Previous Quizzes / Midterm Flashcards
Which of the following statements is TRUE about the evolution of social behaviors?
- spitefulness cannot be explained by kin selection
- altruistic behavior continues only if rB < c
- Reciprocal altruism only occurs among related individuals
- parent-offspring conflict is caused by the different amounts of parental investment required to reach the maximum inclusive fitness for the parents vs the offspring
E. the dilution effect is one of the costs of being social
D. parent-offspring conflict is caused by the different amounts of parental investment required to reach the maximum inclusive fitness for the parents vs the offspring
What type of fossils are the 200 million year old dinosaur tracks in Rocky Hill, CT?
a. natural molds and casts
b. trace fossils
c. permineralized fossils
d. amber
e. permafrost fossils
b. trace fossils
which of the following is TRUE about the cambrian explosion:
a. a major factor enabled the cambrian explosion was the extinction of large, dominant animals which creates new ecological niches for smaller animals
b. Key innovations in body plans was likely to be a major driving force for the Cambrian explosion.
C. Co-evolution with flowering plants was an important driving force for the Cambrian explosion of the tremendous diversity of animal forms.
D. A and B are correct.
E. B and C are correct.
B. Key innovations in body plans was likely to be a major driving force for the Cambrian explosion.
What are the major mechanisms determining biogeographical patterns:
A.
Adaptive radiation and Key innovation
B.
Vicariance and Dispersal
C.
Coevolution and Mimicry
D.
Origination rate and extinction rate
E.
Punctuated equilibrium and Phyletic gradualism
B - vicariance and dispersal
Hominin fossils are:
A.
all extinct species that are more closely related to chimpanzees than to modern humans
B.
all extinct species that are more closely related to modern humans than to chimpanzees
C.
extinct species belonging to the genus Homo
D.
extinct species that is the most recent common ancestor of all modern humans
E.
extinct species that are less than 1.8 million years old
B. all extinct species that are more closely related to modern humans than to chimpanzees
Incomplete lineage sorting is a major mechanism causing discrepancies among gene trees and between gene tree and species tree. Under which of the following conditions we would expect incomplete lineage sorting to be prevalent?
A.
High allelic polymorphism in the ancestral species and rapid speciation
B.
Low allelic polymorphism in the ancestral species and rapid speciation
C.
High allelic polymorphism in the ancestral species and slow speciation
D.
Low allelic polymorphism in the ancestral species and slow speciation
E.
Low allelic polymorphism in the ancestral species and intermediate speciation rate
A.
High allelic polymorphism in the ancestral species and rapid speciation
Which of the following constitutes the largest component of most eukaryotic genomes:
A.
Introns
B.
Transposable elements
C.
Protein coding DNA
D.
Small RNAs
E.
Hox genes
B.
Transposable elements
Wild grapes are usually deep purple with high anthocyanin concentration, what causes the green color of the grape varieties that are common in the supermarket?
A.
A transposable element inserted into the regulatory region of an anthocyanin-activating gene, leading to its lack of expression.
B.
A loss-of-function mutation occurred in the coding DNA of an anthocyanin-activating gene, knocking out its function.
C.
The gene activating anthocyanin production in the wild grapes was disrupted due to a chromosomal inversion.
D.
A reciprocal translocation event split the original anthocyanin-activating gene into two different chromosomes.
E.
A new small RNA evolved in the green grape varieties and silenced the anthocyanin-activating gene.
A.
A transposable element inserted into the regulatory region of an anthocyanin-activating gene, leading to its lack of expression.
Which of the following is NOT a major insight offered by evo-devo studies:
A.
Many regulatory genes controlling animal body plans are deeply conserved
B.
Expression change in a single developmental gene can lead to major morphological change.
C.
Morphological evolution can readily occur through changes in cis-regulatory elements.
D.
Functionally similar but anatomically different structures (e.g., human and insect legs) usually involve completely different genetic underpinnings.
E.
Evolution often retools pre-existing features that adapted to other functions to enable the emergence of new forms or functions.
D.
Functionally similar but anatomically different structures (e.g., human and insect legs) usually involve completely different genetic underpinnings.
Which of the following statements about standing genetic variation is FALSE
A.
Most natural populations of outcrossing species, including humans, contain a lot of standing genetic variation.
B.
Many deleterious alleles can be maintained in a population with low frequency for a long time due to their invisibility to natural selection when they are heterozygous.
C.
Adaptive alleles can arise from standing genetic variation in the ancestral gene pool when the envirnoment changes.
D.
The equilibrium frequency of a deletorious allele in a population is equal to the square root of the mutation rate.
E.
The existence of many rare human genetic diseases can be explained by the mutation-selection balance.
D.
The equilibrium frequency of a deletorious allele in a population is equal to the square root of the mutation rate.
Which of the following is NOT considered genome re-arrangement:
A.
Chromosome fission
B.
Gene co-option
C.
Reciprocal translocation
D.
Chromosome fusion
E.
Inversion
B.
Gene co-option
All teleost fish species have two copies of the sodium channel genes SCN4A: scn4aa and scn4ab. Based on the phylogenetic tree below, the Zebrafish scn4aa and Zebrafish scn4ab are ___________, whereas the Channel catfish scn4ab and Zebrafish scn4ab are ___________.
A.
paralogs; orthologs
B.
orthologs; paralogs
C.
orthologs; orthologs
D.
whole genome duplications; segmental duplications
E.
segmental duplications; whole genome duplications
A.
paralogs; orthologs
Which of the following statements is FALSE concerning molecular evolution?
A.
Proponents of the neutral theory of molecular evolution believe that most substitutions are fixed by genetic drift.
B.
Synonymous substitutions usually have no effect on the protein being made, and are considered more or less neutral.
C.
Mutations create new alleles, while substitutions are fixed mutations.
D.
The seemingly constant rate of amino acid substitutions in the cytochrome c protein among mammals is largely driven by natural selection.
E.
Different genes can have very different evolutionary rates
D.
The seemingly constant rate of amino acid substitutions in the cytochrome c protein among mammals is largely driven by natural selection.
Which of the following statement about the SARS-COV-2 virus is TRUE?
A.
The Omicron strain has accumulated a large number of substitutions compared to the ancestral strain because it has a higher mutation rate compared to other strains (e.g., Beta).
B.
The massive number of nonsynonymous substitutions relative to synonymous substitutions in the Omicron strain compared to the ancesstral (referecne) strain indicates that Omicron has been subjected to strong positive selection before the outbreak in the beginning of 2022.
C.
If we want to design a new vaccine that most effectively prevent a future outbreak (e.g., next year), we should design the vaccine based on the Omicron sequence, as it is the most widely circulating strain right now.
D.
Delta is the ancestor of Omicron
E.
Evolution of the SARS-COV-2 genome does not appear to follow a molecular clock.
B.
The massive number of nonsynonymous substitutions relative to synonymous substitutions in the Omicron strain compared to the ancesstral (referecne) strain indicates that Omicron has been subjected to strong positive selection before the outbreak in the beginning of 2022.
When we use characters (be it morphological or molecular) to infer the phylogenetic relationships of a group of species, an important assumption that we are making is that these characters are ________ among the species
A.
homoplasious
B.
convergent
C.
monophyletic
D.
non-monophyletic
E.
homologous
E.
homologous
Which of the following statments about morphology, DNA sequence, protein sequence, and retrotransposon insertions as phylogenetic characters is FALSE?
A.
Reversals are less likely to happen to DNA sequences than protein sequences
B.
An advantage of morphological characters over molecular data is that one can incorporate fossils into the phylogeny.
C.
An advantage of molecular data over morphological characters is that one can use highly conserved genes or proteins to reconstruct deep phylogenies across a wider range of organisms (e.g., the tree of all life forms).
D.
An advantage of molecular data over morphological characters is that scientists can generate massively more data for the former than the latter.
E.
Homoplasy is less likely to happen to retrotransposon insertions than DNA sequences.
A.
Reversals are less likely to happen to DNA sequences than protein sequences
