Quiz 1 Flashcards
Charles Darwin …
a. was born over 200 years ago.
b. had a grandfather who also was an evolutionist.
c. published “The Origin of Species…” in 1859
d. went on a voyage around the world as a young man.
e. All of the above are true.
E. All of the above are true.
Biological evolution by natural selection …
a. favors health and longevity over numbers of offspring produced
b. is an intrinsically progressive mechanism for biological improvement
c. did not explain how species could become adapted to their environments
d. was independently proposed by Alfred Russell Wallace
e. has reached its most advanced point with the evolution of humans
D. was independently proposed by Alfred Russell Wallace
Charles Darwin’s theory of the process of biological evolution by natural selection was incomplete because he …
a. lacked an understanding of how traits were passed from parents to offspring.
b. did not recognize that sexual reproduction was a source of variation.
c. failed to see the analogy between artificial selection and natural selection.
d. coined the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ to mean health of the best adapted.
e. failed to see how evolution is just an extension of development.
A. lacked an understanding of how traits were passed from parents to offspring
Natural selection …
a. is analogous to Aristotle’s notion of final cause
b. was roughly modeled after the logic of selective breeding by farmers
c. is progress by lucky accident
d. was also proposed by Lamarck
e. is a fact
B. was roughly modeled after the logic of selective breeding by farmers
Are humans more evolved than chimpanzees? And are chimpanzees more evolved than dogs and cats? Explain.
No, certain species are not “more” or “less” evolved than others. All of them stemmed from a universal common ancestor and have been evolving since then to fit their respective niches. Just because an organism is complex does not mean that it is more evolved; evolution is not progressive.
What is misleading about the phrase “survival of the fittest” as an explanation of natural selection? How would you reinterpret it to be more accurate?
The phrase “survival of the fittest” is often misinterpreted to mean that the organisms favored by natural selection are the strongest, smartest, or biggest of their species. However, natural selection really favors whichever organisms are able to reproduce most successfully and pass on their genes; essentially, the “fittest” ones are really the “fittedest” because they are best adapted to their respective environments.
Babies who weigh below 2 kg and above 5 kg at birth have very high mortality rates. What kind of selection does this produce?
This is stabilizing selection, which selects against either extreme phenotype.
Name or describe a trait found in some bird species and in some mammal species that is an analogous trait; name one that is a homologous trait.
A homologous trait is something that is common to multiple species due to shared ancestry, like the similar bone structure of a human arm and a whale’s flipper. An analogous trait is something that evolved separately but ended up serving the same function, like the wing of a bird and the wing of a bat.
