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EVOLUTION PRACTICE TEST #120
1. Fruit fly embryos and frog embryos differ from each other more than frog embryos and human embryos do.
What does this tell us about how the three species are related?
2. The mouthparts of an adult horsefly are modified for biting. The mouthparts of a mosquito are modified for
piercing skin and sucking blood. Are the mouthparts of the two species homologous or analogous? Explain.
3. 60 grams of a sample is found. If the half-life of the sample is 2,000 years, how much of the sample (in grams)
would be left after 6,000 years?
4. Who observed variations in characteristics of animals and plants on the different islands of Galapagos?
5. Which phrase best defines evolution?
a) an adaptation of an organism to its environment
b) a sudden replacement of one community by another
c) a geographic or reproductive isolation of organisms
d) a process of change in organisms over a period of time
6. "The giraffe is obliged to browse on trees and continually is forced to stretch upwards. This habit, maintained
over long periods of time, has resulted in the forelimbs becoming longer than the hind ones, and the neck so
elongated that the giraffe can raise its head to a height of 18 feet without taking its forelimbs of the ground."
Which scientist would most likely have written these statements?
a) Darwin
b) Lamarck c) Harry Potter
d) Mendel
e) Pasteur
7. Which statement about the individuals within a population that survive to reproductive age is consistent with
Darwin’s theory of natural selection?
a) They transmit characteristics acquired by use and disuse to their offspring.
b) They tend to produce fewer offspring that those that do not survive.
c) They are the ones best adapted to exist in their environment.
d) They will perpetuate unfavorable changes in the species.
8. Which statement would most likely be in agreement with Lamarck’s theory of evolution?
a) Black moths have evolved in an area because they were better adapted to the environment and had high
rates of survival and reproduction.
b) Geographic barriers may lead to reproductive isolation and the production of new species.
c) Giraffes have long necks because their ancestors stretched their necks reaching for food, and this trait was
passed on to their offspring.
d) Most variations in animals and plants are due to random chromosomal and gene mutation.
9. How does natural selection operate to cause change in a population?
a) The members of the population are equally able to survive any environmental change.
b) The members of the population differ so that only some survive when the environment changes.
c) The members of the population do not adapt to environmental changes.
d) All the members of the population adapt to environmental changes.
10. The sequence of amino acids in the cytochrome c molecule, an enzyme found in mitochondria, is identical in
humans and chimpanzees. This fact best supports the concept that
a) simpler organisms synthesized cytochrome c
b) humans and chimpanzees have similar nutritional requirements
c) simpler organisms evolved into more complex organisms
d) human and chimpanzees have a common ancestor
11. Charles Darwin proposed that organisms produce many more offspring that can possibly survive on the limited
amount of resources available to them. According to Darwin, the offspring most likely to survive are those that
a) are born first and grow fastest
c) are best adapted to the environment
b) are largest and most aggressive
d) have no natural predators
12. Darwin’s studies of finches on the Galapagos Islands suggest that the finches’ differences in beak structure were
most directly due to
a) acquired characteristics in the parent finches
c) mating behaviors of the different finch species
b) the size of the island where the finches live
environments
d) adaptations of the finches to different
13. The diagram shows an undisturbed sedimentary strata at the bottom of an ocean. The fossils found in layer B
resemble the fossils found in layer A. This similarity suggests that
a) the fossils in layer B were formed before the fossils in layer A
b) modern forms of life may have evolved from earlier forms of life
c) vertebrate fossils are found only in sediments
d) the fossils in layer A must be more complex than the fossils in
layer B
14. When the antibiotic penicillin was first introduced, it was
immediately effective in combating staphylococcus bacterial infections. After a number of years, there were
outbreaks of staphylococcal infections that did not respond to treatment with penicillin. The best explanation for
this situation is that
a) members of the original population of bacteria that were penicillin resistant survived and reproduced,
creating a more resistant population
b) the bacteria that survived exposure to penicillin learned to avoid it
c) the bacteria that caused the new outbreaks were from populations that had never been exposed to penicillin
d) during each generation, the bacteria modified their own DNA to increase their ability to resist penicillin and
passed this ability on to their descendants
15. The first life-forms to appear on Earth were most likely
a) complex single-celled organisms
b) complex multicellular organisms
c) simple multicellular organisms
d) simple single-celled organisms
16. What type of selection is shown in the graph to the right?
a) disruptive selection
c) stabilizing selection
b) directional selection d)inheritance of acquired characteristics
17. Scientists suggest that earth's atmosphere before life DID NOT contain
a) water vapor
c) oxyen
b) methane
d) ammonia
18. The diagram to the right shows an interpretation
of relationships based on evolutionary
theory. The letters represent different
species. The diagram indicates that a common
ancestor for species C and E is species
a) F b) G c) H d) A e) K
19. E
volution is often represented as a tree similar to the one shown in the
diagram. This diagram suggests that
a) different groups of organisms may have similar characteristics
because of common ancestry
b) because of biochemical differences, no two groups of
organisms could have a common ancestor
c) evolution is a predictable event that happens every few years,
adding new groups of organisms to the tree
d) only the best adapted organisms will survive from generation to generation
20. Early stages in the embryo of a fish are similar to the early stages of human and pig embryos. An explanation
for this similarity is that the
a) pig and the human occupy the same habitat, while the fish occupies a different habitat
b) pig and the human are more closely related to each other than to the fish
c) pig, human, and fish evolved from a common ancestor
d) pig, human, and fish had no ancestral species in common
21. In most populations, the individuals that produce the greatest number of offspring are
a) always the strongest
b) usually the best adapted
c) those that have only recessive traits
d) those that are the most intelligent
22. The half-life of thorium-230 is 75,000 years. How long will it take for 7/8 of the original amount of this isotope
in the sample to decay?
a) 75,000 years
b) 225,000 years
c) 25,000 years
d) 150,000 years
23. If coat color in a rabbit population is a polygenic trait, which process might have produced the graph below?
a) Stabilizing selection
c) Directional selection
b) Disruptive selection
d) Genetic equilibrium
24. Some species of snakes have leg bones before birth but lose them before they are born. What is the name for
this type of evolutionary evidence?
a) comparative anatomy
c) DNA fingerprints
b) embryology
d) biogeography
25. A large population of house flies was sprayed with a newly developed, fast-acting insecticide. The appearance
of some house flies that are resistant to this insecticide supports the concept that
a) species traits tend to remain constant
c) variation exists within a species
b) biocides cause mutations
d) the environment does not change
26. Know the difference between Lamarck and Darwin’s theories of evolution.
27. Know what endosymbiosis is.
28. Know the why and how of evolution.