Download Name: Period:______ Evolution and Taxonomy Test Review Define

Name:____________________________________ Period:__________
Evolution and Taxonomy Test Review
1. Define the following words
Evolution- change over time
Taxonomy-classifying organisms and giving each a universally accepted name
Adaptation inherited characteristic that of a species that that develops over time in response to an
environmental factor, enabling the species to survive.
Reproductive isolation- when populations are prevented from reproducing with each other; gene pools
adapt and evolve separately, causing them to lose the ability to cross breed
Natural selection-process by which individuals that are better suited to their environment survive and
reproduce most successfully ( survival of the fittest)
Species- organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
Variation-difference between cells, individual organisms, or groups of organisms of any species caused
either by genetic differences
Speciation formation of a new species
Phylogeny - the evolutionary history of a kind of organism
Biodiversity-number of different species living in a specific area
Extinction-disappearance of a species from all parts of its geographical range
2. What are the five parts of Darwin’s Theory
1. Members of a species have a variety of traits that are heritable- they can be passed on to their
offspring
2. In a population, more individuals are produced each generation than can survive or reproduce
leads to competition of limited resources
3. Some individuals have adaptive characteristics that enable them to survive and reproduce better than
other individuals
4. Each organism has different advantages and disadvantages in the struggle for existence
5. Species alive today are descended with modification from ancestral species. The species that exist are
the best adapted to their environment
3. What is evolution? Change over time
4. What has evolution brought about? Biodiversity
5. Who was Charles Darwin? The Father of Evolution,observed living things, making
observations and collecting evidence that led to his proposed hypothesis about how life changes
over time
6. What did he study? What are the different evidences of evolution? How species change over
time, Finches in the Galapagos islands, Fossils, homologous structures, similarities in
embryology, vestigial structures, and comparative biochemistry
7. What are fossils and where do they form? Remains or traces of organisms; formed in
sedimentary rock
8. How can you estimate a fossils age? Index fossils
9. Concerning change, what two things can the fossil record show? Gradualism, and punctuated
equilibrium
10. What are homologous structures? A body part with the same basic structures and embryonic
origin as that of another organism, though not necessarily sharing the same function
11. What are some examples of homologous structures?
Human arm, cat or dog front leg, horse leg, whale fin
12. Describe similarities in embryology. The same groups of embryonic cells develop in the
same order and pattern to produce tissues and organs of all vertebrates
13. What are vestigial structures? Structures or organs that do not serve a useful function in an
organism( you can survive without it)
14. What is comparative biochemistry? What are the different evolutionary mechanisms?
Scientists look at the number of differences between DNA sequences of different species
Natural selection and adaptation, sexual reproduction, speciation, genetic drift, gene flow,
extinction, mutations
15. Explain natural selection. Process by which individuals that are better suited to their
environment survive and reproduce most successfully (survival of the fittest)
16. What is adaptation? Inherited characteristic that increases an organism’s chance of survival
17. What can natural selection & adaptation lead to? Adaptive radiation- process by which a
single species evolves into several different forms that live in different ways
18. Explain how sexual reproduction can speed up the evolutionary process. Increasing the
number of gene combinations in offspring will increase the chance of change in a species due to
natural selection
19. What is speciation & what can cause it? Formation of a new species, reproductive isolation
20. Explain reproductive isolation. When populations are prevented from reproducing with each
other, their gene pools adapt and evolve separately, causing them to lose the ability to cross
breed
21. What are three ways of causing reproductive isolation? Geographic isolation, temporal
isolation, behavioral isolation
22. What is genetic drift? random change in allele frequencies that occurs in small populations
23. What is gene flow? Transfer of alleles from one population to another
24. What is extinction? Disappearance of a species from all parts of its geographic range
25. How do extinctions contribute to evolution? Leaves open habitats and provides ecological
opportunities for those organisms that survived.
26. How do mutations contribute to evolution? Some mutations can have a positive or negative
effect on a species—dependent upon natural selection
1. The table shows an amino acid comparison of cytochrome c, a protein involved in cellular
respiration in aerobic organisms.
a. The two organisms in the table that are least genetically related are:
Screwworm fly and silkworm moth
b. The two organisms in the table that are most genetically related are:
Hornworm moth and silkworm moth
2. Four species with a homologous section of DNA have the following nucleotide sequences:
Species 1
ATGTAGC
Species 2
ATCTGAC
Species 3
AGGTACC
Species 4
AGGCGGC
a. According to these sequences, which two species are most closely related?
1 and 3
b. How do you come to this conclusion? They only have two bases different
c. Explain why a DNA sequence can be used to predict how closely related these organisms are.
The fewer differences in DNA the more closely related they are