Name: _______________________________
Date:__________________ Pd: _____
Evolution Test Review KEY
1. As a naturalist, Darwin observed what islands? Galapagos Islands What observations did he make on
those islands? Darwin noticed that the finches from different places looked different for a reason. The
reason was that the beak of one finch may be used differently than another finch for resources.
2. What is survival of the fittest? The idea that species adapt and change by natural selection with the
best suited mutations becoming dominant.
3. What is artificial selection? Give an example of a group of people who practice artificial selection? The
intentional breeding for certain traits or combinations of traits.
4. What was Darwin’s theory? All life is related and descended from a common ancestor. Descent with
modification: complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time.
5. What is a vestigial structure? Traces of homologous organs that are no longer used by the modern
organism. Example: appendix or whales’ femur/pelvis
6. What is a homologous structure? Body parts that have different mature forms but develop from the
same embryonic tissues: evidence of descent from a common ancestor. Ex: human arm, cat, bat,
whale
7. What evidence did Darwin use to support his theory of evolution? Fossil record, homologous structures,
similarities in embryology, vestigial structures, comparative biochemistry
8. Natural selection is also known as: survival of the fittest, the strong will adapt and survive. Produce
individuals that are better adapted to their environment. It doesn’t act on individuals but on populations.
9. What is a mutation and when is a mutation considered helpful? If they lead to a trait in the organism
that helps it survive better in it’s environment
10. What is an adaptation? Physical or behavioral characteristic that has developed to allow an organism to
better survive in it’s environment
11. What is a gene pool? The total number of genes of every individual in an interbreeding population.
12. What will happen to a species (organism) that lacks variation that allows it to adapt to its environment?
It will die off.
13. What is the term for a feature that allows an organism to survive better in its environment? Adaptation
14. All the individuals of a species that live in a particular area are called a species
15. The remnant of an organ that had a function in an early ancestor is known as a(n) vestigial structure.
16. What is the process in which humans breed organisms for certain traits? Artificial selection
17. What type of isolation occurs when the timing of reproduction is different between two populations?
Temporal Isolation
18. Coevolution is a process in which species…? Two species evolve in response to each other over time
because they work together. Ex: flower and a bee
19. A river has cut a deep canyon that has separated a population of rodents into two groups. This
separation is an example of what type of isolation? Geographic Isolation
20. The first organisms on Earth were most like today’s bacteria
21. What is the fossil record? How does it provide evidence for evolution? Collective accumulation of
artifacts which have been fossilized all over the world. It infers what past life forms were like, groups of
similar organisms together, and arranges them in order from which they lived.
22. What is convergent evolution? Unrelated organisms in similar environments evolve to look remarkably
similar to each other. Ex: shark and dolphin
23. The similarity in structures among organisms is one form of evidence that organisms…? Share a
common ancestor.
24. What boat did Darwin travel on? HMS Beagle
25. What defines a species? A group of organisms that can breed together and produce fertile offspring.
26. What is extinction? Process by which an organism dies out.
27. What is common decent? Share a common ancestor.
28. What is ‘fitness’? The ability to both survive and reproduce and pass on those traits.
29. What are the Hardy-Weinberg Equation’s? P + Q = 1 and P2 + 2PQ + Q2=1
30. What percentage of all animals are extinct? More than 99%
31. What are the two types of fossil dating? Radioactive Dating & Relative Dating
32. What is the difference of macro- and micro- evolution? Macro-evolution is large scale evolutionary
processes occurring over long periods of time, transcending the boundaries of a single species. Microevolution is evolution on a small scale within a single species.
33. What seven things did Hardy and Weinberg say could happen in a population that would cause
evolution NOT to occur?
1. mutation is not occurring
5. all mating is totally random
2. natural selection is not occurring
6. everyone produces the same number of offspring
3. the population is infinitely large
4. all members of the population breed
7. there is no migration in or out of the population
34. What is the order of the classification system from most broad to most similar?
a. Kingdom
King
b. Phylum
Phillip
c. Class
Came
d. Order
Over
e. Family
For
f.
Great
Genus
g. Species
Spaghetti
35. What are all of the rules when writing a scientific name? The scientific name must be typed in italics or
if it is written it must be underlined. The first word must be capitalized, the second word is lowercase.
The first word of the scientific name is the genus and the second word is the species.
36. What is a cladogram? Diagram showing how organisms are related based on shared, derived
characteristics such as feathers, hair, or scales.
37. What is a dichotomous key? A key used to identify organisms, where the characteristics are listed in
pairs and you narrow down the answer based upon elimination.