Biology
Chs 15-17 Evolution Test Review
Besides knowing the answers to the questions below, you should study from all notes
and worksheets completed during this unit of evolution.
Chapter 15
1. The process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient
organisms is called ________________________.
2. A well-supported explanation of phenomena that have occurred in the natural
world is a(an) _______________________.
3. The preserved remains of ancient organisms are called _________________.
4. In what two ways did an understanding of geology influence Darwin?
5. Differences among individuals of a species are referred to as ___________.
6. What is artificial selection? List a couple examples.
7. Define fitness, adaptation, and natural selection.
8. True or false. Adaptations can be physical characteristics but not more complex
features such as behavior.
9. Explain Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’.
10. Be able to know and apply the principles of natural selection as it relates to
fitness, nature, etc.
11. The principle that living species descend, with changes, from other species over
time is referred to as __________________.
12. The principle that all species were derived from common ancestors is known as
______________________.
13. Name the 4 different evidences of evolution. (Evidence for evolution can be
found in….)
14. Structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same
embryonic tissues are called ______________________.
15. True or false. Homologous structures provide strong evidence that all fourlimbed vertebrates have descended, with modifications, from common
ancestors.
16. Organs that are so reduced in size that they are just vestiges, or traces, of
homologous organs in other species are called _____________.
17. Know and be able to explain in your own words the parts of Darwin’s theory of
evolution.
18. According to Darwin’s theory, what happens to individuals whose
characteristics are not well suited to their environment?
19. Darwin believed that all organisms on Earth are united into a single tree of life
by ____________________.
20. Define evolution.
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Biology
1. The combined genetic information of all members of a particular population
is called a(an) ________________________ .
2. The _______________________ of an allele is the number of times that the allele
occurs in a gene pool, compared with the number of times other alleles occur.
3. A(An) _________________________ is a trait controlled by a single gene.
4. _______________________are controlled by two or more genes.
5. The _______________________ of an allele in a population is often represented by
a percentage.
Multiple Choice On the line provided, write the letter of the answer that best
completes the sentence or answers the question.
___________ 6.
For most genes, a gene pool typically contains
a. no alleles.
c. one allele.
b. two or more alleles.
d. no more than two alleles.
___________ 7. The graphs below show changes in the distribution of beak size in Galápagos
finches during a period when food was scarce. What type of natural selection do the graphs show?
___________ 8.
a. directional selection
c. stabilizing selection
b. destabilizing selection
d. disruptive selection
The graph below shows the distribution of human birth weights. What type
of selection keeps this curve narrow and in the same place?
a. directional selection
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c. stabilizing selection
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Biology
___________ 9. What type of natural selection takes place when individuals at the upper and lower
ends of the curve have higher fitness than individuals near the middle?
a. directional selection
c. stabilizing selection
b. destabilizing selection
d. disruptive selection
___________ 10. A random change in allele frequency is called
a. fitness.
b. genetic drift.
___________ 11. Genetic drift is more likely to occur in
a. large populations.
c. speciation.
d. the founder effect.
c. small populations.
b. medium-sized populations.
d. a single individual.
___________ 12. What occurs when allele frequencies change as a result of the migration of a small
subgroup of a population?
a. directional selection
c. speciation
b. the founder effect
d. genetic equilibrium
___________ 13. What principle states that the frequency of an allele in a population will remain
constant unless one or more factors cause that frequency to change?
a. the speciation principle
c. the Hardy-Weinberg principle
b. the genetic equilibrium principle
d. the genetic-drift principle
___________ 14. The situation in which allele frequencies do not change is called
a. genetic equilibrium.
c. behavioral equilibrium.
b. stabilizing equilibrium.
d. directional selection.
___________ 15. Which of the following is required to maintain genetic equilibrium?
a. The population must be small.
b. No mutations occur.
c. Individuals move between populations.
d. Natural selection occurs.
___________ 16. What is the formation of a new species called?
a. directional selection
b. speciation
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c. founder effect
d. temporal isolation
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Biology
___________ 17. What situation occurs when members of two different species cannot interbreed
and produce fertile offspring?
a. reproductive isolation
c. genetic drift
b. genetic equilibrium
d. natural selection
___________ 18. What kind of isolation occurs when two populations are capable of interbreeding
but have differences in courtship rituals or other types of
behavior?
a. courtship isolation
c. geographic isolation
b. behavioral isolation
d. temporal isolation
___________ 19. Two populations kept separate by a river are characterized by
a. genetic drift.
c. geographic isolation.
b. disruptive selection.
d. temporal isolation.
___________ 20. What situation occurs when two or more species
reproduce at different times?
a. stabilizing selection
c. geographic isolation
b. behavioral isolation
d. temporal isolation
Chapter 17
1. Know the definition and examples of convergent evolution.
2. Know the definition and examples of divergent evolution.
3. Be able to number sedimentary layers and determine which layer would have
more complex creatures.
4. What was Pangaea? What evidences for Pangaea are there?
5. Scientists who study fossils are called __________________________.
6. Explain/give examples for microbiologic similarities that give evidence for the
theory of evolution.
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