Exam 2 Flashcards
derived from quizzes
Speciation is a form of
macroevolution
Which evolutionary effect would be most likely to occur if a small part of a population relocated to a new area?
The founder effect
The insecticide DDT is used to control mosquitoes that carry malaria; however, some mosquito populations are now resistant to DDT because of
Artificial selection
Which process will decrease the magnitude of phenotypic variation between generations?
Stabalizing selection
The primary difference between artificial selection and natural selection is
natural selection only selects for traits that increase fitness
What is the assumption used when arranging species on a phylogenetic tree?
Organisms with the most traits in common are the most closely related.
Why does evolution require that traits be inherited?
Increased fitness must be passed on to offspring.
What is not a primary source of genetic variation?
genetic drift
sexual reproduction is, mutation is, recombination is.
The difference between the processes involved in allopatric speciation and sympatric speciation is:
allopatric speciation requires geographic isolation.
What is the relationship between genes and alleles?
alleles are different forms of a particular gene
Which is not a common environmental cue?
Population size
Two reasons for trade-off between offspring size and offspring number are:
physical limitations and nutrient availability
Which would you expect from an organism with low annual survival?
reproduction beginning at an early age
Why do some species of plants flower earlier in warmer spring temperatures when other spring plants do not?
The plants that flower earlier are more sensitive to temperature.
An organism that only reproduces once is known as:
semelparous
Why might natural selection act more strongly on traits that improve reproductive success early in life rather than later in life?
Many organisms do not survive to reach the age where the traits increase survival
Why might an increased number of offspring with higher parental care be selected against?
Increased parental care can decrease the subsequent fitness of the parent.
Using Grimes categorization, which method of dispersal would be expected from ruderals?
wind-dispersed seeds
All of the following explain why trade-offs among life history traits are common EXCEPT
the lack of constant environments
Why do organisms face a trade-off between growth and fecundity?
limited energy
The benefits of sexual reproduction include:
purging of mutations
Extra-pair copulation had favored the development of
mate guarding
Why does the less common sex in a population have a higher fitness?
Members contribute more genes on average per offspring
Why might exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics in males demonstrate a superior genotype to females?
They often reduce fitness, which signifies a better genotype for survival.
Which does local mate competition favor?
A female-biased offspring ratio
When might environmental sex determination be an adaptive strategy?
When offspring of each gender can survive better in different conditions
Given that self-fertilization can lead to inbreeding depression, under what conditions should a hermaphrodite use self-fertilization?
When population density is low
Which mating system is favored when the males can make important contributions to raising the offspring?
monogamy
The Red Queen hypothesis states that
sexual reproduction can increase resistance to parasites
When the fitness increment of increased male function results in a larger cost in fitness through female function
Hermaphrodites will have a fitness advantage
How does a haplodiploid sex-determination system favor the evolution of eusociality?
It increases the relatedness of the group.
How does relatedness in the immediate families of haplodiploid organisms and diploid organisms differ?
In haplodiploid organisms brothers and sisters are less closely related than in diploid organisms.
Why are selfish behaviors less favored when the donor and recipient are related to each other?
They cause an indirect reduction in fitness for the donor.
What species is evidence that a haplodiploid sex-determination system is not required for the evolution of eusociality?
mole rats
Which behavior reduces the fitness of both the donor and recipient?
spitefulness
The dilution effect refers to
the reduced probability that any single animal in a group will be caught by a predator
Under what conditions would natural selection favor living in large groups?
in a species that hunts large animals
How could helping a relative improve fitness?
The relative will pass on the helper’s genes
Why might individuals give up defending their territories if the population density increases?
Due to the increased difficulty of defending the territory
What is the coefficient of relatedness for the offspring of an individual?
0.5
