Evolution Exam—Biology Recovery
1. The combined alleles of all the individuals in a population is called the
a. phenotype.
b. gene pool.
c. mutation rate.
d. allele frequency.
2. The evolution of sexual reproduction resulted in
a. decreased diversity.
c. genetically identical offspring
b. slower rate of evolution.
d. increased genetic variation.
3. What are two main sources of genetic variation?
a. mutations and extinction
c. recombination and reproduction
b. recombination and extinction
d. mutations and recombination
4. An increase in genetic variation is one advantage of
a. rapid adaptation.
c. endosymbiotic interaction.
b. prokaryote photosynthesis.
d. sexual reproduction.
5. Figure 11.1 shows how a population of cacti changes when it faces selective pressure from two
predators: peccaries (wild pigs) and a parasitic insect.
The dashed line shows the original population. The insects most often kill cacti with a(n)
a. intermediate number of spines.
c. low number of spines.
b. high number of spines.
d. complete lack of spines.
6. Figure 11.2 shows the tail feather length of male widowbirds and their reproductive success. The males that
had the greatest reproductive success were the birds with tails that were
a. particularly short
b. mid-length
c. relatively long
d. any length
7. The DNA sequences of whales and ungulates, or hooved animals, are very similar. What type of evidence of
evolution is this?
a. vestigial
b. molecular
c. embryological
d. fossil
8. The evolution of hummingbirds’ beaks and plants with deep tubes in their flowers is an example of
a. convergence.
b. speciation.
c. coevolution.
d. radiation.
9. A population that has a normal distribution of the range of heights has many individuals who are
a. Tall and few who are average or very short.
b. short and few who are average or very tall.
c. Average height and few who are very tall or very short.
d. average height and none who are very tall or very short.
10. If the actual allele frequencies in a population do not match genotype frequencies predicted by the HardyWeinberg equation, the population is
a. isolated.
b. extinct.
c. shrinking.
d. evolving.
11. A mammoth frozen in ice in Siberia is an example of
a. preserved remains.
c. an amber-preserved fossil.
b. a trace fossil.
d. a natural cast.
12. Which of the five factors that can lead to evolution would operate on a change in body color that enabled
animals to better hide from predators?
a. natural selection
b. genetic drift
c. sexual selection
d. gene flow
13. Reproductive isolation occurs when
a. a small number of individuals moves and starts a new population.
b. some catastrophic event greatly reduces the size of a population.
c. the gene pools of different populations have become very diversified.
d. members of different populations can no longer mate successfully.
14. What type of isolation occurs when the timing of reproduction is different between two populations?
a. geographic
b. temporal
c. behavioral
d. selective
15. Two species that are closely related become increasingly different through
a. divergent evolution.
c. convergent isolation.
b. disruptive selection.
d. competitive relationships.
16. The wings of robins and the wings of dragonflies are examples of
a. divergent adaptation.
b. convergent evolution.
c. adaptive radiation.
d. punctuated equilibrium.
17. Mutations in the DNA of genes that can be passed on to offspring
a. Are more likely with genetic drift.
c. do not occur randomly during evolution.
b. Result in increased genetic variation.
d. Are always harmful to the offspring
18. What is the term for a feature that allows an organism to survive better in its environment?
a. variation
b. adaptation
c. homologous structure
d. vestigial structure
19. All the individuals of a species that live in a particular area are called a
a. variation.
b. fossil.
c. population.
d. group.
20. What occurs when some elephants in a population migrate into another area and join another population?
a. genetic drift
b. microevolution
c. speciation
d. gene flow
21. What group of animals includes modern humans?
a. reptiles
b. trilobites
c. primates
d. marsupials
Use this figure for #22 thru 26.
22. A type of wild pig eats cactus plants. The dashed line shows the original cactus population. From the graph,
what type of cactus do these animals eat more often?
23. How is the population of cacti changing?
24. What would happen to the graph if the peccaries began eating more of the very spiny cacti?
25. What is the most common number of spines in the new cactus population?
26. Why are cacti with the most spines becoming more common?
27. A population of squirrels that contains a wide range of phenotypes has a
a. Large amount of genetic variation.
c. poor chance of surviving habitat change.
b. high allele frequency for most alleles.
d. decreased chance of frequent gene flow.
28. In a population of foxes, tail length shows a normal distribution. On a graph, this frequency would produce
what kind of curve?
a. shifted right
b. doubled
c. tall and thin
d. bell-shaped
29. Figure 11.2 shows a graph of reproductive success versus tail feather length for male widowbirds. What
type of selection is shown by these data?
a. sexual
b. disruptive
c. stabilizing
d. divergent
30. 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?
a. temporal
b. geographic
c. behavioral
d. founder
31. The remnant of an organ that had a function in an early ancestor is known as a(n)
a. vestigial structure.
b. analogous structure.
c. homologous structure.
d. fossil structure.
32. When individuals from two populations of squirrels can no longer successfully mate with one another, the
chance that speciation will occur
a. decreases.
b. stays the same.
c. becomes zero.
d. increases
33. What do scientists estimate as the age of Earth?
a. 100 million years old
b. 4.6 billion years old
c. 10 billion years old
d. 3.8 my old
34. The table below shows four radioactive isotopes used in radiometric dating. How much chlorine-36 would
be left in a sample after 600,000 years?
a. 75% of the parent isotope
b. 50% of the parent isotope
c. 25% of the parent isotope
d. 12.5% of the parent isotope
35. Figure 12.2 shows radioactive isotopes used in radiometric dating. Remains of a human were found frozen
in a glacier. Carbon-14 from the remains had undergone three half-lives. About how old are the remains?
a. 5730 years old
c. 17,190 years old
b. 10,027 years old
d. 50,730 years old
36. An important adaptive advantage of walking upright is
a. freeing the hands for other activity.
c. appearing larger than other species.
b. allowing the eyes to look forward.
d. being able to outrun predators.
37. What is the process in which humans breed organisms for certain traits?
a. natural selection
c. artificial selection
b. inheritance of acquired characteristics
d. descent without modification
38. Individuals that are well adapted to their environment will survive and produce
a. fewer mutations.
b. more offspring.
c. stronger genes.
d. better traits.
39. The beak types of different Galápagos finch species are examples of
a. analogous structures.
b. vestigial structures.
c. fossils.
d. adaptations.
40. The false idea that a high-jumper who trains to become a champion will have descendants who can jump
exceptionally high is known as the
a. theory of uniformitarianism.
c. process of artificial selection.
b. principle of gradualism.
d. inheritance of acquired characteristics.
41. Dog breeds, such as beagles, Border collies, and German shepherds, were produced by the process of
a. natural selection.
c. descent without modification.
b. artificial selection.
d. inheritance of acquired characteristics.
42. If two species have similar DNA sequences, it would indicate that they
a. share a common ancestor.
c. will have similar fitness.
b. are not closely related.
d. have no evolutionary relationship.
43. The small, non-functional pelvic bones of a boa constrictor are examples of
a. homologous structures.
c. fossil structures.
b. vestigial structures.
d. analogous structures.
44. Which of the following lists the four main principles of the theory of natural selection?
a. adaptation, inheritance of acquired characteristics, overproduction, variation
b. adaptation, inheritance of acquired characteristics, heritability, variation
c. adaptation, descent with modification, heritability, variation
d. adaptation, descent with modification, overproduction, variation
45. As an environment changes, and some organisms have a higher fitness than others, natural selection acts
directly on
a. existing variations.
b. genetic material.
c. acquired traits.
d. individual organisms.
46. The tortoise from Abingdon Island, shown in Figure 10.1, would likely
be better adapted than the Albermarle Island tortoise to which of the following environments?
a. areas with short plants and mosses
c. areas with lots of taller plants
b. areas with no plants and sand dunes
d. areas with only tall trees
47. The variations in the features of the tortoise populations on Albemarle and Abingdon islands, shown in
Figure 10.1, are examples of
a. vestigial structures.
c. acquired characteristics
b. molecular fingerprinting.
.
d. natural selection.
48. What evidence for a past evolutionary relationship can be seen in different groups of vertebrates?
a. different features in early stages of embryos
b. totally different protein sequences
c. similar features in early stages of embryos
d. no homologous structures in their anatomy
49. Which unit of geologic time in Figure 12.3 is the oldest?
50. Which is the smallest unit of geologic time in Figure 12.3 that includes the present time?
51. The largest mass extinction in Earth’s history occurred 248 million years ago. What units of geologic
time did this event divide?
52. A group of fossils that look similar to modern organisms would most likely be found from which era?
53. Which of the species shown in Figure12.4 could have lived at the same time?
54. What feature of the brain distinguished the Homo genus from the Australopithecus genus?
55. On an archeological expedition to Colorado, a hominid skull is found that is dated as 10,000 years old.
What species is the skull most likely from?
56. Which of the skulls shown in Figure 12.4 is from a genus that is different from the other skulls?
57. The openings in these skulls for the spinal cord are underneath the skulls, not at the backs of the skulls.
Explain how scientists use this information to infer that these species walked upright?
58. At an archeological site in Africa, remains of a member of the Homo genus are found within an ash bed
that has a radiometric date of 1.8 million years old. Which of the hominid species shown in Figure 12.4
do these remains most likely represent?
59. The forelimbs of the organisms in Figure 10.3 are examples of what type of structures?
60. What are the functions of the three forelimbs in Figure 10.3?
61. What do these structures indicate about the evolution of the three organisms?
62. To which of the three structures would a dragonfly wing be analogous?
63. Which species from Figure 10.4 has the most amino acids that are different from those of humans?
64. Which species has the most amino acids in common with humans?
65. What does this molecular fingerprinting reveal about the frog?
66. How does the data in Figure 10.4 indicate that humans and Rhesus monkeys share the most recent
common ancestor?
67. Of the vertebrates listed in Figure 10.4, which one has more hemoglobin proteins in common with
humans—the mouse or the chicken?
68. Charles Darwin observed that species have changed over time. He proposed the theory of natural selection
as the mechanism for the evolution of organisms. What is natural selection? In your answer:
 define natural selection
 describe the four main principles that make up the theory of natural selection
 predict what effect natural selection might have on a population of deer if a drought
killed most of the shrubs that were their favorite food, and only the taller, more established trees
survived