Evolution & Nature of Science Quizzes (Week 12 - 15)

Question 1

A higher taxon (e.g., family) that is monophyletic is comprised of…

Answer 1

a common ancestral species and all of its descendant species.

Question 2

The study of biological diversity and evolutionary relationships among organisms is ____________.

Answer 2

systematics

Question 3

Which statement represents the best explanation for the observation that the nuclear DNA sequence of wolves and domestic dogs is highly similar? Dogs and wolves ___________________________.

Answer 3

share a very recent common ancestor

Question 4

Linnaeus began naming organisms that were alike using Latin names. He gave each organism two names; for example, the pigmy rattlesnake is called Sistrurus miliarius by scientists. What type of naming system is this and what group does “miliarius” designate?

Answer 4

binomial nomenclature; species

Question 5

The presence of hair would be a/an _____________ among a group of mammal species, but would be a/an _______________ among those same mammal species when compared to a reptile species. The blanks should be filled, respectively, with:

Answer 5

shared primitive character; shared derived character

Question 6

The science of describing, naming, and classifying extant and extinct organisms is _______________.

Answer 6

taxonomy

Question 7

Consider the following DNA sequences for four different species:

Species 1: AATCG

Species 2: TAATG

Species 3: ATAGG

Species 4: ATACC

Based on the principle of parsimony, which species shares a most recent common ancestor with a species having the sequence TTACC?

Answer 7

species 4

Question 8

Your professor wants you to construct a phylogenetic tree of orchid plants. She gives you tissue from seven orchid species (all within one family Orchidaceae) and one lily species (family Liliaceae). What is the most likely reason she gave you the lily?

Answer 8

to serve as an outgroup

Question 9

Molecular clocks are based primarily on rates of __________________________.

Answer 9

neutral mutations

Question 10

A liger is an offspring produced from a mating between a male lion and a female tiger. Male ligers cannot produce offspring. This is an example of

Answer 10

hybrid sterility

Question 11

Male frogs give calls that attract female frogs to approach and mate. Researchers examined mating calls of two closely related tree frogs in South America. If behavioral isolation is occurring where the two species overlap geographically, what would you expect if you compare the calls of the two species in zones of sympatry versus zones of allopatry?

Answer 11

Calls would be more different in areas of sympatry.

Question 12

When a species arrives in a new location it may undergo relatively rapid adaptive radiation, diversifying and filling a new set of available ecological niches. Such an event may help to explain the phenomenon of:

Answer 12

punctuated equilibrium

Question 13

polyploidy…

Answer 13

involves an increase in the number of chromosomes

Question 14

In a hypothetical situation, a certain species of flea feeds primarily on pronghorn antelopes. In the western United States, pronghorns and cattle often associate with one another in the same open rangeland. Suppose that some of these fleas develop a strong preference for cattle blood and tend to mate with other fleas that prefer cattle blood. If this situation persists, and new species evolve, differentiated by food preference, this would be an example of ____ and ____.

Answer 14

sympatric speciation and diversifying selection

Question 15

At some time within the last 10,000 years, a population of the white lily, Erythronium albidum, gave rise to a new species, Erythronium propullans. Both species are still living and the geographic range of propullans is, and always was, entirely within the geographic range of the widespread E. albidum. This appears to be an example of

Answer 15

sympatric speciation

Question 16

When cross-pollination is attempted between two closely related species of violets, it is found that the pollen of species A cannot reach the egg of species B because it lacks the proper enzyme to travel down to the location of the egg. Likewise, the pollen of species B cannot reach the egg of species A. This phenomenon is an example of

Answer 16

a prezygotic isolating mechanism

Question 17

What does the biological species concept use as the primary criterion for determining species boundaries?

Answer 17

reproductive isolation

Question 18

American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) and European sycamore (Platanus orientalis) are tree species that will interbreed if planted nearby but will not normally interbreed because they occur on different continents. This is an example of

Answer 18

habitat isolation

Question 19

Development of an animal is connected to the genes that are expressed during development. What roles have been proposed for Hox genes in the evolution and morphology of animal species?

Answer 19

Variation in the number of Hox genes is associated with the evolution of animal diversity.

Question 20

The general lineage species concept emphasizes

Answer 20

evolutionary independence

Question 21

Which of the following does NOT tend to promote speciation?

Answer 21

increased gene flow

Question 22

If two populations are geographically restricted groups of the same species, but display one or more traits that are somewhat different, the two groups are sometimes classified as

Answer 22

subspecies

Question 23

Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are plants that asexually produce fruitlike propagules. Sexual reproduction is very rare in this organism. Which species concept would be least useful in defining dandelions as a species?

Answer 23

biological species concept

Question 24

Approximately 3.5 million years ago the Isthmus of Panama formed. This new landmass severed the connection between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. An ancestral fish population (porkfish) was split in two by this event; the two populations no longer interbreed and are two distinct species. This type of speciation is called:

Answer 24

allopatric speciation

Question 25

Many forensic techniques, such as fingerprint or bite mark matching, would be improved greatly by…

Answer 25

calculation of potential error rates.

Question 26

Fingerprint matching in forensics has come under scrutiny because…

Answer 26

matching techniques are not standardized and matches are often the opinion of one expert.

Question 27

Which of the following would NOT significantly help to reduce the potential for incorrect matches when a forensic expert compares fingerprints between an evidence sample and a set of suspects?

Answer 27

asking the same forensic expert to repeat the match analysis

Question 28

Which of the following is a reason why the use of DNA fingerprinting in forensics might be considered more scientific than other approaches?

Answer 28

DNA matching applies a well-developed statistical approach.

Question 29

An overarching problem with the use of forensic evidence in court cases bas been that…

Answer 29

the high reliability and certainty of the conclusions is often misrepresented.

Question 30

Most fingerprint matches are carried out by computer algorithms.

Answer 30

False

Question 31

Say you are serving on a jury and are presented with evidence of a bullet from a crime scene with striation patterns matching that of a bullet shot from a suspect’s gun. A good follow up question to this piece of evidence would be…

Answer 31

How likely is it that the striations patterns on this bullet could be matched to another gun?

Question 32

Which of the following would make a characteristic a poor choice for forensic identity matching?

Answer 32

low variability across individuals

Question 33

In any form of identity matching (e.g. DNA fingerprints or bullets striations), with more points of comparison…

Answer 33

the certainty of the match or mismatch increases.

Question 34

Forensic experts may claim that error rates in suspect identification are low. However, the problem with this claim is that…

Answer 34

it has not been well tested, as relatively few identifications have been assessed for validity.

Question 35

Every human fingerprint is unique (applying current methods of analysis).

Answer 35

unknown

Question 36

Following the train bombing in Madrid in 2004, Brandon Mayfield was wrongfully detained based upon an incorrect fingerprint match. This case was particularly important because it revealed that…

Answer 36

fingerprint matching is not infallible

Question 37

In a study by Dr. Itiel Dror and colleagues, it was found that 4 out of 5 forensic examiners changed their conclusions regarding a fingerprint match when the details presented about the cases were different. This revealed patterns of…

Answer 37

cognitive bias

Question 38

Recently, many wrongful convictions have been uncovered using…

Answer 38

DNA evidence