Chapter 22 - Descent with Modification - Multiple Choice Flashcards
The best description of natural selection is
a. the survival of the fittest.
b. the struggle for existence.
c. the reproductive success of the members of a population best adapted to the environment.
d. the overproduction of offspring in environments with limited natural resources.
e. a change in the proportion of alleles within a population.
c. the reproductive success of the members of a population best adapted to the environment.
To Cuvier, the differences in fossils from different strata were evidence for
a. changes occurring as a result of cumulative but gradual processes.
b. divine creation.
c. evolution by natural selection.
d. continental drift.
e. local catastrophic events such as droughts or floods.
e. local catastrophic events such as droughts or floods.
Darwin proposed that new species evolve from ancestral forms by
a. the gradual accumulation of adaptations to changing or different environments.
b. the inheritance of acquired adaptations to the environment.
c. the struggle for limited resources.
d. the accumulation of mutations.
e. the excessive reproduction of species.
a. the gradual accumulation of adaptations to changing or different environments.
All of the following influenced Darwin as he synthesized the theory of evolution by natural selection except
a. the biogeographic distribution of species such as the mockingbirds on the Galápagos Islands.
b. Lyell’s book, Principles of Geology, on the gradualness of geologic changes.
c. Linnaeus’s hierarchical classification of species, which could be intrepreted as evidence of evolutionary relationships.
d. examples of artificial selection that produce rapid changes in domesticated species.
e. Mendel’s paper in which he described his “laws of inheritance.”
e. Mendel’s paper in which he described his “laws of inheritance.”
What might you conclude from the observation that the bones in your arm and hand are similar to the bones that make up a bat’s wing?
a. The bones in the bat’s wing are vestigial structures, no longer useful as “arm” bones.
b. The bones in a bat’s wings are homologous to your arm and hand bones.
c. Bats and humans evolved in the same geographic area.
d. Bats lost their opposable digits during the course of evolution.
e. Our ancestors could fly.
b. The bones in a bat’s wings are homologous to your arm and hand bones.
The remnants of pelvic and leg bones in a snake
a. are vestigial structures.
b. show that lizards evolved from snakes.
c. are homologous structures.
d. provide evidence for inheritance of acquired characteristics.
e. resulted from artificial selection.
a. are vestigial structures.
The hypothesis that whales evolved from land-dwelling ancestors is supported by
a. evidence from the biogeographic distribution of whales.
b. molecular comparisons of whales, fish, and reptiles.
c. historical accounts of walking whales.
d. the ability of captive whales to be trained to walk.
e. fossils of extinct whales that had small hind limbs.
e. fossils of extinct whales that had small hind limbs.
Darwin’s claim that all of life descended from a common ancestor may be best supported with evidence from
a. the fossil record.
b. comparative embryology.
c. taxonomy.
d. molecular biology.
e. comparative anatomy.
d. molecular biology.
The smallest unit that can evolve is
a. a genome.
b. an individual.
c. a species.
d. a population.
e. a community.
d. a population.
Which of the following would not be considered part of the process of natural selection?
a. Many of the variations among individuals in a population are heritable.
b. More offspring are produced than are able to survive and reproduce.
c. Individuals with traits best adapted to the environment are likely to leave more offspring.
d. Many adaptive traits may be acquired during an individual’s lifetime, helping that individual to evolve.
e. Differential reproductive success leads to gradual change in a population.
d. Many adaptive traits may be acquired during an individual’s lifetime, helping that individual to evolve.
When cytochrome c molecules are compared, yeasts and molds are found to differ by approximately 46 amino acids per 100 residues (amino acids making up a protein), whereas insects and vertebrates are found to differ by approximately 29 amino acids per 100 residues. What can one conclude from these data?
a. Very little can be concluded unless the DNA sequences for the cytochrome c genes are compared.
b. Yeasts evolved from molds, but vertebrates did not evolve from insects.
c. Insects and vertebrates diverged from a common ancestor more recently than did yeasts and molds.
d. Yeasts and molds diverged from a common ancestor more recently than did insects and vertebrates.
e. The evolution of cytochrome c occurred more rapidly in yeasts and molds than in insects and vertebrates.
c. Insects and vertebrates diverged from a common ancestor more recently than did yeasts and molds.
In the attached evolutionary tree the letters at each branch point indicate the common ancestor for groups beyond that point.
Using the attached image, which was the last common ancestor of crocodiles with lizards and snakes?
d.
In the attached evolutionary tree the letters at each branch point indicate the common ancestor for groups beyond that point.
Which of the following can be concluded from this evolutionary tree?
a. Mammals are more closely related to amphibians than to birds.
b. Mammals are more closely related to lizards and snakes than to birds.
c. Birds are more closely related to lizards and snakes than to mammals.
d. Birds and mammals are more closely related than are birds to lizards and snakes.
e. Lungfish are not related to any of the other groups.
c. Birds are more closely related to lizards and snakes than to mammals.
Chimpanzee and humans share many of the same genes, indicating that most likely
a. the two groups belong to the same species.
b. the two groups belong to the same phylum.
c. the two groups share a relatively recent common ancestor.
d. humans evolved from chimpanzees.
e. chimpanzees evolved from humans.
c. the two groups share a relatively recent common ancestor.
Which of the following is an example of convergent evolution?
a. the increase in size and number of colored spots on guppies transplanted to pools with less active predators.
b. similarities between the marsupial sugar glider and the eutherian flying squirrel.
c. two very different plants that are found in different habitats, but evolved from a fairly recent common ancestor.
d. the remodeling of the vertebrate forelimb in the evolution of a bird wing.
e. the many different bill sizes and shapes of finches on the Galápagos Islands.
b. similarities between the marsupial sugar glider and the eutherian flying squirrel.
