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AP Biology
Saturday Study Session 3
Evolution as a Process
Student Packet
Session 2 – Macroevolution
Multiple Choice Questions
1) Bird guides once listed the Myrtle Warbler and Audubon’s Warbler as distinct species, but applying the
biological species concept, recent books show them as eastern and western forms of a single species, the
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Experts must have found that the two kinds of warblers:
A) live in the same area.
B) successfully interbreed in nature.
C) look enough alike to be considered one species.
D) Are reproductively isolated from each other.
2) In the forests of the southeastern United States can be found several closely related frog species of the
genus Rana. The species boundaries are maintained by reproductive isolating mechanaisms. One species
mates for two weeks in early April; another species mates for three weeks in early May. Which pre-zygotic
mechanism keeps these species from inter-breeding and why?
A) The species are kept reproductively isolated by mechanical isolation. The reproductive organs only
function at different times of the spring.
B) Gametic isolation prevents the sperm, of the April species, from interacting with the egg, of the May
species by not living long enough to accomplish fertilization.
C) These species are displaying temporal isolating mechanisms by only being able to reproduce at various
times of the spring.
D) Reproductive isolation is accomplished by behavioral isolation as each species does not recognize the
others mating rituals at different times of the spring.
3) Farmers mate female horses with male donkeys to create mules. Mules have the size and power of a horse
to help plow fields. Farmers do not have to worry about keeping the mules separated during breeding
season because:
A)
B)
C)
D)
mules exhibit the post-zygotic barrier known as hybrid sterility.
mules exhibit the post-zygotic barrier known as hybrid breakdown.
mules exhibit the post-zygotic barrier known as reduced hybrid viability.
Mules exhibit the pre-zygotic barrier known as mechanical isolation.
4) A biologist discovers two populations of Wolf spiders whose members appear identical. Members of one
population are found in the leaf litter on the forest floor deep within the forest. Members of the other
population are found in the grass at the edge of the woods. The biologist decides to designate the members
of the two populations as two separate species. Which species concept best explains the biologists
reasoning?
A) The biologist has used the biological species concept to designate species based on the fact that they
look identical.
B) The biologist feels that the morphological species concept best designates these two populations as
separate species because they possess the same body structures.
C) The phylogenetic species model best correlates with the biologist’s designation of two species. This
model compares the DNA sequences.
D) As the two species are found in different areas, but appear identical, the biologist must be using the
ecological species concept indicating that the two populations occupy differing roles within their
respective ecosystems.
5) Punctuated Equilibrium was first proposed by the Harvard biology professor Steven Jay Gould. He was
trying to explain why some species seemed to “appear” suddenly in the geologic time scale. Which of the
following is NOT an idea or fact consistent with the model of punctuated equilibrium?
A) “ although each species must have passed through numerous transitional stages, it is probable that the
periods during which each underwent development, though many and long as measured in years, have
been short in comparison with the periods during which each remained in an unchanged condition” –
Charles Darwin
B) Species undergo most of their morphological modifications as they first bud from parent species, then
change little over long periods of time.
C) When new species are rapidly evolving, they are often doing so in small, isolated populations.
D) Macroevolution is simply microevolution spread across vast expanses of time.
6) The volcanic Hawaiian Islands, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, are in many ways very similar, in terms of
evolution, to the volcanic Galapagos Islands, also in the Pacific ocean. While each has differing species, the
underlying evolutionary processes affecting them are consistent. The Hawaiian Islands are a great
showcase of evolution because of intense:
A)
B)
C)
D)
ecological isolation and sympatric speciation.
adaptive radiation and allopatric speciation.
allopolyploidy and sympatric speciation.
hybrid vigor and allopatric speciation.
Math Grid-In
A population of fire ants in the Mobile Delta exhibits logistical growth. The carrying capacity of the ant mound is
15000 ants. The maximum per capita growth rate, rmax, for the population is 0.9 fire ants/month. Calculate the
maximum population growth rate for the population if the maximum occurs when N = K/15. Give your answer to
the nearest tenth.
Short Free Response
1) As environments change over time, this helps drive the evolution of species within a given area. There are
two modes of speciation based on the interactions with the environment – allopatric and sympatric.
Explain what is meant by each term in relation to the evolution of a new species and describe ONE
example of each.
2) Populations of a plant species have been found growing in tropical rainforest at the canopy layer several
hundred feet in the air. Populations of a plant that appears similar, with slight differences, have been found
on the forest floor in the same area. Describe TWO kinds of experiments that could be performed to
provide a direct and conclusive answer to the question “ Do the two populations growing in this area
represent one species?” and explain how the outcome of each experiment would support or deny the
question.
Long Free Response
Reproduction can be either asexual or sexual.
(a) Using a specific example, describe how organisms can reproduce asexually. Discuss TWO
evolutionary advantages of asexual reproduction.
(b) Identify THREE ways that sexual reproduction increases genetic variability. For each, explain how it
increases genetic diversity among the offspring.
(c) Discuss TWO prezygotic isolating mechanisms that prevent hybridization between two species.
Include in your discussion an example of each mechanism.