Download evolution practice test

Evolution Practice Quiz
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____
1.
____
The diagram above shows the arm bones of monkeys, whales, pigs, and birds...The bones show the same
basic type, arrangement, and number of bones. This picture demonstrates...
a. divergent evolution
c. adaptive radiation
b. homologous structures
d. all the answers
2. The flying squirrel of North America closely resembles the flying phalanger of Australia. They are similar in
size and have long, bushy tails and skin folds that allow them to glide through the air. The squirrel is a
placental mammal, while the phalanger is a marsupial. These close resemblances, even though genetically and
geographically separated by great distances, can best be explained by _____.
a. convergent evolution
c. spontaneous generation
b. divergent evolution
d. vestigial structures
____
3.
____
Upon close examination of the skeleton of an adult python, a pelvic girdle and leg bones can be observed.
These features are an example of _____.
a. artificial selection
c. vestigial structures
b. homologous structures
d. comparative embryology
4. Which combination of characteristics in a population would provide the greatest potential for evolutionary
change?
a. small population, few mutations
c. large population, few mutations
b. small population, many mutations
d. large population, many mutations
5. New alleles arise by
____
____
____
a. mutation.
b. migration.
c. genetic drift.
d. random mating.
e. independent assortment.
6. The theory of continental drift hypothesizes that Africa and South America slowly drifted apart after once
being a single landmass. The monkeys on the two continents, although similar, show numerous genetic
differences. Which factor is probably the most important in maintaining these differences?
a. comparative anatomy
c. geographic isolation
b. comparative embryology
d. fossil records
7.
Examine the diagram above regading changes in peppered moth populations over many generations. What is
the best scientific explanation for the changes observed in the generations of peppered moths?
a. Natural selection favored the white form c. Natual selection favored the “fitter” moth
moth in generations 2&3
form in each generation, such as the dark
form in generation 2.
b. Natural selection favored the dark form d. Natural selection did not favor either moth
moths in earlier generations, and favored
form over any of the generations
the dark form in generaton 3.
Figure 15-6
____
8. Which type of natural selection showed in Figure 15-6 favors average individuals?
a. A
c. C
b. B
d. D
____ 9. Which type of natural selection shown in Figure 15-6 would favor giraffes that need to reach the tallest
branches to eat after many generations?
a. A
c. C
b. B
d. D
____ 10. Which of the following was NOT one of Darwin's observations?
a. Most individuals have an equal chance to survive and reproduce.
b. Changes in organisms were gradual and took place over long periods of time.
c. Members of the same species may exhibit considerable variation.
d. Some characteristics are heritable and passed on to offspring.
e. Some characteristics afford their possessor a better chance of survival.
____ 11. In a certain bird species, clutch size (the number of eggs laid by a female in one breeding season) ranges
from four to eight, and the most frequent clutch size is six. This phenomenon is an example of
a. sexual selection.
b. stabilizing selection.
c. disruptive selection.
d. directional selection.
e. mutation.
____ 12.
The bird at the bottom of the diagram above in the ancestral form of all the other birds pictured. The picture
then demonstrates which important ideas of evolutionary theory?
a. anlaogous structures and convergent
c. Lamarkism and the threory of aquired
evolution
characteristics
b. birds can change their beak form in their d. homologous structures and divergent
own lifetime in order to eat different food
evolution
sources
____ 13.
Which statement below regarding the evolutionary tree for mammals pictured above is true?
a. kangaroos, whales, rats, and people share c. kangaroos are more highly adpated than
a common ancestory in the distant past
people or whales
b. Humans evolved directly from rats very
recently in term of geologic time
d. humans and rats are not more closely
related than humans and kangaroos
____ 14.
The diagram above illustrates the origins of many of the large, flightless birds of the world. Which type of
evidence for evolution does the diagram best demonstrate?
a. comaprative fossils
c. comparative embryology
b. comparative biogeography and
d. comparative biochemistry (DNA) and
reproductive isolation
amino acids sequences
____ 15.
The picture above shows the evolution of moths over time, and the formation of new moth species. Which
two important evolutionary patterns are illustrated in the picture above?
a. genetic equlibrium and natural selection
c. analogous and homologous structures
b. Lamarck vs Darwin
d. gradualism and punctuated equililibrium
____ 16.
Look at the diagram above, representing the percentage of phenotypes is a mouse population. According to
the diagram, what would the allele frequencies be assuming (B=black fur and b=brown fur and the population
consists of 100 mice)?
a. .50 B & .50 b
c. .33 B, .33b, .33 Bb
b. .80 b & .20 B
d. .40 B & .60 b
____ 17. Refering to the diagram above again, if 36% of the poplation was brown mice in 2009, and scientists found
that 67% of the population was homozygous brown a year later, what does that suggest about the fitness of
the brown allele?
a. The black allele is the fittest because it is c. The black and brown alleles are equal in
the dominant allele
terms of fitness and they are in genetic
equilibrium
b. The brown allele was favored by natural d. The black allele increased in frequency
selection and its frequency increased
because Bb and BB are both black mice
____ 18. Which of the terms below represent way that living organisms evolve on the planet Earth?
a. Natural selection
d. Genetic Drift
b. Artificial Selection
e. all the answers are correct
c. Mutations
____ 19. When checking shell color for a species of snail found only in a remote area seldom visited by humans,
scientists discovered the distribution of individuals that is shown in the graph in Figure 15-1. Based on the
information shown in the graph, the snail population is undergoing _____.
Figure 15-1
a. stabilizing selection
b. disruptive selection
c. artificial selection
d. directional selection
____ 20.
Examin the diagram above. Using the diagram and your knowledge of geolgic time, which is the correct
logical sequence for the development of life over geologic time
a. origin of the earth, animals, plants,
c. humans, rise in atmospheric oxygen,
eukaryotes, bacteria
dinosaurs
b. formation of the moon, oceans form,
d. cells with a nuceus, bacteria, humans,
bacteria, cells with a nucleus, animals
dinosaurs, oceans form
____ 21.
The picture above shows the range of two species of owl whose range is separated by a large mountian range
(Sierra Nevada) The formation of these speices from a common ancestor represents an what type of isolation?
a. temporal
c. behavioral
b. geographic
d. extinction
____ 22. Fossil evidence is one important line of evidence in supporting the theory of evolution. Yet, the fossil record
will never be “100% comlete”. Why is this?
a. Not all organisms fossilize well (they are d. Fossils are only found in sedimentary
small or have soft body parts)
rocks
b. Fossils are destroyed by geologic activity, e. all the answers are true
weathering, and erosion
c. Some fossils are in locations that are
difficult to access (deep in the Earth,
underwater, under populated areas, etc.)
____ 23.
The picture above represents the change in an invertebrate (no backbone) species over time. What is the
logical conclusion regarding the age and complexity of the fossils?
a. The oldest fossils and most complex
c. Fossils in general get more complex as
fossils are located in the uppermost layers
sedimentary rock samples get older.
of sedimentary rock
b. Fossils in all the sedimentary rock layers d. The younger fossils are in the upper layer
are likely the same relative age, and same
of sedimentary rock and they are more
absolute age from radiometric dating
complex.
____ 24.
What kind of evolutionary evidence does the diagram above picture?
a. Comparative biochemistry
d. Comparatove fossils
b. Comparative biogeography
e. Comparative plate tectonics
c. Comparative embryology
____ 25. Which statement below best sumarizes the 3 major facts and the conclusion that form the basis of Darwin’s
ideas of natural selection.
a. Organisms that are the biggest, fastest and c. Organisms can overpopulate, traits are
strogest always survive best, regardlss of
inheritable, some traits are better for
environmental conditions.
survival and reproduction, so the fittest
organisms outcompete less fit ones.
b. Species that are more recent, have more
d. Organisms that are specialized, reproduce
DNA, and do not mutate will outcompete
other species.
fast, and have traits similar to humans are
evolutionarily the best.
Evolution Practice Quiz
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ANS: D
PTS: 1
2. ANS: A
PTS: 1
DIF: B
NAT: C6 | F4 | G1
3. ANS: C
PTS: 1
DIF: B
NAT: C3 | G1 | G3 STA: 7
4. ANS: B
PTS: 1
DIF: B
NAT: C6 | F4 | G1
5. ANS: A
PTS: 1
DIF: Easy
TOP: INDIVIDUALS DON'T EVOLVE, POPULATIONS DO
6. ANS: C
PTS: 1
DIF: B
NAT: C6 | F4 | G1
7. ANS: C
PTS: 1
8. ANS: A
PTS: 1
DIF: A
NAT: C2 | C4 | G1 STA: 7a | 7b | 7c | 7d | 8a
9. ANS: B
PTS: 1
DIF: A
NAT: C2 | C4 | G1 STA: 7a | 7b | 7c | 7d | 8a
10. ANS: A
PTS: 1
DIF: Difficult
TOP: EARLY BELIEFS, CONFOUNDING DISCOVERIES
11. ANS: B
PTS: 1
DIF: Easy
TOP: NATURAL SELECTION REVISITED
12. ANS: D
PTS: 1
13. ANS: A
PTS: 1
14. ANS: B
PTS: 1
15. ANS: D
PTS: 1
16. ANS: D
PTS: 1
17. ANS: B
PTS: 1
18. ANS: E
PTS: 1
19. ANS: D
PTS: 1
DIF: B
NAT: C2 | C4 | G1 STA: 7a | 7b | 7c | 7d | 8a
20. ANS: B
PTS: 1
21. ANS: B
PTS: 1
22. ANS: E
PTS: 1
23. ANS: D
PTS: 1
24. ANS: C
PTS: 1
25. ANS: C
PTS: 1
OBJ: 15-6
OBJ: 15-3
OBJ: 15-5
OBJ: 15-5
OBJ: 15-4
OBJ: 15-4
OBJ: 15-4