The LEAST effective means of controlling pest
species such as rats or roaches over a long
period of time is generally to
a. limit food supplies.
b. reduce the number of potential habitats.
c. distribute pesticides throughout the habitat.
d. introduce predators of the pest.
e. introduce a disease which affects only the pest.
answer: c
In a population at equilibrium, thousands of eggs
and hundreds of tadpoles are produced by a
single pair of frogs. About how many offspring
will live to maturity and reproduce?
a. 0
b. 2
c. 10-20
d. 100
e. more than 100
answer: b
Two fossil vertebrates, each representing a
different class, are found in the undisturbed rock
layers of a cliff. One fossil is a representation of
the earliest amphibians. The other fossil, found
in an older rock layer below the amphibians, is
most likely to be
a. a dinosaur.
b. a fish.
c. an insectivorous mammal.
d. a snake.
e. a bird.
answer: b
The bones of a human arm are homologous to
structures in all of the following EXCEPT a
a. whale flipper.
b. bat wing.
c. butterfly wing.
d. bird wing.
e. frog forelimb.
answer: c
Some varieties of Neisseria gonorrhoeae are now
resistant to penicillin. These varieties of bacteria
most probably developed as a result of
a. natural selection.
b. hybrid vigor.
c. coevolution.
d. adaptive radiation.
e. convergent evolution.
answer: a
The differences in cricket calls among sympatric
species of crickets are examples of
a. habitat isolation.
b. temporal isolation.
c. physiological isolation.
d. behavioral isolation.
e. geographic isolation.
answer: d
Which of the following statements best describes
the effect of genetic drift on the gene frequencies
of a population?
a.Genes enter a population through immigration
thus changing gene frequencies.
b. Genes leave a population through emigration
thus changing gene frequencies.
c. Chance alone can cause significant changes
in gene frequencies of small populations.
d. Mutations over time cause gene frequencies
to change.
e. Selection against one allele causes gene
frequencies to change.
answer: c
Which of the following is an acceptable
definition of evolution?
a. a change in the phenotypic makeup of a
population.
b. a change in the genetic makeup of a
population
c. a change in the environmental conditions
d. a change in the genotypic makeup of an
individual
e. a change in the species composition of a
community
answer: b
Anatomical structures that show similar function
but dissimilar embryonic and evolutionary
background are said to be
a. homologous.
b. primitive.
c. analogous.
d. monophyletic.
e. polyphylectic.
answer: c
Natural selection is based on all the following
EXCEPT:
a. variation exists within populations.
a. the fittest individuals leave the most offspring.
c. there is differential reproductive success
within populations.
d. populations tend to produce more individuals
than the environment can support.
e. individuals must adapt to their environment.
answer: e
The statement “Improving the intelligence of an
adult through education will result in the adult’s
descendants being born with a greater native
intelligence” is an example of
a. Darwinism
b. Larmarckism
c. neo-Darwinism
d. scala naturae
e. natural selection
answer: b
One finds that organisms on islands are different
from, but closely related to, similar forms found
on the nearest continent. This is taken as
evidence that
a. island forms and mainland forms descended
from common ancestors.
b. common environments are inhabited by the
same forms.
c. the islands were originally part of the continent.
d. the island forms and mainland forms are
converging.
e. island forms and mainland forms share the
same gene pool.
answer: a
Many species of animal are indigenous to caves.
Which of the following structures would MOST
likely to have become vestigial in these
organisms?
a. eyes
b. ears
c. teeth
d. legs
e. tail
answer: a
Catastrophism was Cuvier’s attempt to explain
a. evolution.
b. the fossil record.
c. uniformitarianism.
d. the origin of new species.
e. natural selection.
answer: b
Which of the following is NOT a requirement for
maintenance of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
a. an increasing mutation rate
b. random mating
c. large population size
d. no migration
e. no natural selection
answer: a
In a population that is in Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium, the frequency of the allele a is 0.3.
What is the percentage of the population that
is homozygous for this allele?
a. 3
b. 9
c. 21
d. 30
e. 42
answer: b
Gene frequencies in a gene pool may shift
randomly and by chance. This is called
a. artificial selection.
b. adaptive radiation.
c. climatic shift.
d. genetic drift.
e. natural selection.
answer: d
You sample a population of butterflies and find
that 49% are heterozygous for a particular gene.
What would be the frequency of the recessive
allele in the population?
a. 0.09
b. 0.3
c. 0.49
d. 0.7
e. allele frequency cannot be estimated from
this information
answer: e
In modern terminology, diversity is understood
to be a result of genetic variation. Sources of
variation for evolution include all of the
following EXCEPT
a. mistakes in translation of structural genes.
b. mistakes in DNA replication.
c. translocations and mistakes in meiosis.
d. recombination at fertilization.
e. recombination by crossing over in meiosis.
answer: a
“Darwin’s Finches” of the Galapagos (several
types of finch, each adapted to the environments
of the different islands) are the textbook example
of
a. the bottleneck effect.
b. crossing over in meiosis.
c. adaptive radiation.
d. heterozygote advantage.
e. polymorphism.
answer: c
Recessive alleles in a population at HardyWeinberg equilibrium
a. are not significant.
b. remain stable indefinitely.
c. are constantly selected against.
d. are on a steady increase.
e. are on a steady decrease.
answer: b
Most copies of harmful recessive alleles in a
population are carried by individuals that are
a. haploid.
b. polymorphic.
c. homozygous for the allele.
d. heterozygous for the allele.
e. afflicted with the disorder caused by the allele.
answer: d
Evolutionary fitness is measured by
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Physical strength
Reproductive success
Length of life
Resistance to disease
competiveness
Answer: B
The amino acid sequence of cytochrome c is exactly the
same in humans and chimpanzees. There is a difference of
13 amino acids between the cytochrome c of humans and dogs,
and a difference of 20 amino acids between the cytochrome c of
humans and rattlesnakes. Which of the following statements
is best supported by these data?
a. Rattlesnakes apparently gave rise evolutionarily to the dog,
chimpanzee, and human.
b. Cytochrome c apparently has an entirely different function in
rattlesnakes than in mammals, which explains the difference
in the number of amino acids.
c. Cytochrome c is not found universally in animals.
d. Cytochrome c from a rattlesnake could function in a dog,
but not in a chimpanzee.
e. The human is apparently more closely related to the
chimpanzee than to the dog or rattlesnake.
Answer: D