Name: _____________________________
Pd. ____
Evolution Homework Packet
Section 16.4 Evidence of Evolution (pgs. 465-473)
1.
What is biogeography?
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2. Why do distantly related species in very different places sometimes share similar traits?
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3. Why are fossils important evidence for evolution?
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4. Explain the difference between homologous and analogous structures.
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a. Which are more important to evolutionary biologists? WHY?
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5. How do vestigial structures provide evidence for evolution?
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6. How do DNA and RNA provide evidence for common descent?
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7. What is the relationship between Hox genes and embryological development?
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8. Organism A and B have very similar Hox genes, and their embryos, in the earliest stages of
development, are also very similar. What do these similarities indicate about the ancestry of
organisms A and B.
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9. How do the Grants’ data show that genetic variation is important in the survival of a species?
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Name: _____________________________
Pd. ____
Section 17.1 Genes and Variation (p. 482-486)
1.
Define gene pool.
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2. Define allele frequency.
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a. In genetic terms, what indicates that evolution is occurring in a population?
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3. Suppose a dominant allele causes a plant disease that usually kills the plant before it can
reproduce. Over time, what would probably happen to the frequency of that allele in the
population?
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4. List three causes of genetic variation.
a) ________________ b) ________________c) ________________
5. How does gene shuffling result in more genetic variation?
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6. Why does sexual reproduction provide more opportunities of genetic variation than asexual
reproduction?
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7. What is a single-gene trait?
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8. What is a polygenic trait?
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a. What shape is characteristic for a graphical representation of a polygenic trait?
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9. How does the range of phenotypes for single-gene traits differ from the range for polygenic
traits?
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10. A black guinea pig and a white guinea pig mate and have offspring. All of the offspring are black.
Is this trait of coat color in guinea pigs a single-gene trait or polygenic trait?
___________________ . WHY?
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Name: _____________________________
Pd. ____
Section 17.2 Evolution as Genetic Change in Populations (p. 487-492)
1.
What is fitness in genetic terms?
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2. How does natural selection affect a single-gene trait?
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3. List three possible selections that results from natural selection affecting a polygenic trait?
4. Contrast Stabilizing Selection with Disruptive Selection.
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5. What are the results of Directional Selection?
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6. What is genetic drift?
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7. How does the founder effect lead to changes in the gene pool?
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8. What is genetic equilibrium?
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9. What five conditions disrupt genetic equilibrium?
a.
b.
c.
d.
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_________________________________________________
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e.
10. A road built through a forest split a population of frogs into two large groups. The allele
frequencies of the two populations remained identical. What evidence do we have that genetic
drift did NOT occur?
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11. DDT an insecticide that was first used in the 1940s to kill mosquitoes and stop the spread of
malaria. As time passed, people began to notice that DDT became less effective. Explain in
genetic terms, how the insect became resistant to the pesticide.
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Name: _____________________________
Pd. ____
Section 17.3 The Process of Speciation (p. 494-497)
1. Define species.
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2.
What is speciation?
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3. What happens in reproductive isolation?
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4. Why does behavioral isolation results?
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5. What is the difference between geographic isolation and temporal isolation?
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6. A newly formed lake divides a population of a beetle species into two groups. List another
factor besides isolation might lead to the two groups becoming separate species?
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7. Explain the type(s) of reproductive isolation may have been important in Galapagos finch
speciation.
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8. Explain how the vegetarian tree finch, which feeds on fruit, might have evolved.
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9. A botanist (plant biologist) identifies two distinct species of violets growing in a field. Also in the
field are several other types of violets that, although somewhat similar to the two known
species, appear to be new species. Develop a hypothesis explaining how the new species may
have originated.
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Name: _____________________________
Pd. ____
Section 17.4 Molecular Evolution (p. 498-501)
1. What is a molecular clock?
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2. Why do molecular clocks use mutations that have no effect on phenotype?
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3. How do researchers check the accuracy of molecular clocks?
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4. How can crossing-over result in gene duplication?
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5. Describe how duplicate genes form.
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6. Why is gene duplication important in evolution?
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7. Use the evolution of the insect body plan to explain the significance of Hox genes in evolution.
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8. In evolution, why have small changes in Hox genes had a great impact?
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9. Describe the relationship between evolutionary time and the similarity of genes in two species.
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Name: _____________________________
Pd. ____
Section 19.2 Patterns of Evolution (p. 546-552)
1. How does variation within a clade affect the clade’s chance of surviving environmental change?
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2. What is a background extinction?
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3. How is a background extinction different from a mass extinction?
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4. Major geologic changes often go hand in hand with mass extinctions. Why do you think this is
true?
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5. What is gradualism?
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6. What is punctuated equilibrium?
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7. Explain how punctuated equilibrium is different from gradualism?
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8. Why would evolution speed up when a small group of organisms migrates to a new
environment?
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9. What is adaptive radiation?
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10. What is convergent evolution?
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11. When might adaptive radiation result in convergent evolution?
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12. What is coevolution?
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13. Describe an example of coevolution.
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14. Why is rapid evolution especially likely to occur in a small population that has been separated
from the main population?
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