Download Evolution Practice Questions

Practice Questions – Natural Selection and Other Causes of Evolution
1. What evolves through natural selection?
A. Individual organisms
C. Both
B. Populations
D. Neither
2. A population of crabs living on a sandy beach exhibit three phenotypes: dark
brown, light brown, and speckled as shown. The speckled crabs are
camouflaged, blending in extremely well with the color of the sand on the
beach. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the information
above?
A. Only speckled crabs will survive, and all of their offspring will be speckled.
B. The allele for light brown will be lost because of predatory birds eating light
brown crabs.
C. The allele for dark brown color will be lost because of predatory birds eating
dark brown crabs.
D. Both the light brown and dark brown alleles will decrease in number, and the
speckled alleles will increase
3. All of the following cause biological evolution. However, the only evolutionary
mechanism that produces an adaptive advantage in a population is _. (CBA-3)
A. Genetic Drift
C. Mutation
B. Gene Flow
D. Natural selection
4. Darwin’s theory of evolution did not contain the observation that _____.
A. genetic variations occur on factors that occur in pairs and separate during
gamete formation
B. organisms that are best adapted to their environment survive are best
adapted to their environment
C. population sizes remain constant due to a struggle for survival
D. favorable traits are passed from one generation to another
5. When the insecticide DDT was first introduced, it was highly effective. What is
the most likely reason DDT became less effective as an insecticide? (CBA-3)
A. Biological magnification decreased the number of insect predators.
B. Changes in the types of crops grown caused changes in the types of pests
C. Insects resistant to DDT survived and reproduced successfully
D. Rain caused DDT to be washed away in water runoff.
6. It is noticed that a species of moth varies in color from dark to light. In a certain
area where tree bark is dark, birds tend to prey on light colored moths more
often than on the darker phenotype. Which of the following is a reasonable
conclusion?
A. The light moths are more likely to lay eggs on trees with light bark.
B. The light moths have a better chance of surviving than the dark moths.
C. More of the light moths will survive once the dark moths have evolved.
D. More of the dark moths will survive to pass on their traits to their offspring
7. Which best illustrates gene flow?
A. A flock migrating geese enters into a territory of another flock and begin to
interbreed.
B. A flock of geese becomes isolated on an island, and over time, the population
begins to exhibit new characteristics.
C. Individuals in a flock of geese have genes that are more advantageous, and
over time, the numbers of these geese increase.
D. A flock of migrating geese loses its way to its wintering grounds, leaving
other geese without competition for resources and enabling those geese to
produce more offspring.
8. What affect does natural selection have on the variation of a species?
A. It increases it
C. It has random effects on it
B. It decreases it
D. It has not effect on it?
9. The model shown is a demonstration a student prepared using black and white
marbles to show how populations of organisms can change. Which concept is
best illustrated by this demonstration? (CBA-3)
A. Genetic Mutations
B. Gene Flow from one habitat to another
C. Selective Breeding in different niches
D. Genetic drift
10. Which theory is best illustrated by the flow chart shown?
A. Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium
B. Theory of Common Descent
C. Theory of Acquired Characteristics
D. Theory of Natural Selection
11. _____ selection favors one extreme phenotype over another in a population.
An example of this is when the dark peppered moths, Biston betularia, were
favored during the Industrial Revolution in England.
A. Diversifying
B. Stabilizing
C. Directional
Practice Questions – Common Descent and Evidences
12. Birds and reptiles are similar in that they are vertebrates and lay eggs. They
differ in that reptiles have teeth, and birds have beaks. Some birds do possess
teeth; however, these teeth are present only in the embryonic stage. What
conclusion is best supported by the presence of teeth in bird embryos? (CBA-3)
A. Birds and reptiles share a common ancestor.
B. Modern reptiles are the ancestors of modern birds.
C. Birds and reptiles eat similar types of food.
D. Ancestors of reptiles had beaks similar to those of birds.
13. A flock of one species of bird arrives on a group of sparsely populated islands.
With little or no competition, different species of birds evolve from the original
species. Each species is adapted to a different available niche. This is an example
of ___
A. Adaptive Radiation
B. Convergent evolution
C. Punctuated equilibrium
D. Gene flow
When comparing amino acid differences in Cytochrome C among several groups of
animals, these data were found. Use this data to answer the next two questions.
14. Which animals are the most different?
A. Tuna and man
B. Tuna and moth
C. Moth and turtle
D. Moth and man
15. Which groups diverged the most recently?
A. Moth and tuna
C. Monkey and man
B. Turtle and chicken
D. Dog and monkey
16. A pattern of evolution that results when unrelated
species begin to appear similar because of
environmental conditions or selective pressures is ___.
A. Divergent evolution
B. Convergent evolution
C. Adaptive radiation
D. Directional selection
17. Which structures would be considered to be homologous?
A. The arm of a starfish and the foreleg of a horse
B. The jointed leg of a grasshopper and the leg of a human
C. The wing of a bird and the flipper of a whale
D. The wing of a bat and a butterfly
18. Thousands of years ago, a large flock of hawks was driven from its normal
migratory route by a severe storm. The birds scattered and found shelter on two
distant islands, as shown on the map below. The environment of island A is very
similar to the hawks’ original nesting region. The environment of island B is very
different from that of island A. The hawks have survived on these islands to the
present day with no migration between the populations. Which statement most
accurately predicts the present-day conditions of these island hawk populations?
(CBA-3)
A. The hawks on island A have given rise to many new species.
B. The hawks that landed on island A have evolved more than those on island B.
C. The hawks that landed on island B have evolved more than those on island A.
D. The populations on islands A and B have undergone identical environmental
stressors.
19. A cross section of rock layers is shown below.
Which fossil is found in the oldest layer?
A. Dinosaur
B. Fish
C. Shell
D. Leaf
20. The presence of gill-like slits in a human embryo is considered to be evidence
for the ___
A. Theory that fish and mammals have a common ancestry
B. Theory that the first organisms on Earth were heterotrophs
C. Close relationship between fish and mammalian reproductive patterns
D. Close relationship between humans and annelids
21. Which population has the best chance of surviving in the environmental
conditions change?
A. Species A
B. Species B
C. Species C
D. Species D
22. The drawings to the right show skulls of three
modern animals. The three skulls all share
characteristics with a fossil skull of an extinct seal
(not shown) that is believed to be 23 million years
old. What conclusion can be drawn about the
relationship between the three modern animals
and the fossil?
A. They are all the same species.
B. They are share a common ancestor.
C. They share the same food supply.
D. They are all 23 million years old.