AP Biology
Evolution Unit
December 19, 2007 – January 2, 2008
The unit on evolution will be completed between now and our return from Winter Break on your
own. You will complete a take home exam while you are on vacation as your final assessment.
Please do not wait until the last minute to complete these assignments. Remember that break
goes by fast so starting it now would be MOST beneficial.
Chapters Covered
 20: Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View Of Life
 21 : The Evolution of Populations
 22: The Origin of Species
 23: Tracing Phylogeny: Macroevolution, the Fossil Record, and Systematics
 24: Early Earth and the Origin of Life
Read p. 399-494
I. Question Sets: Answer the following questions in complete sentences in
your HW notebooks.
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
20
21
22
23
24
Question
Question
Question
Question
Question
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set
(the question set entire assignment will
account for 55 points)
Self Quiz 1-10, Challenge Question # 2
Self Quiz 1-10 Challenge Question # 3
Self Quiz 1-10 Challenge Question # 3
Self Quiz 1-10 Challenge Question # 2
Self Quiz 1-10 Challenge Question # 3
II. Vocabulary
Fill out the AP Evolution Unit Notes sheet which mostly deals with
definitions.
III. Open Response Essays
Answer the two open response essays attached
IV. Take Home Exam
TOTAL:
(50 points – ½ point each)
OR 1: 20 Points
OR 2: 15 points
90 points
230
ALL WORK WILL BE COLLECTED UPON YOUR ARRIVAL BACK TO SCHOOL ON JANUARY 2nd.
Each assignment is worth points per question answered, so make sure you get all of the points
covered to receive full credit!!!
Exam (130-140 points)
Chapter 20 Main Concepts
The Historical Context for Evolutionary Theory
1. State the two major points that Charles Darwin made in The Origin of Species concerning Earth's biota.
2. Compare and contrast Plato's philosophy of idealism and Aristotle's scala naturae.
3. Describe Carolus Linnaeus's contribution to Darwin's theory of evolution.
4. Describe Georges Cuvier's contribution to paleontology.
5. Explain how Cuvier and his followers used the concept of catastrophism to oppose the theory of
evolution.
6. Explain how the principle of gradualism and Charles Lyell's theory of uniformitarianism influenced
Darwin's ideas about evolution.
7. Describe Jean Baptiste Lamarck's model for how adaptations evolve. Explain the challenges to
Lamarck's ideas with respect to current understandings of biology.
The Darwinian Revolution
8. Describe how Darwin used his observations from the voyage of the HMS Beagle to formulate and
support his theory of evolution.
9. Describe how Lyell and Alfred Russel Wallace influenced Darwin.
10. Explain what Darwin meant by "descent with modification."
11. Explain what evidence convinced Darwin that species change over time.
12. Describe the three inferences Darwin made from his observations that led him to propose natural
selection as a mechanism for evolutionary change.
13. Explain how an essay by the Rev. Thomas Malthus influenced Charles Darwin.
14. Distinguish between artificial selection and natural selection.
15. Explain why the population is the smallest unit that can evolve.
16. Using some contemporary examples, explain how natural selection results in evolutionary change.
Other Evidence of Evolution
17. Describe the research that suggested to David Reznick and John Endler that the life-history traits among
guppy populations are correlated with the main type of predator in a stream pool.
18. Explain how homologous structures support Darwin's theory of natural selection. Explain how
biogeography and the fossil record support the evolutionary deductions based on homologies.
What Is Theoretical about the Darwinian View of Life?
19. Explain the problem with the statement that Darwinism is "just a theory." Distinguish between the
scientific and colloquial use of the word "theory."
Chapter 21 Main Concepts
Population Genetics
1. Explain why it is incorrect to say that individual organisms evolve.
2. Explain what is meant by "the modern synthesis."
3. Define a population; define a species.
4. Explain how microevolutionary change can affect a gene pool.
5. State the Hardy-Weinberg theorem.
6. Write the general Hardy-Weinberg equation and use it to calculate allele and genotype frequencies.
7. Explain why the Hardy-Weinberg theorem is important conceptually and historically.
8. List the conditions a population must meet to maintain Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
Causes of Microevolution
9.Define microevolution.
10. Define evolution at the population level.
11. Explain how genetic drift, gene flow, mutation, nonrandom mating, and natural selection can cause
microevolution.
12. Explain the role of population size in genetic drift.
13. Distinguish between the bottleneck effect and the founder effect.
14. Explain why mutation has little quantitative effect on a large population.
Genetic Variation, the Substrate for Natural Selection
15. Explain how quantitative and discrete characters contribute to variation within a population.
16. Define polymorphism and morphs. Describe an example of polymorphism within the human
population.
17. Distinguish between gene diversity and nucleotide diversity. Describe examples of each in humans.
18. List some factors that can produce geographic variation among closely related populations. Define a
cline.
19. Explain why even though mutation can be a source of genetic variability, it contributes a negligible
amount to genetic variation in a population.
20. Describe the cause of nearly all genetic variation in a population.
21. Explain how genetic variation may be preserved in a natural population.
22. Briefly describe the neutral theory of molecular evolution and explain how changes in gene frequency
may be nonadaptive.
A Closer Look at Natural Selection as the Mechanism of Adaptive Evolution
23. Distinguish between Darwinian fitness and relative fitness.
24. Describe what selection acts on and what factors contribute to the overall fitness of a genotype.
25. Describe examples of how an organism's phenotype may be influenced by the environment.
26. Distinguish among stabilizing selection, directional selection, and diversifying selection.
27. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of sexual reproduction.
28. Define sexual dimorphism and explain how it can influence evolutionary change.
29. Distinguish between intrasexual selection and intersexual selection.
30. Describe at least four reasons why natural selection cannot breed perfect organisms.
Chapter 22 Main Concepts
What Is a Species?
1. Distinguish between anagenesis and cladogenesis.
2. Define biological species according to Ernst Mayr.
3. Distinguish between prezygotic and postzygotic isolating mechanisms.
4. Describe five prezygotic isolating mechanisms and give an example of each.
5. Explain why many hybrids are sterile.
6. Explain how hybrid breakdown maintains separate species even if gene flow occurs.
7. Describe some limitations of the biological species concept.
8. Define and distinguish among each of the following: ecological species concept, pluralistic species
concept, morphological species concept, and genealogical species concept.
Modes of Speciation
9.Distinguish between allopatric and sympatric speciation.
10. Explain the allopatric speciation model and describe the role of intraspecific variation and geographic
isolation.
11. Define a ring species and describe an example found in salamanders.
12. Describe examples of adaptive radiation in the Gal·pagos and Hawaiian archipelagoes.
13. Explain how reproductive barriers evolve. Describe an example of the evolution of a prezygotic barrier
and the evolution of a postzygotic barrier.
14. Define sympatric speciation and explain how polyploidy can cause reproductive isolation.
15. Distinguish between an autopolyploid and an allopolyploid species and describe examples of each.
16. Describe an example of sympatric speciation in fish.
17. List some points of agreement and disagreement between the two schools of thought about the tempo of
speciation (gradualism versus punctuated equilibrium).
From Speciation to Macroevolution
18. Explain why speciation is at the boundary between microevolution and macroevolution.
19. Define exaptation and illustrate this concept with an example.
20. Explain how the evolution of changes in temporal and spatial developmental dynamics can result in
evolutionary novelties. Define evo-devo, allometric growth, heterochrony, and paedomorphosis.
21. Explain why extracting a single evolutionary progression from a fossil record can be misleading.
22. Define and illustrate the concept of species selection. Explain why evolutionary trends are not
directional.
Chapter 23 Main Concepts
The Fossil Record and Geologic Time
1. Distinguish between phylogeny and systematics.
2. Describe the process of sedimentation and the formation of fossils. Explain what portions of organisms
mostly fossilize and why.
3. Distinguish between relative dating and absolute dating.
4. Explain how isotopes can be used in absolute dating.
5. Explain why the fossil record is incomplete.
6. Describe two dramatic chapters in the history of continental drift. Explain how those movements affected
biological evolution.
7. Explain how mass extinctions have occurred and how they affected the evolution of surviving forms.
8. Describe the evidence related to the impact hypothesis associated with the Cretaceous extinctions.
Describe the hypothesized consequences of such an impact.
Systematics: Connecting Classification to Phylogeny
9. Distinguish between systematics and taxonomy.
10. Explain how species are named and categorized into a hierarchy of groups.
11. List the major taxonomic categories from the most to least inclusive.
12. Define the parts and describe the interrelationships within a cladogram. Explain how a cladogram is
constructed.
13. Distinguish between homologous and analogous structures. Explain why the similarity of complex
systems implies a more recent common ancestor. 14. Distinguish between shared primitive characters and
shared derived characters. Compare the definitions of an ingroup and outgroup. 15. Compare the cladistic
and phylocode classification systems. 16. Explain how nucleotide sequences and amino acid sequences can
be used to help classify organisms. Explain the advantages that molecular methods have over other forms
of classification. 17. Explain the principle of parsimony. Explain why any phylogenetic diagram is viewed
as a hypothesis. 18. Explain how molecular clocks are used to determine the approximate time of key
evolutionary events. Explain how molecular clocks are calibrated in actual time. 19. Explain how scientists
determined the approximate time when HIV first infected humans. 20. Describe an example of a conflict
between molecular data and other evidence, such as the fossil record. Explain how these differences can be
addressed.
Chapter 24 Main Concepts
Introduction to the History of Life
1. Explain how the histories of Earth and life are inseparable. 2. Describe the major events in Earth's history
from its origin up to about 2 billion years ago. In particular, note when Earth first formed, when life first
evolved, and what forms of life existed up until about 2 billion years ago. 3. Describe the timing and
significance of the evolution of photosynthesis. 4. Describe the timing of key events in the evolution of the
first eukaryotes and later multicellular eukaryotes. Describe the snowball-Earth hypothesis. 5. Describe the
timing of key evolutionary adaptations as life colonized land.
The Origin of Life
6. Contrast the concept of spontaneous generation and the principle of biogenesis. Describe the biogenesis
paradox and suggest a solution. 7. Describe the four stages of the hypothesis for the origin of life on Earth.
8. Describe the contributions that A. I. Oparin, J. B. S. Haldane, and Stanley Miller made toward
developing a model for the abiotic synthesis of organic molecules. Describe the conditions and locations
where most of these early organic reactions probably occurred on Earth. 9. Describe the evidence that
suggests that RNA was the first genetic material. Explain the significance of the discovery of ribozymes.
10. Describe how natural selection would have worked in an early RNA world. 11. Describe the key
properties of protobionts in the evolution of the first cells. 12. Describe the evidence that suggests that life
first evolved on the sea floor near deep-sea vents.
The Major Lineages of Life
13. Describe the basis for R. H. Whittaker's five-kingdom system. 14. List, distinguish among, and describe
examples from each of the five kingdoms. 15. Compare the three-domain system and R. H. Whittaker's
five-kingdom system of classification.
AP Evolution Unit Notes
Write a sentence or two about each of the following people as to their influence on evolution:
1. Charles Darwin
2. Aristote
3. Lamarck
4. Cuvier
5. Hugo de Vries
6. Richard Dawkins
7. Miller
8. Urey
9. Mendel
10. Oparin
11. Haldane
Define the following terms (they can be in your own words) to the best of your abilities. Some may not be
actual definitions, more telling what something is or what something does.
Chapter 20
1. Evolution
2. Natural Selection
3. Taxonomy
4. Artificial selection
5. Genotype
6. Phenotype
7. Common descent
8. Adaptations
9. Mutation
10. Spontaneous generation
11. Homologous structures
12. Embryological homologies
Chapter 21
1. independent assortment
2. gene flow
3. population
4. genetic drift
5. mitosis
6. meiosis
7. Hardy-Weinberg theorem
8. Directional selection
9. Disruptive selection
10. Wide selection
11. Sexual selection
12. Channel selection
13. Stabelizing selection
14. Allele frequency
15. Microevolution
16. Founder effect
17. Bottleneck effect
18. Nonramdon mating
19. Heterozygous
20. Homozygous
21. Poymorphism
22. Heterozygote advantage
23. Co-dominance
24. Clines
Chapter 22
1. biological species concept
2. reproductive isolation
3. sympatric allopatry
4. adaptive radiation
5. mass extinction
6. species
7. prezygotic barrier
8. behavioral isolation
9. temporal isolation
10. gametic isolation
11. geographic barrier
12. mechanical isolation
13. ecological isolation
14. hybrid breakdown
15. hybrid inviability
16. hybrid sterility
17. speciation
18. gradualism
19. punctuated equilibrium
20. allopatric
21. panmixia
22. polyploidy
Chapter 23
1. fossil
2. systematics
3. binomial nomenclature
4. Precambrian
5. Mesozoic
6. Paleozoic
7. Cenozoic
8. Half-life
9. Fauna
10. Flora
11. Pangea
12. Permean mass extinction
13. Taxon
14. Analogous
15. cladistic analysis
16. convergent evolution
17. divergent evolution
18.
parallel evolution
Chapter 24
1. abiotic synthesis of life
2. cyanobacteria
3. spontaneous generation
4. 1st step in the origin of life on earth
5. deep sea vents
6. decomposers
7. Monera
8. Protista
9. Fungi
10. Anamialia
11. Plantae
12. polymerization
AP BIOLOGY OPEN RESPONSE ESSAYS
1. As always; OR essays should be no longer than two typed pages each. Use any
sources that you have, but if you take a direct quote, cite the source appropriately in
MLA format.
Biologists are interested in preserving the diversity of living organisms on the planet.
(a) Explain three of the following processes or phenomena, using an appropriate
example for each
o Mutation
o Adaptive radiation
o Polyploidy
o Population bottlenecks
o Growth of the human population
(b) For each process or phenomenon you selected in (a), discuss its impact on the
diversity of life on Earth.
2. Scientists recently have proposed a reorganization of the phylogenetic system of
classification to include the domain, a new taxonomic category higher (more inclusive)
than the Kingdom category, as shown in the following diagram
Universal Ancestor
Domain
Bacteria
(Eubacteria)
o
o
o
o
Domain Archea
(Archeabacteria)
Domain Eukarya
(Eukaryotes)
Describe how this classification scheme presents different conclusions about the
relationship among living organisms that those presented by the previous fivekingdom systems of classification.
Describe the traits and characteristics of the five-kingdom system of
classification.
Describe three kinds of evidence that were used to develop the taxonomic
scheme above, and explain how this evidence was used. The evidence may be
structural, physiological, molecular and/or genetic.
Describe four of the characteristics of the universal ancestor
AP BIOLOGY EXAM
EVOLUTION UNIT
Name:__________________________
Date:__________________________
1."Differential success in reproduction" is just another way of saying _____.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
natural selection
mutation
variation
recombination
genetic drift
2. Which of the following is a true statement about Charles Darwin?
a. He was the first to discover that living things can change, or evolve.
b. He based his theory on the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
c. He worked out the principles of population genetics.
d. He proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution.
e. He was the first to realize that Earth is billions of years old.
3. "Natural selection" and "evolution" are two terms that are sometimes confused, even
by freshman biology students. What is the relation between natural selection and
evolution?
a. They are the same thing.
b. Any phenomenon that causes evolution is natural selection.
c. Natural selection is one of several causes of evolution.
d. When natural selection is occurring, evolution is not, and vice versa.
e. None of the above.
4. At the time Darwin voyaged on HMS Beagle, the popularly accepted theory in Europe
that explained the origin of Earth's plants and animals held that the various species
____________.
a. arose continually from nonliving materials by spontaneous generation
b. had been created by divine intervention a few thousand years before
c. had evolved from now extinct organisms
d. arose from a single species that had survived the biblical flood
e. were all related to one another
5. Which of the following factors is NOT an important part of natural selection?
a. limited environmental resources
b. unequal reproduction with individuals best meeting environmental
demands having the most success
c. heritable variation
d. selective breeding of domestic plants and animals
e. individuals better adapted to an environment being more likely to survive
6. Assume there are two varieties of mice, brown and gray, living on an island. They are
the prey for the hawks on the island. They are distributed through rocky areas in the
north of the island and across the fields in the south part. Which of the following is
predicted by natural selection?
a. If they stay as a mixed population, they will remain mixed because the
two varieties will not interbreed with each other.
b. Since brown mice blend better with the ground and gray mice blend
better with the rocks, these are the ones that will be missed by the hawks
and the mouse distribution will tend to indicate this.
c. Hawks find the mice by movement so it won't matter.
d. The hawks will starve to death because they get confused.
e. A mouse population that starts as a random mixture will never adapt to
the environment.
7. Natural selection primarily favors _____.
a. phenotypes
b. genotypes
c. mutations
d. heterozygotes
e. homozygotes
8. When they were first sold, aerosol insecticides were highly effective in killing flies and
mosquitoes. Today, some 30 years later, a much smaller proportion of these insects die
when sprayed. The reason fewer insects are being killed is that ____________.
a. mosquitoes that survive spraying develop an immunity to the insecticide
b. many mosquitoes today are descendants of mosquitoes with insecticideresistant characteristics
c. mosquitoes are deliberately adapting themselves to this man-made
change in the environment
d. the original spraying has caused a permanent mutation, giving the insects
genetic resistance to the spray
e. none of the above
9. An important challenge to traditional (pre-1860) ideas about species was the
observation that seemingly dissimilar organisms, such as hummingbirds, humans, and
whales, have similar skeletal structures. This most directly suggested to biologists that
____________.
a. only the best-adapted organisms can survive
b. advantageous changes can be passed along to offspring
c. most evolution occurs rapidly following a mass extinction
d. dissimilar organisms might have evolved from a distant, common
ancestor
e. all of the above
10. Which one of the following statements most closely agrees with the theory of
evolution by means of natural selection, as put forth by Darwin and Wallace?
a. Only the best-adapted organisms will survive.
b. Humans arose from chimpanzees.
c. Organisms mutate under unfavorable conditions to become better
adapted.
d. Only favorable traits are passed from one generation to the next.
e. Organisms better adapted to their immediate environment are most likely
to survive and reproduce.
11. In natural selection, __________ determines which phenotypes are successful.
a. chance
b. the environment
c. sample size
d. genetic drift
e. human intervention
12. Which one of the following is NOT homologous to a human arm?
a. chicken wing
b. seal flipper
c. crayfish claw
d. horse's front leg
e. frog's front leg
13. Which of the following is the best example of gene flow?
a. A polyploid plant develops.
b. Genes are shuffled by the crossing over of chromosomes during meiosis.
c. An earthquake results in the formation of a canyon, splitting a population
of toads apart.
d. Wind blows pollen from one population of plants to another and crossfertilization
occurs.
e. All the mutations in a population were neutral.
14. In the Hardy-Weinberg theorem, p2 represents _____.
a. the total alleles in the gene pool
b. the frequency of heterozygous dominants in the gene pool
c. the frequency of homozygous recessives in the gene pool
d. all of the possible phenotypes in the gene pool
e. the frequency of homozygous dominants in the gene pool
15. Which of the following conditions is NOT required for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
a. a large population
b. no migration of alleles in or out of the population
c. no mutations altering the gene pool
d. sexual selection
e. random mating
16. Assortative (nonrandom) mating can cause evolutionary change by _____________.
a. causing industrial melanism
b. restricting gene flow within a population
c. causing less fit individuals to die
d. causing a higher mutation rate
e. keeping Hardy and Weinberg apart
17. Suppose that, with regard to a particular genetic locus with two alleles, A and a, we
know that 60% of the alleles in the gene pool of a particular large population are A. What
is the the frequency of the a allele is expected to be _____.
a. 0.60
b. 0.40
c. 0.25
d. 0.16
e. 0.50
18. In a large population of bonobos, the frequency of the recessive allele is initially
0.1. There is no migration and no selection. What is the frequency of the dominant allele?
Assume that there are two alleles of this gene.
a. 10%
b. 20%
c. 50%
d. 90%
e. 99%
19. Assume a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for a character trait with these
genotypic frequencies: A = .7 and a = .3. Under Hardy-Weinberg conditions, what will be
the frequency of homozygous dominants in the next generation?
a. 0
b. 0.11
c. 0.22
d. 0.44
e. 0.49
20. In a large population of randomly breeding individuals, the frequency of the
recessive allele is initially 0.3. There is no migration and no selection. What is the
frequency of homozygous recessive individuals in this population?
a. 30%
b. 70%
c. 90%
d. 42%
e. 9%
21. If an earthquake hit a small island so that all but a tiny group of lizards were
eliminated and the survivors spread out over the island, this would be an instance of
_____.
a. founder effect
b. bottleneck effect
c. gene flow
d. mutation
e. nonrandom mating
22.Which of the following statements best describes how the process of natural
selection works to change allele frequencies?
a. The best-adapted organisms will leave behind more offspring.
b. A small population size encourages genetic diversity.
c. The best-adapted organisms will survive.
d. Allele frequencies will change in response to changes in population size.
e. Beneficial mutations will arise in response to a new environment.
23. _____ and _____ generate variation, while _____ results in an adaptation to the
environment.
a. Genetic drift ... natural selection ... mutation
b. Mutation ... sexual recombination ... natural selection
c. Overproduction of offspring ... mutation ... sexual recombination
d. Natural selection ... mutation ... sexual recombination
e. Sexual recombination ... natural selection ... overproduction
24. Tay-Sachs disease, which is lethal, results from having the homozygous recessive
condition of the responsible gene. Which one of the following statements is true?
a. Because homozygous recessive individuals die, the recessive allele will
eventually be lost from the population.
b. Only homozygous dominant individuals will be able to survive and
reproduce.
c. Heterozygous individuals will survive and be able to pass the recessive
allele on to their offspring.
d. In the heterozygous condition, the dominant allele will overcome the
recessive allele and only the dominant will be passed on to offspring.
e. Homozygous dominant individuals will be more likely to reproduce than
heterozygous individuals.
25. Imagine a scenario in which part of a population of South American finches is blown
by a storm onto an island far offshore and manages to survive and reproduce there for a
period of 10,000 years. After that period, a climate change results in lower sea levels
and the reconnection of the island with the mainland. Members of the formerly isolated
island finch population can now interact freely with members of the original mainland
population. Which of the following observations would, by itself, lead you to conclude
unequivocally that the island finch population had evolved into a distinct species?
a. The island birds all have red feathers, but the mainland birds have only
green feathers.
b. Individuals from the different populations sometimes mate with each
other, but all of the resulting eggs are sterile.
c. Individuals from the different populations seem to mate freely with each
other, and the resulting offspring mate freely with either island birds or
mainland birds.
d. Individuals from the different populations feed on the same kinds of
seeds in the same habitats and frequently direct courtship behavior
toward members of the other population.
e. Hybrid offspring of matings between individuals from the two populations
do not look like either parent.
26. Which one of the following conditions is necessary for speciation to occur?
a. reproductive isolation
b. sympatric allopatry
c. adaptive radiation
d. mass extinction
e. interbreeding among neighboring populations
27. Each species has a closed gene pool because _____.
a. no gene lifeguard is on duty
b. each parent contributes only half of each offspring's genes
c. each species is reproductively isolated
d. different species can interbreed freely
e. lions and tigers can hybridize in captivity
28. Three species of frogs—Rana pipiens, Rana clamitans, and Rana sylvatica—all mate
in the same ponds, but they pair off correctly because they have different calls. This is a
specific example of a _____ barrier, called _______ .
a. prezygotic barrier ... behavioral isolation
b. postzygotic ... hybrid breakdown
c. prezygotic ... temporal isolation
d. postzygotic ... behavioral isolation
e. prezygotic ... gametic isolation
29. Which of the following is an example of a postzygotic reproductive barrier?
a. One species of frog mates in April; another mates in May.
b. Two fruit flies of different species produce sterile offspring.
c. The sperm of a marine worm penetrate eggs of the same species only.
d. One species of flower grows in forested areas, another in meadows.
e. Two pheasant species perform different courtship dances.
30. A cladogram is
a. used to illustrate phylogenetic relationships and show points at which
various species have diverged from common ancestral forms
b. not a real word
c. better than coffee
d. an irish message much like a singing telegram
31. Lake Malawi, in the African Rift Valley, is home to more than a hundred species of
cichlid fishes, each with slightly different diets and habits. All these fishes probably
evolved from one ancestor, making them an example of _____.
a. sympatric speciation
b. hybrid breakdown
c. adaptive radiation
d. gradualism
e. punctuated equilibrium
32. Which of the following is NOT an example of adaptive radiation?
a. bony fish fitting into all areas of the ocean and fresh water
b. insects adapting to every land environment
c. speciation of finches into each Galápagos island environment
d. the few species of roundworms existing virtually everywhere in the
world
e. placental mammals replacing reptiles and earlier mammals in their niches
33. f a new species of plant is to be produced by means of allopolyploidy from two
parental species that are 2n = 4 and 2n = 8, how many chromosomes would you expect in
the somatic cells of the new species?
a. 6
b. 12
c. 24
d. 48
e. none of the above
34 Fossils are most likely to be found in _____.
a. the continental shelves
b. unglaciated terrain
c. sedimentary rock
d. igneous rock
e. volcanic archipelagos, such as the Galápagos and Hawaiian Islands
35 If you want to see a dinosaur, it would be best to set the controls of your time
machine for the _____.
a. Mesozoic era
b. Paleozoic era
c. Pleistocene epoch
d. Carboniferous era
e. Precambrian era
36 A radioactive isotope has a half-life of 1.2 billion years. As measured by the
presence of the isotope and its stable decay product, a rock originally contained 10
grams of the radioactive isotope, and now contains 1.25 grams. How many years old is
the rock?
a. 0,000 years
b. 12 billion years
c. 3.6 billion years
d. 0.3 billion years
e. 1,000 years
37 Which one of the following best describes how the breakup of Pangea affected
evolution?
a. Animals had an opportunity to become dominant.
b. Shallow marine habitat became scarcer.
c. Extensive glaciation caused many extinctions.
d. The geographic isolation of populations that had previously coexisted led
to speciation.
e. Sympatric speciation became the primary means by which new species
were formed.
38. Two worms in the same class must also be grouped in the same _____.
a. order
b. phylum
c. genus
d. family
e. species
39. If species A and species B are in the same family, and species C is in a different
family, then you can infer that _____.
a. C is more closely related to A than A is to B.
b. A and B have a more recent common ancestor than do A and C.
c. A and C have a more recent common ancestor than do A and B.
d. A is more closely related to C than B is to A.
e. None of the above
40. The system of binomial nomenclature assigns to each organism a unique name that
describes its _________.
a. order and family
b. body plan and habitat
c. species and genus
d. family and species
e. evolutionary history
41. __________ evolution leads to __________ structures.
a. Convergent ... analogous
b. Divergent ... congruent
c. Parallel ... analogous
d. Convergent ... homologous
e. Divergent ... analogous
42. In the five-kingdom system of classification, eukaryotic organisms that absorb their
nutrients (many are decomposers of organic material) are members of kingdom _____.
a. Monera
b. Protista
c. Fungi
d. Plantae
e. Animalia
43. Multicellular organisms that ingest their nutrients are classified in kingdom _____.
a. Monera
b. Protista
c. Fungi
d. Plantae
e. Animalia
44. A small piece of tissue collected from a deciduous forest is examined in the
laboratory. It is obviously multicellular and nucleated. Each of the cells contains several
green, oval organelles. The tissue is most probably from a member of which kingdom?
a. Monera
b. Fungi
c. Protista
d. Plantae
e. Animalia
45. The longest period of time in from the following answers, occurred in the __________.
a. paleozoic
b. precambrian
c. cenazoic
d. mesazoic
e. triassic