Test 1

Question 1

An accurate biological definition of evolution is the change in ..?.. over a long period of time.

Answer 1

the genetic makeup of a population

Question 2

What concept in his theory of evolution did Charles Darwin acquire from the writings of Thomas Malthus?

Answer 2

the potential for organisms to overpopulate

Question 3

What is a key element of Jean Baptiste de Lamarck’s theory of evolution?

Answer 3

Characteristics acquired by parents during their lifetimes can be passed down to offspring.

Question 4

Charles Lyell was an advocate of:

Answer 4

uniformitatianism

Question 5

T or F: One of the observations that Darwin found to be perplexing in his travels on the HMS Beagle was that animals on one island in an archipelago were nearly identical to animals on a neighboring island.

Answer 5

False

Question 6

T or F: Darwin discovered that animals on the Galapagos Islands were similar to animals on the South American mainland.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

The selective breeding of animals and pants by humans is also known as ..?.. selection.

Answer 7

artificial selection

Question 8

Who synthesized a concept of natural selection independently of Charles Darwin?

Answer 8

Alfred Russell Wallace

Question 9

One of the assumptions involved in the concept of natural selection is that:

Answer 9

the world does not have enough resources to support increasing populations

Question 10

Which of the following “best: describes natural selection?

(i) processes that change the genetic makeup of an individual
(ii) random elimination of alleles from the gene pool
(iii) chance of variation in traits
(iv) differential survival and reproduction of individuals
(v) inheritance of traits that parents acquire during their lifetimes

Answer 10

(iv) differential survival and reproduction of individuals.

Question 11

T or F: Population genetics developed as a “new” way of looking at evolutionary biology after Gregor Mendel’s work was rediscovered in the 1880’s.

Answer 11

False

Question 12

A Description of all the alleles at all the gene loci of a population is the:

Answer 12

gene pool

Question 13

In a population with two alleles, the frequency of the A allele is 0.3. What is the frequency of the a allele?

Answer 13

0.7 is the frequency of the a allele

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true about the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

(i) the population is not evolving
(ii) the population size is low
(iii) Individuals in the population select mates with phenotypes similar to their own
(iv) It is impossible to predict genotype frequencies in this population
(v) Migration of individuals out of the population frequently occurs

Answer 14

(i) the population is not evolving

Question 15

Dominant alleles in a population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium:

Answer 15

remain at a constant frequency indefinitely

Question 16

In peas, a gene that controls flower color comes in two alleles; the allele R, codes for red flowers and is completely dominant over the recessive allele r that codes for white flowers. In an isolated patch of pea plants, thee are 64 red flowers and 36 white flowers. Assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, what is the frequency of the homozygous recessive genotypes in this population?

Answer 16

0.36

Question 17

For a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of the heterozygous genotypes in the population can be calculated by?

Answer 17

2pq

Question 18

What process creates new alleles in gene pools?

Answer 18

mutation

Question 19

a particular mutation that increases reproductive success in an individual is likely to:

Answer 19

be maintained by natural selection

Question 20

In the diploid, sexually-reproducing species of vampire, Lamia edwardii, the mutation rate is about 10^-9 changes per base pair of DNA per generation. A gamete of Lamia edwardii has about 4x10^-9 base pairs of DNA. The number of new point mutations pr sperm cell would be estimated to be:

Answer 20

4

Question 21

A small population of fruit flies that was once connected to a larger one but is now isolated is no longer experiencing:

Answer 21

gene flow

Question 22

An allele in the gene pool of the Western NC cardinal population would be considered “fixed” if:

Answer 22

it is the only allele at that gene locus in the gene pool.

Question 23

Which of the following was the bottleneck event that occurred in Illinois between 1820 and 1993 resulting in a reduction in genetic variability in the gene pool of the greater prairie chicken?

Answer 23

loss of habitat due to human encroachment

Question 24

The common ancestor of the “Darwin’s finches” left mainland South America to populate the “finch-less” Galapagos Islands. The evolutionary mechanism in action on the gene pools of the island populations was an example of:

Answer 24

a founder’s effect

Question 25

“Assortative mating: refers to situations where:

Answer 25

individuals choose mates with phenotypes similar to their own.

Question 26

Female Mormon crickets prefer to mate with males who produce and display a large sperm packet from their abdomens.
(choose the appropriate term)
sexual selection
stabilizing selection
artificial selection
directional selection
disruptive selection

Answer 26

sexual selection

Question 27

Finches on Santa Cruz Island (in the Galagapos) were discovered to have a distribution of beak sizes where the highest frequencies were for small beaks and large beaks; there were few finches with intermediate beak sizes.
(choose the appropriate term)
sexual selection
stabilizing selection
artificial selection
directional selection
disruptive selection

Answer 27

disruptive selection

Question 28

Giraffes with longer necks are more likely to reach leaves that high in trees, which increases their chance of survival compared to giraffes with shorter necks that may not be able to reach those leaves.
(choose the appropriate term)
sexual selection
stabilizing selection
artificial selection
directional selection
disruptive selection

Answer 28

directional selection

Question 29

In many species of birds, females that lay an intermediate number of eggs have the greatest reproductive success; those that lay too many or too few eggs have less reproductive success.
(choose the appropriate term)
sexual selection
stabilizing selection
artificial selection
directional selection
disruptive selection

Answer 29

stabilizing selection

Question 30

Based on the concept developed by Charles Darwin, when Species A is more “fit” than Species B, then Species A ..?.. than Species B.

Answer 30

is more successful at reproducing

Question 31

Using morphological species concept to identify a species requires comparison of a “test” organism to a standard called the:

Answer 31

type specimen

Question 32

The biologist who proposed the “biological species concept” was:

Answer 32

Ernst Mayr

Question 33

T or F: Reproductive isolation is the common feature of the morphological species concept, the biological species concept, and the lineage species concept.

Answer 33

True

Question 34

The Bishop pine opens its cones for pollination between April and June, whereas pollination of the Monterey Pine occurs in January and February. The reproductive isolating mechanism that maintains the species integrity of these pine species is:

Answer 34

temporal

Question 35

A characteristic unique to allopatric speciation is:

Answer 35

geographic isolation

Question 36

Many important crops species are polyploids. Polyploids result from events during:

Answer 36

meiosis

Question 37

A new species of apple maggot fly is emerging in North America due to a shift in niche involving a subset of the ancestral fly population. This is an example of ..?.. in the animal kingdom.

Answer 37

sympatric speciation

Question 38

Among the cichlid species living in Lake Victoria, a hybrid of two parent species is just as fit as the parent species. “T or F”: Fusion of the gene pools is occurring, where reproductive barriers between the hybrid and parent species are breaking down.

Answer 38

This state is True

Question 39

The Hawaiian Islands are a great showcase of evolution because intense:

Answer 39

allopatric speciation and adaptive radiation