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Evolution Exam
Part I: Fill in the blank. Write the correct answer on the answer sheet. 1 point each.
1. 2 different woodpeckers are from the same ________________ because they are similar organisms that can
mate with each other and produce fertile offspring.
2. The arm of a human and the wing of a bird are __________________structures because they are similar in
structure and were inherited form a common ancestor.
3. Camouflage is an _______________because it is a trait that can help an organism survive and reproduce.
4. Evolution occurs by the process of ________________, in which individuals that are better adapted to their
environment are more likely to survive.
5. One major piece of evidence for evolution is the ancient remains of organisms called _________that show
scientists how organisms have changed over time.
6.
The gradual change in a population over time is called _____________
Part II Directions: Multiple Choice. Choose the best answer for the following questions and mark it on your answer
sheet. 1 point each.
7.
According to Darwin, evolution occurs
a. In response to use or disuse of a characteristic
b. Because of catastrophic geologic events
c. By natural selection
d. Within an individual’s lifetime
8.
The traits of individuals best adapted to survive become more common in each new generation because
a. Offspring do not inherit those traits
b. The adaptations responsible for those traits increase through natural selection
c. Those individuals do not breed
d. Natural selection does not affect well-adapted individuals
9.
Natural selection causes
a. Changes in the environment
b. Plants and animals to produce more offspring than can survive
c. Changes in the frequency of certain adaptations in a population
d. Genetic variation within populations
10. The similarity in the body shape of a whale and a fish is an example of
a. Divergent evolution
b. Convergent evolution
c. Coevolution
d. Vestigial structures
11. Which of the following must exist in a population in order for natural selection to act?
a. Genetic variation
b. Overproduction
c. Struggle for survival
d. All of the above
12. Darwin proposed that over a long period of time on the Galapagos Islands
a. Natural selection can lead to changes in the population
b. Fossils will disappear
c. Organisms will increase in number
d. Variation will be eliminated from the populations
13. Which scientists helped Darwin gain evidence for his theory based on how old the Earth is?
a. Lamarck
b. Lyell
c. Malthus
d. Hobbs
Refer to the diagram below to answer questions 10 and 11.
14. The bones above are known as
a. Vestigial structures
b. Divergent structures
c. Homologous structures
d. Analogous structures
15. The similarity of these structures suggests that the organisms
a. Have a common ancestor
b. Have different ancestors
c. No longer use these structures
d. Live in the same kind of environment.
16. The scientist who proposed that individuals could pass on traits acquired during their lifetime was
a. Jean Baptiste Lamarck
b. Charles Darwin
c. Charles Lyell
d. Malthus
17. Wisdom teeth, the appendix and our tail bone are all examples of
a. Vertebral structures
b. Convergent structures
c. Vestigial structures
d. Analogous structures
18. Analogous features
a. Look different and have dissimilar embryological origins
b. Look similar but have dissimilar embryological origins
c. Look similar and have similar embryological origins
d. Look different but have similar embryological origins.
19. In terms of fitness crickets are reproductively successful if
a. They are sneaky
b. They have a good mating song
c. They are strong
d. All of the above
e. A and B
20. The pattern of evolution that is usually a response to different habitats is
a. Divergent evolution
b. Coevolution
c. Convergent evolution
d. Not enough information
21. Some members of a Northern fish population find resources on the Southern end of the lake. They eventually only eat
those resources in the Southern end and fail to reproduce with the original population of fish. This is an example of
a. Sympatric speciation
b. Allopatric speciation
c. Structural isolation
d. None of the above
22. In order to be considered an evolutionarily favorable trait for an organism, a trait must increase the individual’s
a. Likelihood of becoming fossilized
b. Success at leaving healthy offspring
c. Food intake
d. Range of suitable habitats
23. Darwin observed that the Hood Island Tortoise had a much longer neck than tortoises on the other islands. This is
most likely due to an environment in which there was
a. An abundance of vegetation on Hood Island
b. A sparse (small) amount of vegetation that was only found up high
c. A large diversity of organisms
d. A very small diversity of organisms
24. The type of selection that eliminates one extreme from a range of phenotypes is called
a. Directional selection
b. Disruptive selection
Distribution of Shell color
c. Natural selection
d. Stabilizing selection
25. In the graph (RIGHT) what type of selection is being illustrated?
a. Stabilizing selection
b. Directional selection
c. Disruptive selection
d. Natural selection
26. What trait(s) are being selected for in the diagram?
a. Medium sized shells
b. Light colored and dark colored shells
c. Medium colored shells
d. Only large shells
27. The birth weight of humans is an example of
a. Stabilizing selection
b. Directional selection
c. Disruptive selection
d. Natural selection
28. Reproductive isolation can result in
a. Allopatric speciation
b. Sympatric speciation
c. Both A and B depending on the circumstances
d. Reproductive isolation cannot result in speciation.
29. According to the biological species concept organisms are separate species if
a. They fail to produce fertile offspring
b. They have differing anatomical structures
c. They diverged from a common ancestor
d. They do not share over 95% of their DNA
30. What is the “fuel” for evolution?
a. Homologous chromosomes
b. Predation
c. The environment
d. Random changes in DNA
e. All of the above
31. Whales’ most recent ancestor that was land dwelling resembled a
a. Bear
b. Wolf
c. Fish
d. Lizard
32. All life originated
a. On land
b. In water
c. On land and water simultaneously
d. We are not able to tell from the fossil record
33. What evidence tells us that fish and whales are not related by a recent common ancestor?
a. They both have stream lined bodies to swim in the water
b. They swim differently, fish swimming side to side and mammals swimming up and down
c. Whales are mammals and fish are not
d. Both b and c
e. All of the above
34. It is estimated that the big bang occurred
a. 4.6 billion years ago
b. 13-15 billion years ago
c. 14-15 million years ago
d. 6000 years ago
35. These skulls to the right have many similarities in structure. Biologists
interpret similarity as reflecting descent from a common ancestor. In light of
this interpretation, these features can be considered which of the following?
a. Analogous
b. Homologous
c. Vestigial
d. Coincidence
36. Although these skulls are different, they also have many similarities. Which process best explains how these different
species may have diverged from a common ancestor?
a. Adaptation
b. Natural selection
c. Random chance
d. Change in the environment
37. Humans evolved from chimpanzees
a. True
b. False
The chart gives data for what
happened in England during the
Industrial Revolution. All of the
factories made the trees turn from
a very light color to a dark color in
a short period of time. This was a
problem for the light moths that
relied on light colored trees to
hide from their predators (birds).
38. Overtime what happened to the moth population?
a. The light moths increased in number and the dark moths decreased.
b. The dark moths increased in number and the light moths decreased.
c. Both moth populations increased in size.
d. Both moth populations decreased in size.
39. According to the data what adaptation allowed the moths in the later generations to survive?
a. Body size
b. Body color
c. Flying ability
d. Survival ability
40. What percent of dark moths were there in generation 3?
a. 50%
b. 60%
c. 70%
d. 80%
Part II: Read the article about evolution and answer the questions that follow.
Hitting the redo button on evolution
People have always wondered why plants and animals are built the way they are. Charles Darwin, an
Englishman who lived in the 1800s, was very curious about the shape of life forms, and did lots of
experiments to find some answers. He came up with the theory of evolution, which helps explain how life
on Earth came to be in its many forms.
A big part of Darwin’s evolution theory is a process called natural selection — you might have heard it
called “survival of the fittest.” Natural selection says that plants, animals and other life forms that are
best suited to their environment survive and have offspring. If the environment changes, organisms
whose forms can change, or adapt, best over time to the new conditions have a better chance of
surviving.
For instance, fish called sticklebacks have spines that keep bigger fish from gulping them down.
Sticklebacks usually live in the ocean, where escaping from big fish is a problem, and spineless fish
would quickly be gobbled up. But some kinds of sticklebacks live in ponds where there are no other fish
to worry about. Instead there are huge insects, such as dragonflies, that can grab sticklebacks by their
spines and eat them like you hold a Popsicle by the stick and slurp it up. In that case, having spines is
bad. Some sticklebacks that live in these ponds have lost their spines over time. Now the dragonflies
have nothing to hold on to, making this spineless fish “fitter” and able to produce more off spring than
fish with spines who would get eaten by the dragonflies.
Scientists have wondered for a long time whether evolution would work the same way every time. Some
think if you borrowed Hermione Granger’s time-turner and went back in time to do a redo of evolution,
things would turn out basically the same as they are now. Some details might be different, but in general,
evolution would probably make plants and animals that are very similar to the ones alive today.
But other scientists don’t agree. They think that if you hit the redo button, a small change somewhere
along the line could produce very big changes later. It would be like recording a baseball game and then
when you watched it again having one play change that lead to the other team winning.
Richard Lenski at Michigan State University in East Lansing is doing experiments with bacteria to find out
who is right. In 1988, Lenski lined up 12 flasks at the start of his experiment. In each flask he placed
identical bacteria, known as E. coli, and fed all of the bacteria the same food. The bacteria’s food is a
liquid that contains vitamins, nutrients and a kind of sugar called glucose.
Bacteria that are better at using glucose grow faster. They also make many more copies of themselves
(how bacteria reproduce) than bacteria that don’t digest glucose as well. Each day, Lenski randomly takes
some of the bacteria and puts them in a new flask containing the same liquid. The remaining bacteria are
frozen, which is like hitting the pause button. Scientists can go back later and start the experiment again
with the paused, frozen bacteria. By now, the bacteria have made more than 45,000 generations, or
groups of organisms born around the same time.
(picture)These 12 flasks contain separate populations of E. coli bacteria, all evolved from a single ancestor. Only
the bacteria in flask A-3 (third from left in the back row) evolved the ability to eat citrate.
Neerja Hajela and Brian Baer/Michigan State University
By using a dozen different flasks, Lenski was basically setting up 12 different recordings of the same
game, pushing “play” at the same time and watching to see if all the games would end the same. For
many generations, all of the bacteria in all of the flasks seemed to be playing their games the same. All
of the bacteria grew bigger than their ancestors and got better at eating glucose.
But then something different happened. The liquid food in the flasks also contains a type of sugar called
citrate. E. coli don’t eat citrate. At least most E. coli don’t. But after about 30,000 generations, bacteria in
one of the flasks suddenly started to chow down on citrate.
“They’ve been eating the main course f or thousands of generations,” Lenski says. “They didn’t realize
that there was a dessert tray around the corner.”
(picture)Zachary Blount sits in front of a tower of petri dishes. He used these dishes to test trillions of bacteria to
see which evolved the ability to eat a chemical called citrate.
Brian Baer/Michigan State University
Zachary Blount, a graduate student in Lenski’s lab, replayed the citrate game more than 40 trillion times
using the frozen bacteria. He found that the evolution game isn’t played the same every time. Fewer than
one in one trillion bacteria make the plays that allow them to end up finding the dessert cart.
For now, the citrate-eating bacteria still eat their glucose dinner along with dessert. But maybe with time
some of those E. coli will start eating only dessert, says Blount.
“It would be amazing,” Blount says. “It would be like teenagers who no longer like to eat pizza — they
prefer broccoli.”
So who is right — the scientists who think evolution ends the same way each time? Or the ones who
think that surprise endings are more likely? Both, says Lenski. In 11 flasks the game seems to be playing
out the same, meaning that the first group of scientists is mostly right. But the rare appearance of the
citrate eaters means that the group who believes in surprise endings is also correct, he says.
41. If the environment changes which organisms will survive?
a. Those that are the strongest among the population
b. Those that are the largest and therefore be the best predator
c. Those whose forms can change to fit the environment
d. Those who stay stable and unchanged.
42. What happened to sticklebacks that live in ponds?
a. They have evolved sharper spikes due to increased predators
b. They have lost their spikes over time due to lack of predators
c. They have lost their spikes because it allows predators to easily grab and eat them
d. They have grown smaller in size due to the smaller environment of a pond
43. What type of organisms are scientists using to determine if evolution would “redo” the same way?
a. Algae
b. Dragonflies
c. E.Coli
d. Humans
44. All of the 12 flasks of bacteria contained separate population of bacteria. Where did all the populations come from?
a. A single ancestor
b. Separate species of bacteria
c. Half were from the same ancestor, half were from separate ancestors.
45. Initially what happened to all of the bacteria in the 12 flasks?
a. They grew bigger than their ancestors and got better at eating glucose.
b. They became less efficient at eating their nutrients.
c. All of the generations remained similar, with no adaptations.
d. All of the bacteria died.
46. What surprised scientists during this experiment?
a. The rate (speed) at which the bacteria multiplied.
b. Bacteria in one of the flasks began consuming citrate, a food they normally do not consume.
c. The bacteria in all 12 flasks began eating a different food.
d. The size the bacteria grew to.
47. When the experiment was repeated with the frozen bacteria populations how often did the bacteria evolve to eat
citrate?
a. Almost every time
b. About half of the time
c. Very rarely
d. The article did not say.
48. What does the author use as an analogy to compare this discovery to?
a. Humans discovering the age of the earth.
b. Fish evolving to live on land instead of water.
c. Birds evolving to eat a more complex diet.
d. Teenagers evolving to like broccoli instead of pizza.
49. What is the conclusion the author makes concerning the question of evolution happening the same way every time?
a. If evolution hits the redo button it would 100% of the time happen the same way.
b. If evolution hits the redo button it would never happen the same way. Each time would produce different
results.
c. Most of the time evolution would happen the same way, but there is the rare occurrence it would happen
differently.
50. What process did these scientists use to answer their question?
a. The scientific method
b. Radioactive dating
c. Guess and Check
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