Ch 19: Descent w Modification Flashcards
At the time Charles Darwin sailed on the HMS Beagle, several biologists had proposed what?
that species might change over time, but none had suggested a convincing mechanism that might cause the change
Carolus Linnaeus is considered to be the founder of __________, and he __________.
the binomial classification system; thought that resemblances among different species reflected the pattern of their creation
The hypothesis that whales evolved from land-dwelling ancestors is supported by __________.
fossils of extinct whales that had increasingly reduced hind limbs
To Cuvier, the differences in fossils from different strata were evidence for __________.
local catastrophic events such as droughts or floods
How did some strains of Staphylococcus aureus become resistant to antibiotic drugs?
Some members of the bacteria population must have had genes that made them resistant to antibiotics, and these genes became more prevalent in subsequent generations.
Darwin originally defined evolution as __________.
descent with modification
According to the theory of evolution by natural selection, anatomical and molecular homologies should __________.
indicate similar patterns of evolutionary relatedness
The smallest unit that can evolve is a(n) __________.
population
All of the following influenced Darwin as he synthesized the theory of evolution by natural selection except _________.
Mendel’s paper in which he described his “laws of inheritance”
A population of zooplankton is exposed to a small number of predatory fish that feed on the larger-sized (adult) zooplankton. Based on the principles of evolution by natural selection, which of the following would be most likely?
Adult zooplankton will start to reach sexual maturity when they are still relatively small.
Which of the following is an example of convergent evolution?
Similarities between the marsupial Tasmanian wolf and the eutherian North American wolf
When cytochrome c molecules are compared, yeasts and molds are found to differ by approximately 46 amino acids per 100 residues (amino acids in the protein); insects and vertebrates are found to differ by 29 amino acids per 100 residues. What can one conclude from these data?
Insects and vertebrates diverged from a common ancestor more recently than did yeasts and molds.
What insight did Darwin gain from reading Thomas Malthus’s essay on human suffering?
Organisms have the capacity to overreproduce.
What did Darwin observe about species on islands?
They are often closely related to species from the nearest mainland or neighboring islands.
All known organisms appear to translate genetic information to protein molecules via the same genetic code. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that __________.
all organisms are descended from a single common ancestor
Lyell’s principle of uniformitarianism __________.
strongly influenced Darwin’s view of how living organisms could change over time
The remnants of pelvic and leg bones in a snake __________.
are vestigial structures
Which of the following points is not considered part of the process of natural selection?
Many adaptive traits may be acquired during an individual’s lifetime and passed on to that individual’s offspring.
The scala naturae, or scale of nature, is based on the ideas of __________.
Aristotle
The modern idea of extinction as a common occurrence in Earth’s history was first proposed in the early 19th century writings of __________.
Cuvier
At the time Darwin voyaged on the HMS Beagle, the popularly accepted theory in Western culture that explained the origin of Earth’s plants and animals held that the various species __________.
had been created by divine intervention a few thousand years before
When they were first sold, aerosol insecticides were highly effective in killing mosquitoes. Now, several decades later, a much smaller proportion of these insects die when sprayed. The reason fewer insects die when they are sprayed is that __________.
larger portions of the mosquito populations today are descendants of individuals that were insecticide-resistant
Which of the following statements concerning the direct observation of evolution is most correct?
There are extremely numerous examples where evolution can be directly observed, and these observations provide strong support for the idea of natural selection.
To describe evolution as a “scientific theory” means that __________.
it is a broad model that is supported by many observations and much experimental evidence
