Download Fall 2013

Part I: ________ / 25
Part II: _______ / 75
Part I: Short answer (25 points)
TOTAL: _____ / 100
1. I am currently reading Moby Dick, Herman Melville’s classic tale of whaling. In one passage of the
book, the narrator describes the [then] controversy over whether whales are fish or mammals.
Suppose that you were called in to settle the matter. List three examples of criteria that you would use
to decide, and explain how the criterion would apply to fish and mammals (9 points).
Criterion
1.
How it applies to fish
How it applies to mammals
2.
3.
2. Listed in the table below are three categories of evidence for evolution. Define each one, then describe
a finding that applies specifically to the evolution of the human species (6 points).
Name of category
Biogeography
Definition
Application to human evolution
Comparative
anatomy
Molecular biology
3. Other than those listed in question #2, list and describe the other two broad categories of evidence for
evolution (6 points).
4. Gymnosperms and reptiles frequently occur in much drier habitats than do mosses and amphibians.
Compare and contrast the reproductive adaptations that have enabled reptiles and gymnosperms to
thrive on dry land, compared to their moist-habitat counterparts (4 points).
Part II: 75 points (38 questions; each question except the last one is worth 2 points)
True-false (mark A for true, B for false):
1. Darwin gets credit for the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis because he integrated what he knew about
evolution with what Mendel discovered about genes and inheritance.
2. The main groupings within the prokaryotic domains are kingdoms, whereas the main groupings within
the eukaryotic domain are phyla.
3. Lignin, which adds strength to plants, occurs mostly in the plant’s vascular tissue.
4. Life started more than 3 billion years ago, but it didn’t move onto land until less than 500 million
years ago.
Multiple choice / matching:
5. How many of the following combinations actually exist?
A moss plant with a flower on it
A seedless vascular plant with xylem and phloem
A seedless vascular plant with a cone on it
A flowering plant producing fruits
A pine tree producing seeds
A moss plant with swimming sperm
A flowering plant with vascular tissue
A pine tree producing pollen
a. zero
b. two
c. four
d. six
e. eight
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6. Japanese ground bees have lots of species that live in the same area and mate at the same time. The
species vary, however, in the sizes and shapes of their reproductive organs. If a male of species B
(short reproductive organ) mates with a female of species A (long “receiving” organ), his sperm may
never reach her egg. The genitals of these bees therefore represent a _______ barrier to interbreeding
between species A and species B.
a. prezygotic
b. postzygotic
7. In the scenario described above, what specific type of barrier prevents interbreeding between species A
and species B?
a. temporal isolation
d. gametic isolation
b. habitat isolation
e. hybrid isolation
c. mechanical isolation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8. It took millions of years longer for placental mammals to reach South America than to reach North
America. You would therefore predict that the most recent fossils of extinct marsupials in South
America are _____ than the most recent fossils of extinct marsupials in North America.
a. younger than
b. older than
c. the same age as
9. Which of the following descriptions of evolution is most accurate?
a. “A bird moves to a different island because food is scarce on the old one. His beak must adapt to
feed on worms in the ground so his beak over time becomes sharper. This species adapts to be
able to survive in the new environment.”
b. “Natural selection plays a role in evolution by allowing the most desirable/well-suited traits carry
on while the not as well suited traits die out.”
c. “A giraffe develops a long neck in order to reach the leaves on tall trees.”
d. “Organisms adapt in order to ensure the survival of the species.”
e. “In order for humans to be able to live today, we have had to evolve ourselves to the changes that
occur in everyday life, such as viruses/diseases.”
10. Overall, would the world be better off if we eliminated all prokaryotes on Earth (if that were even
possible)?
a. Yes, because humans wouldn’t suffer from any diseases if the prokaryotes were gone.
b. Yes, because all of the prokaryotes in our bodies are harmful.
c. Yes, because then land plants wouldn’t have to compete with photosynthetic bacteria for O2.
d. No, because prokaryotes play irreplaceable roles in global nutrient cycles.
e. No, because we need prokaryotes to make our beer, wine, and bread.
11. Suppose that a male fruit fly undergoes a mutation that makes his reproductive organs abnormally
shaped. When compared with other flies of the same species, the mutated male mates longer, transfers
more sperm to the female, and fathers more offspring. What do you predict will happen in the next fly
generation?
a. All of the offspring will be dead; mutations are harmful.
b. The mutation will disappear; mutations pop up one generation and are gone the next.
c. The mutation will be more common in the next generation than it was in the previous one.
d. All of the flies in the entire population will carry the mutation.
12. In class, some of us became fascinated by the chameleon’s “tongue bone.” I did a little research and
discovered that the chameleon’s tongue bone is derived from its hyoid bone. Humans also have a
hyoid bone (in the neck); it has multiple functions, including serving as an attachment point for the
tongue. Unlike in chameleons, however, the human hyoid bone cannot make the tongue shoot out of
the mouth in a quest for edible bugs. Which of the following is true?
a. The hyoid bone is vestigial in humans but not chameleons.
b. The hyoid bone is vestigial in chameleons but not humans.
c. The hyoid bone is vestigial in both chameleons and humans.
d. The hyoid bones in the two species are homologous to each other, because both bones can be
traced to a common ancestor.
e. The hyoid bones in the two species are homologous to each other, because they function
identically in both species.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For the next two questions, mark your scantron as follows (answers may be used more than once or not at
all):
Mark “a” if the first item is larger than the second
Mark “b” if the first item is smaller than the second
Mark “c” if the two items are the same size
13. Number of radioactive 14C atoms in a camel’s bones the day it dies … number of radioactive 14C
atoms in a camel’s fossil 35,000 years later
14. Age of a fossil containing 30% of a radioactive isotope (half-life = 1 billion years) … 2 billion years
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15. In October of this year researchers reported, “One of the most complete early human skulls yet found
suggests that what scientists thought were three hominin [ancient human] species may in fact be one.”
Which of the following is true?
a. With enough fossil evidence, researchers will ultimately use the biological species concept
to determine how many species of humans lived hundreds of thousands of years ago.
b. Researchers can only use the anatomical features of fossils to assign ancient humans to
species because the biological species concept cannot apply to extinct creatures.
c. It will take complete skeletons from both males and female fossils to apply the biological
species concept to extinct humans.
d. Even though we cannot tell whether extinct organisms were able to mate, we can be sure
that all of their offspring survived.
16. The image at right shows the life cycle of a slime mold, starting at top
center with the release of spores. Moving clockwise around the cycle,
you can see a spore germinating and developing into an individual
cell that absorbs food (not shown). When food runs out, multiple cells
aggregrate (bottom center) and crawl away as a single mass . Which
of the following statements about this organism is/are FALSE?
a. The individual cells are heterotrophs.
b. Scientists study this organism in hopes of gaining insights into
how unicellular organisms evolved into multicellular organisms.
c. This organism is classified as a fungus.
d. The cells of this organism contain mitochondria.
e. This organism is considered to be the last common ancestor
shared by all animals.
17. Which of the following is an example of natural selection?
a. Only the fastest racehorses on a farm are allowed to mate.
b. Only the hens that lay the most eggs per day are allowed to breed with the rooster.
c. Only the friendliest male rats in a pet store are allowed to mate with the friendliest female rats
in the store.
d. Only the weeds that survive application with Roundup (an herbicide) live long enough to
reproduce.
e. All of the above are examples of natural selection.
18. In the plant molecular phylogeny lab, suppose your group hypothesized that the common ancestor
shared by angiosperms and seedless vascular plants existed more recently than did the common
ancestor shared by mosses and gymnosperms. You then used DNA sequence data to test your
hypothesis. Knowing what you now know about plant diversity, would the DNA sequences of these
organisms have supported your hypothesis?
a. Yes, DNA sequences should support that hypothesis.
b. No, that hypothesis is not consistent with the current view of evolulationary relationships
among plants.
19. How many of the following items happened BEFORE the origin of eukaryotes in the history of life?
Plants colonized land
O2 accumulated in the atmosphere
Fungi colonized land
Photosynthesis evolved
Animals colonized land
Dinosaurs evolved
The first organic molecules formed
Life split into two prokaryotic domains
a. none
b. one
c. two
d. three
e. four
20. We know that mitochondria and chloroplasts are derived from free-living bacterial cells because
a. the “membrane infolding” theory provides excellent evidence for it.
b. these organelles contain their own DNA and ribosomes.
c. we have fossils that show this process frozen “in action.”
d. experiments have revealed how life started, including the origin of organelles.
e. All of the above are correct.
21. Why do land plants have stomata?
a. To anchor themselves in the soil
b. To move sugars from leaves to roots and fruits
c. To let CO2 gas into leaves
d. To provide the plant’s “bones”
e. To absorb rainwater into the leaves
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22. Isle Royale National Park in Michigan has a population of moose. According to Wikipedia, “A few
moose swam across Lake Superior from Minnesota in the early 1900s. For nearly fifty years the
moose thrived, having no predator to dampen their population growth.” In 1995, researchers counted
2,450 moose on the island. Assuming the genetic diversity of moose that swam to the island
represented a subset of the overall genetic diversity of moose on the mainland, then:
a. evolution has happened, by the founder effect.
b. evolution has happened, by the bottleneck effect.
c. evolution has not happened, because the moose haven’t evolved into a new species.
d. evolution has not happened, because the moose haven’t evolved any reproductive barriers.
e. evolution has not happened, because the moose on the island are identical to the ones on the
mainland.
23. Isle Royale also has wolves, but not nearly as many as there are moose. The population crashed in the
1980s, thanks to a viral infection. According to Wikipedia, “There were fifty wolves in 1980, but only
fourteen by 1982.” The remaining wolves are inbred and suffer from a variety of genetic problems
and abnormalities. This situation illustrates:
a. the bottleneck effect
d. hybrid sterility
b. migration
e. prezygotic reproductive barriers
c. hybrid inviability
24. According to Wikipedia, “During the winter of 1997, a wolf (later named "Old Gray Guy") crossed
the 15 miles of ice to Isle Royale. Old Gray Guy was larger and more territorial than the other Isle
Royale wolves. His own pack grew to an unusually large 10 wolves, and displaced and drove to
extinction one of the other 4 packs. It was determined that by 2009, 56% of the wolves on Isle
Royale had descended from Old Gray Guy. … By the end of his eight years of breeding, he
produced 34 pups, those had produced an additional 45 pups.” Based on this information, old Gray
Guy illustrates ___ as a mechanism of evolution.
a. mutation
d. gradualism
b. genetic drift
e. artificial selection
c. unequal reproductive success
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25. In plants, the function of ____ is analogous to the function of ____ in humans.
a. pollen … the zygote
d. flowers … the fetus
b. fruit … sperm cells
e. chloroplasts … stomach
c. cuticle … skin
26. The photos at right show a kangaroo rat (top) and a kangaroo (bottom). The
rat is a placental mammal, whereas the kangaroo is a marsupial. Both animals
have exaggerated hind legs used in hopping, a feature that is uncommon
among other placental mammals and marsupials. Therefore, it is reasonable to
conclude that:
a. these two animals share a common ancestor much more recently than the
common ancestor shared by other marsupials and placental mammals.
b. exaggerated hind legs evolved independently in kangaroo rats and kangaroos.
c. at the time that Australia separated from Pangaea, gravity was stronger that it was
on the rest of the planet, so placental mammals needed to evolve exaggerated
hindlimbs only recently.
d. “kangaroo” means “exaggerated hind limbs” in Latin.
27. During the first animal diversity lab, I got to hold an earthworm. What features do I share with that
animal?
a. We both have a postanal tail.
d. We both have a complete digestive tract.
b. We both are tetrapods.
e. All of the above are correct.
c. We both are amniotes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------28. Look at the male fiddler crab at right; notice the enormous size of its right claw. In
females, both claws look like the smaller claw on the animal’s left side. The male’s
giant claw is a product of sexual selection. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the
bigger the horn/claw, the greater the ability to:
a. acquire food.
d. withstand crushing.
b. survive long periods without water.
e. live to an old age.
c. compete for access to the opposite sex.
29. What phylum does the fiddler crab belong to?
a. Eukarya
b. Animalia
c. Arachnid
d. Arthropod
e. Insect
30. What combination of features defines the phylum that the fiddler crab belongs to?
a. Bilateral symmetry, incomplete digestive tract
b. Exoskeleton, jointed appendages, molting
c. Radial symmetry in adults, bilateral symmetry in larvae
d. Mantle secretes shell, which covers a soft body
e. Radial symmetry, carnivory, stinging cells that paralyze prey
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fill out the table below, then answer questions 31-34.
Cnidarians
Mollusks
Flatworms
Roundworms
Symmetry
X
Digestive tract
Y
Z
Gastrula stage
W
Segmentation
31. What goes in the space marked “X”?
a. None
b. Bilateral
c. Radial
d. Depends if it’s a larva or an adult
32. What goes in the spaces marked “Y” and “Z”?
a. Both should be marked Complete
b. Both should be marked Incomplete
c. Y = Complete; Z = Incomplete
d. Y = Incomplete; Z = Complete
33. What goes in the space marked “W”?
a. No, cnidarians don’t have gastrulas.
b. Yes, cnidarians have a gastrula stage as early embryos.
c. Yes, cnidarians have a gastrula stage, but only as adults.
d. Yes, cnidarians have a gastrula stage, but only in the males.
34. What goes in the row marked “Segmentation”?
a. “Yes” for all four groups listed.
b. “No” for all four groups listed.
c. “Yes” for cnidarians and mollusks; “no” for flatworms and roundworms.
d. “No” for cnidarians and mollusks; “yes” for flatworms and roundworms.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35. Which of the following accurately compares fungi and animals?
a. Both fungi and animals are heterotrophic organisms that ingest their food.
b. Whereas most fungi are unicellular, all animals are multicellular.
c. Chitin is a molecule that occurs in the cell walls of fungi and in the shells of a lobster.
d. Animals reproduce only sexually, but fungi reproduce only asexually.
e. Fungal cells are prokaryotic, whereas animal cells are eukaryotic.
36. During lab last week, I got to hold an owl (a bird), a lemur (a type of primate), and an otter (a semiaquatic mammal). What features do I share with all of these animals?
a. We all have a skull and segmented backbone.
d. Two of the above are correct.
b. We are all amniotes.
e. a, b, and c are all correct.
c. We all have either feathers or fur.
37. Which of the following statements about protists is false?
a. All protists share the following features: they are eukaryotes that are not classified as plants,
animals, or fungi.
b. The three informal groups of protists are algae, slime molds, and protozoa.
c. Algae are aquatic protists that carry out photosynthesis.
d. Protozoa are single-celled protists that may be parasites of humans.
e. Fossil evidence suggests that protists evolved around the same time that plants, fungi, and animals
moved onto land.
38. What color is your test form?
a. blue
b. yellow