Archaea
A single celled eukaryote
Why is a notochord an important adaption for understanding the evolution of humans?
The development of a notochord occurred in early fish.
A notochord is a backbone
A notochord is a characteristic of chordates
A notochord serves to distinguish the Ediacaran fauna from trilobites
What allows us to know that synapsids were tetrapods?
They lived on land
They were the dominant land animals
They evolved into mammals
They had four legs that they used for walking
All of the above
Which term is not associated with treelike depictions of evolutionary histories known as phylogenies?
Node
Seed
Branch
Root
If you were looking at a phylogeny of living bird species, where could you find the name of a species of non-theropod dinosaur?
At the tip of a branch, as an outgroup.
At the root of the tree
Either a or b.
None of the above.
Which of the following is NOT a synapomorphy?
The ability to swim in dolphins and sharks.
The production of milk in humans and cats.
The ability to fly in eagles and pigeons.
All of the above are synapomorphies.
Which of the following is an example of homoplasy?
The reversion of a derived character state to its ancestral state.
The independent origin of similar traits in separate lineages.
The evolution of wings in both birds and bats.
All of the above.
Why are bird feathers considered an exaptation?
Because they are a shared derived character found in most birds.
Because they are traits that have independently evolved in separate lineages.
Because they first evolved for functions other than flight.
Because they are an evolutionary reversal to an ancestral character state.
