Exam 3 Quiz Questions

Question 1

What is biological evolution?

Answer 1

the gene changes occurring in populations over many generations

Question 2

How do scientists determine the dates of fossils?

Answer 2

measure the ratio of a radioactive element to the decay products

Question 3

What evidence shows the similarities between humans and apes?

Answer 3

the DNA, development, and adult anatomy

Question 4

Most biologists would agree that the statement “All modern organisms derive from a single common ancestor” is ________.

Answer 4

an accepted scientific theory

Question 5

Why is special creation not considered a scientific explanation for the diversity of life on earth?

Answer 5

Special creation involves a supernatural creator, which is not observable or measurable in the material universe.

Question 6

How do genetic engineering techniques lend support to the theory of common descent?

Answer 6

Genes from one organism can be moved to a very different organism and still code for the same protein.

Question 7

Which description would be considered a scientific theory like the theory of evolution?

Answer 7

a theory about why an apple falls to the ground when dropped

Question 8

Why can evolution in mosquitoes be more easily observed than evolution in a population of squirrels?

Answer 8

Mosquitoes have a shorter generation time.

Question 9

In land mammals, the pelvic girdle is the point where the leg bones attach to the rest of the skeleton. Whales also have a small pelvic girdle. What type of evidence for common descent would include the whale’s pelvic girdle?

Answer 9

A vestigial structure (non-functional structure that is functional in a different species)

Question 10

Why are fossils from older species found deeper in the earth than those from more recent species?

Answer 10

Layers of sediments accumulate every year, covering older fossils in more layers.

Question 11

What type of evidence for the theory of common descent would include the nonfunctional wings of an ostrich?

Answer 11

Vestigial structures

Question 12

How are a bat’s wing, a sea lion’s flipper, and a lion’s front leg related?

Answer 12

They are all homologous structures (homology)

Question 13

Of the four hypotheses that explain the origin of modern organisms, which is the one with the least scientific support?

Answer 13

The static hypothesis
The Earth is not 10,000 years old

Question 14

True or false: Evolution is a very controversial idea among scientists.

Answer 14

False

Question 15

How would evolutionary biologists define the fitness of an organism?

Answer 15

the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce

Question 16

How do antibiotics cause evolution in a population of tuberculosis bacteria?

Answer 16

Antibiotics kill bacteria without resistance, leaving only resistant bacteria.

Question 17

A population of foxes lives in an area in which the average winter temperature has been dropping for several years. Which adaptation would be most likely?

Answer 17

The exact adaptation depends on the genetic variation present in the population.

Question 18

If a population of fruit flies is exposed to a food source with high alcohol content, what would happen to the population?

Answer 18

Individuals who are not tolerant of the ethanol would die, and individuals who are naturally tolerant would survive.

Question 19

What is the source of variation in a population?

Answer 19

spontaneous mutations

Question 20

Snakes are reptiles. Most reptiles have limbs. What relationship probably exists between snakes and limbed reptiles?

Answer 20

Being legless offered an advantage in one environment that allowed snakes to evolve from limbed reptiles.

Question 21

How do bacterial mutations make bacteria resistant to antibiotics?

Answer 21

The mutation either disables or counteracts the antibiotic so the bacteria can live in the presence of antibiotics.

Question 22

What is evolution? (in relation to reproductive fitness)

Answer 22

a process that occurs as a result of differences in reproductive fitness

Question 23

A city was intensively sprayed with DDT to control houseflies. The number of houseflies was immediately greatly reduced. Each year thereafter, the city was sprayed again, but the flies gradually increased in numbers until 10 years later, when they were almost as abundant as they were when the control program began. Which of the following most likely explains this?

Answer 23

The DDT killed most flies. The few that were already naturally resistant survived and passed this resistance on to their offspring.

Question 24

A biologist has been studying two populations of trout in Montana for the last 25 years, when the two populations were established from one common population. In the southern population, the fish now have a slightly different mouth shape. But the northern population hasn’t changed from the original type. The new shape works well in catching the type of prey common in the habitat of the southern population. Which is the best explanation for the gene differences in the two populations?

Answer 24

The gene that produces the variation is probably still present in a small percentage of the northern population, but since there’s no advantage to having it, individuals with the variation aren’t selected.

Question 25

Which description applies to individuals who are well adapted for a particular environment?

Answer 25

They may or may not be equally fit in another environment.

Question 26

You are culturing bacteria from a source that has never been exposed to antibiotic. Could any bacteria in the population have the trait of resistance?

Answer 26

It is possible, but not definite, that some bacteria in the culture have the trait even without exposure.

Question 27

What term includes the variety of species in an area of interest?

Answer 27

Biodiversity

Question 28

The North Atlantic Right Whale, Eubalaena glacialis, was called the “right whale” because they were the best whale for early whalers to kill. They have long baleen and lots of blubber and oil. When killed, they could be towed back to land for processing because they float. They once numbered in the millions, but the entire population of the species is now less than 400. The history of the right whale is an example of
(which contributor to extinction)

Answer 28

Overexploitation of the whale population

Question 29

Which organism comprises the largest and bottom base level of the trophic pyramid?

Answer 29

Producers (plants, organisms that turn sunlight into energy)

Question 30

North America is currently experiencing an unprecedented and rapid loss of species. What is believed to be the main trigger of such events, either directly or indirectly?

Answer 30

Human activity

Question 31

Ants from the genus Pseudomyrmex live in bull’s horn acacia trees, Acacia cornigera. The ants will attack any predators of the tree. In return, the ants live protected in the thorns of the tree and eat the nectar and protein-rich secretions of the tree. What term describes this relationship?

Answer 31

Mutualism

Question 32

Extracts of the rosy periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus, have provided medicine with vincristine and vinblastine, drugs now available for treating cancer. What human action promotes the ability to find this species of plant and discover its potential use for medicines?
(method of preventing extinction)

Answer 32

Preserving biodiversity

Question 33

During the 1980s, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after decades of absence due to attempted extermination in the early part of the 20th century. Within 20 years, not only had the wolf population increased, but there was also a dramatic increase in other species, such as aspen, cottonwood, and willow trees, beavers, warblers, insects, and fish. These changes in Yellowstone Park are examples of how important a(n) ________ can be to an ecosystem.

Answer 33

Keystone species

Question 34

Which description applies to a food chain?

Answer 34

A series of organisms through which energy flows from plants to predators

Question 35

What is the single most important cause of species endangerment at the present time?

Answer 35

Habitat destruction

Question 36

How can eating less meat help to protect vulnerable species?

Answer 36

Reduces the amount of land needed for agriculture

Question 37

True or false: As a consumer, you can influence how commercial products affect biodiversity.

Answer 37

True

Question 38

True or false: There is evidence that experiences with nature can affect human physical health.

Answer 38

True
Psychological effects are a result of extinction

Question 39

True or false: The successful introduction of exotic species to a new location is generally a good thing because it increases biological diversity in the region.

Answer 39

False
Introduction of nonnative species can contribute to extinction

Question 40

True or false: Habitat damage or destruction directly threatens 80-90% of all endangered plants, mammals, and birds.

Answer 40

True

Question 41

Although the carrying capacity of a population is determined by food availability, what other factor affects the carrying capacity?

Answer 41

Clean air and water

Question 42

Approximately how many people are on Earth today?

Answer 42

7.5 billion

Question 43

As the Industrial Revolution took place, there was a decrease in infant mortality. What situation resulted from the decrease in infant mortality?

Answer 43

Increase in population growth rate (birth rate-death rate)

Question 44

How does the population pyramid of India, a rapidly growing population with many young people, compare to the population pyramid of the United States, a slower-growing population with evenly distributed ages?

Answer 44

India has greater potential for high levels of demographic momentum

Question 45

In spite of natural factors that might influence human population growth rates, why might population growth in some areas appear to be declining?

Answer 45

Humans are choosing not to have children

Question 46

On a graph of population change over a period of time, what represents exponential growth?

Answer 46

An almost vertical line

Question 47

True or false: Net primary productivity (NPP) is likely to change as climate changes.

Answer 47

True

Question 48

What factor would result in an increased mortality in a population due to increased competition for water?

Answer 48

Density-dependent factor

Question 49

Which energy source is a nonrenewable resource?

Answer 49

Natural gas

Question 50

Which factor could reduce the carrying capacity of a habitat for a population of rabbits?

Answer 50

Extended draught in the habitat

Question 51

Which is a density-independent factor?

Answer 51

Draught