AP Biology Evolution Test

Question 1

What is the difference between a scientific theory and a theory in everyday use?

Answer 1

A** theory** is a conclusion in which is formed to explain a phenomenon.

A scientific theory is a conclusion in which is formed with ample amounts of evidence to support the statement. It can be modified with new evidence found.

Question 2

What is the difference between Lamarck’s theory and Darwin’s theory?

Answer 2

Lamarck’s theory was a proposal on how population has come to possess certain traits. His theory consisted of the use or disuse of inheritance through acquired traits

Darwin’s theory was that species over time can adapt to their environment and surroundings in order to survive. Species can also pass down heritable traits to the next generations to come.

Question 3

What are the principles of natural selection?

Answer 3

Overproduction- each species produces more individuals and offsprings than can survive to maturity

Genetic variation- individuals differ in variation; much is heritable

Struggle to survive- resources are limited; individuals must compete in unfavorable conditions

Differential reproduction- having certain traits are more likely to reproduce and survive than those that lack the traits

Adaptive evolution- over time, population will have favorable characteristics

Question 4

What are some people, events, or ideas that influenced Darwin in his theory of evolution?

Answer 4

Artistotle- species are fixed and unchanged

Linnaeus- taxonomy, “patterns of creation”

Cuvier- studied rocks and fossils

Hutton- studied gradualism

Lyell- studied uniformatrianism

Lamarck- inheritance of acquired traits

Fossil records

Voyage on the HMS Beagle around the world for 5 years

Question 5

True/False
Individual organisms evolve

Answer 5

False

Question 6

True/False
Natural selection can amplify/diminish traits that are heritable

Answer 6

True

Question 7

True/False
Environments can vary from place to place and time to time

Answer 7

True

Question 8

Homologous structures

Answer 8

Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry

Question 9

Vestigal structures

Answer 9

Historical remnants of structures that had functions in ancestors

Question 10

Molecular homologies

Answer 10

Similarities among organisms at the molecular level beyond a shared code

Question 11

Biogeography

Answer 11

Geographic distribution of species where closely related species tend to be found in the same region

Question 12

Fossil records

Answer 12

Evolutionary transitions that are left inrecords explaining anatomical and molecular homologies

Question 13

Allele frequency

Answer 13

p + q = 1

(dominant) + (recessive)

Question 14

Genotype frequency

Answer 14

p² + 2pq + q² = 1

(homozygous dominant) + (heterozygous) + (homozygous recessive)

Question 15

What are the five conditions of the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem?

Answer 15

No gene mutations

No migration of individuals

Random mating- individuals mating by chance

No genetic drift- a chance change in allele frequency

No natural selection- change in allele frequency due to the environment

Question 16

Genetic drift

Answer 16

Random stuff happens all the time (if the population is small, it can have a big effect)

Question 17

Bottleneck effect

Answer 17

Drastic reduction in a population

Question 18

Founder effect

Answer 18

Few individuals from a population starts a new population with a different allele frequency from the original

Question 19

Gene flow

Answer 19

Adding or subtracting alleles due to movement of fertile individuals (immigration/emigration)

Question 20

Natural selection

Answer 20

Primary mechanism of evolution in which differential success in reproduction of different phenotypes resulting from the interaction of organisms in their environment

Question 21

Mutation

Answer 21

Only way “new” alleles originate (point/chromosomal)

Question 22

Sexual recombination

Answer 22

“New combination” of alleles

Question 23

Adaptive evolution

Answer 23

Over time, favroable characteristics are observed with a population

Question 24

Directional selection

Answer 24

One trait is favored or the other

Question 25

Disruptive selection

Answer 25

Intermediate trait is not favored; two traits are favored instead

Question 26

Stabilizing selection

Answer 26

Intermediate trait is favored

Question 27

Evolutionary fitness

Answer 27

The probability that the line of descent from an individual with a specific trait will not die out

Question 28

Why can’t natural selection fashion perfect organisms?

Answer 28

1. Evolution is limited by historical constraints (does not scrap and start over)
2. Adaptions are often compromises (does different things)
3. Chance and natural selection interact (some unfavorable phenotypes get lucky)
4. Selection can only edit existing variations

Question 29

What is the difference between microevolution and macroevolution?

Answer 29

Microevolution- evolutionary change below the species level; change in the genetic makeup of a populatoin from generation to generation

Macroevolution- Evolutionary change above the species level, including the appearance of major evolutionary developments

Question 30

Biological species concept

Answer 30

Species as a population or group of populations whose members have the potential to interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring

Question 31

Morphological species concept

Answer 31

Measurable anatomical criteria such as body shape, size, and other structural features

Question 32

Paleontological species concept

Answer 32

Morphological differences known only from the fossil record

Question 33

Ecological species concept

Answer 33

Ecological roles (niche) and role in the community

Question 34

Phylogenetic species concept

Answer 34

Unique genetic history from molecular sequences

Question 35

Prezygotic barrier

Answer 35

• Habitat isolation: live in different habitats
• Temporal isolation: mate in different seasons
• Behavorial isolation: different courtship behaviors
• Mechanical isolation: differences don’t allow mating
• Gametic isolation: sperm cannot fertilize egg

Question 36

Postzygotic barrier

Answer 36

• Reduced hybird viablity (weak and underdeveloped)
• Reduced hybird fertility (sterile)
• Hybird breakdown: fertile for a generation or two but successive generations are feable and sterile

Question 37

Allopatric speciation

Answer 37

• Geographic isolation
• Gene pool starts changing separately from each other (mutations, sexual selection, natural selection, genetic drift)

Question 38

Sympatric speciation

Answer 38

• No geographic isolation
• Radical genetic changes that make the groups incompatible
• Sexual selection that leds to incompatible groups

Question 39

Adaptive radiation

Answer 39

Emergence of many species from a common ancestor to a new environment

Question 40

What is the significance of homeotic genes in macroevolution?

Answer 40

Changes the gene through the arrangement of body parts such as duplicating, deleting, or translocating

Question 41

What is the difference between convergent evolution and divergent evolution?

Answer 41

Divergent evolution occurs when two organisms that shared a common ancestor become more and more dissimilar as they evolve

Convergent evolution is when different species acquire the same trait because of environmental pressure

Question 42

What is the classification scheme and how does it connect to phylogeny?

Answer 42

Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
It is displayed through the branching of ohylogenetic trees as it shows the different classes through its ancestral history

Question 43

Fossil record

Answer 43

• Reveals ancestry
• Limitations:

1. Due in the right time and place
2. Destroyed by geoloical processes
3. Only a fraction of fossils have been discovered
4. Biased towards species that existed long ago

Question 44

Morphology

Answer 44

• Similar physical structures can indicate shared ancestry

Question 45

Molecular

Answer 45

• Smiliar gene sequence can indicate shared ancestry