Name:_______________________________
Unit Exam- Evolution
Multiple Choice: For each question, please choose one answer that best fits what you believe is the
correct response.
1.) Caytonia is an extinct plant that existed between 200 and 140 million years ago. It had reproductive
structures that resemble structures in modern flowering plants.
How do scientists know about the structures of this ancient extinct plant?
A. scientists study the DNA sequences of Caytonia.
B. scientists genetically engineer modern plants to produce Caytonia.
C. scientists excavate and examine the fossilized remains of Caytonia.
D. scientists observe the adaptations of plants in habitats
2.) Through careful observation, Charles Darwin came to understand that:
A. populations of plants and animals in nature are most often clones of each other.
B. those individuals with advantageous traits that allow them to live long enough to
reproduce are more likely to pass their traits on to the next generation.
C. populations of a species that becomes isolated from others by adapting to different
environmental niches quickly are more likely to go extinct.
D. all of the above
3.) The example of the peppered moths living near English industrial cities demonstrates that:
A. change in an environment can result in the evolution of species living there.
B. evolution occurs so slowly that it is not possible to determine that it has happened in
less than a million years.
C. the environment near these cities has always favored dark colored moths.
D. when the environment changed the moths decided to change color.
4.) ___________________ occurs when one species branches off into two or more species due to populations or
groups of the species becoming reproductively isolated from each other is:
A. adaptive radiation
B. creationism
C. photosynthesis
D. extinction
5.) Which of the following ideas was developed by Thomas Malthus?
A. peppered moths living near English industrial cities provide a good example of
evolution.
B. the diversity of Galápagos finch species is the result of natural selection.
C. living things often produce far more offspring than are needed to maintain their
numbers.
6.) Which of the following has an effect on natural selection? Circle all that apply.
A. more offspring than can possibly survive.
B. differential reproduction
C. a personal desire to change
D. competition for resources
7.) The illustrations below show vestigial pelvic bones of a baleen whale and vestigial hind limb bones of
an extinct whale.
The presence of these bones in the
baleen whale and extinct whale
provides evidence of which of the
following?
A. Whales can travel on land when
necessary.
B. Whales evolved from four-legged
animals.
C. Whales have functional legs that are
hidden by fat and skin.
D. Whales are developing into animals with four functioning limbs.
8.) _________________, ______________________, and ____________________ demonstrate the relatedness among
organisms and are used by scientist to support the theory of evolution.
A. time, weather and pressure
B. natural selection, adaptations and evolution
C. fossils, genes and anatomy (physical structures)
D. math, history and science
9.) A hurricane sweeps across a small Caribbean island, killing 50 percent of the herbivore (plant eating)
species on the island. Which of the following is the most immediate result?
A. a reduction in biodiversity
B. an acceleration of the carbon cycle
C. an increase in predator populations
D. a decline in decomposer population
10.) Evolution works directly on ________________________.
A. Individuals
B. Populations
C. Race
D. Cells
Short answer: Answer the following short answer questions to the best of your ability. Remember these
are SHORT answer questions and should not be longer than a paragraph. If you need more space you
may use a piece of scrap paper.
1.) Starting in 1954, commercial fishers in the northwest Pacific were paid by weight, rather than by
the individual fish, for pink salmon. The fishers increased the use of a type of net that selectively
catches larger fish.
How would this affects the physical characteristics of the salmon population over the next 20
years?
2.) What is the difference between a theory and a law in science? How do these terms differ from
common, everyday, usage?
3.) The drawings below show some trilobite and crinoid fossils.
What is a reasonable conclusion to explain why fossils of these two organisms were found in the same
layer of rock?
Summary: Please read the article below and write a summary that meets each of the criteria for a
“powerful summary” we established in class.
Greater Prairie Chicken Roams the Midwest
(article taken from http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/specialfeatures/animals/birds/greater-prairie-chicken.xml)
With its uniformly barred plumage, the greater prairie chicken is nearly identical to the lesser prairie chicken,
though slightly darker and, aptly enough, larger. In summer, the bird feeds mostly on insects, seeds and fruits. It
hides its nests in tall, dense grass, laying 7 to 17 eggs, which the female incubates for 23 to 26 days. Females
typically lead hatchlings to shorter grass, also the scene of elaborate mating rituals in which males drum their
feet in stylized dances and make a booming call that can be heard for over a mile. The open courtship areas are
known as “leks” or “booming grounds,” and the courtship displays are the species’ most famous trait.
The three subspecies of the greater prairie chicken have enjoyed radically different fates. The heath hen became
extinct in 1932, Attwater’s prairie hen survives only in small portions of southeast Texas and is listed as
Endangered in the US, and the greater prairie chicken, though threatened and isolated in much of its range,
remains numerous enough to be hunted in four states. Once inhabiting the wide plains of the central US in vast
numbers, the bird has fared poorly as its grassland habitat has been converted to other uses.
Aside from habitat loss, the greater prairie chicken is also threatened by loss of genetic variance resulting from
the isolation of populations with no natural corridors between groups. Most management focuses on habitat
improvement, but population reintroduction may eventually be necessary to ensure genetic diversity. The
largest remaining populations are in Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Essay: Please answer the following essay questions to the best of your ability. Please take the time to
include as much details as you feel necessary to convey your answer. Please write your answers on the
scrap paper provided.
1.) Assume the elk population in Yellowstone National Park increases. Discuss how this increase in
elk will most likely affect each of the following populations based on the food web above:
• Idaho fescue
• migratory grasshopper
• grizzly bear
Be sure to include specific reasons to support each of your responses.
2.) The illustrations below show a South American finch and some of the species of finches found on
the Galápagos Islands. The map shows the relationship of the Galápagos Islands to the west coast
of South America.
There are 13 species of finches found on the Galápagos Islands. These finches have a wide variety of food
sources and beak shapes. There is one genetically similar species of finch found on the South American
mainland. This finch eats small seeds.
Use the map and the bird illustrations to identify and discuss possible explanations for how and why
these finches may have evolved.