Biology Chapter 15

Question 0

What was Darwin looking for when he set out on his journey around the world?

Answer 0

A scientific explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.

Question 1

What is the process where modern organisms descend from ancient organisms?

Answer 1

Evolution

Question 2

What are fossils?

Answer 2

The preserved remains of ancient organisms.

Question 3

What was a common difference in birds on the Galápagos Islands?

Answer 3

They all had differently shaped beaks.

Question 4

Who were the two main scientists who helped Darwin and other recognize how old the Earth is?

Answer 4

James Hutton and Charles Lyell.

Question 5

Who proposed that geological processes are extremely slow and that layer of rock are moved by forces under Earth’s surface?

Answer 5

James Hutton.

Question 6

What main thing did Charles Lyell stress that scientists must do?

Answer 6

Explain past events with events that are happening in the present.

Question 7

What elements made up Lamarck’s theory of evolution?

Answer 7

Species constantly adapt to their environment and gain new features that help them live more successfully. These features are passed on to the species’ offspring.

Question 8

What were the beliefs of Malthus?

Answer 8

He believed that war, famine, and disease limit population growth.

Question 9

True or false: Darwin waited years before he published his ideas.

Answer 9

True

Question 10

What were some contents of Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species?”

Answer 10

Evidence of evolution and the idea of natural selection.

Question 11

What are differences among individuals of a species?

Answer 11

Natural variation.

Question 12

What is fitness?

Answer 12

The ability of an individual to survive and reproduce in its specific environment.

Question 13

What is an adaptation?

Answer 13

Any inherited characteristic that increases an organism’s chances for survival.

Question 14

What is another phrase for natural selection?

Answer 14

Survival of the fittest

Question 15

What is artificial selection?

Answer 15

The process of humans breeding animals that they find useful, also called selective breeding.

Question 16

What is meant by the phrase struggle for existence?

Answer 16

Members of species compete regularly for essential resources.

Question 17

What did Darwin mean by the phrase “survival of the fittest?”

Answer 17

The individuals that are better suited for their environment survive and reproduce more successfully.

Question 18

What is the principle that living species descend, with changes, from other species over time?

Answer 18

Descent with modification.

Question 19

What does the phrase common descent mean?

Answer 19

The principle that all species were derived from other species over time.

Question 20

What are five forms of evidence for evolution?

Answer 20

Fossils
Geographic distribution of living species
Homologous body structures
Similarities in embryology
DNA

Question 21

How do fossils in different rock layers provide evidence for evolution?

Answer 21

Different rock layers show age of fossils and the fossils can come together to form a timeline of a species.

Question 22

What are homologous structures?

Answer 22

Structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same embryonic tissue.

Question 23

What are organs that are so reduced in size that they are just vestiges, or traces, of homologous organs in other species?

Answer 23

Vestigial organs.