Biology I
Name____________________
Natural Selection, Evolution, and Reproduction Study Guide
1. Natural Selection defined as the process whereby organisms with the best genetic
adaptations will survive and reproduce.
2. Heritable traits within species, is a basic tenet of natural selection.
3. Every organism must either reproduce or become extinct.
4. Variety within a species can be caused by mutation and /or sexual reproduction.
5. Charles Darwin is considered the father of modern evolutionary
theory.
6. Darwin raised flowers, fruits and pigeons – each providing him with evidence that
the arificial selection by which mankind had altered species was mimicking
nature’s force of natural selection.
7. Darwin’s study of finches, where 13 finches have one common ancestor is an
example of divergent evolution.
8. Lamarkian heredity (or Lamarkism), as this theory was called, predicted the same
results as
natural selection – that species do change over time by adapting to their
changing environments.
9. Wegener developed the theory of Continental Drift.
10. Geographic isolation is a process which separates individuals of a species by a
physical barrier.
11. The law of superposition allows the relative age of fossils (and rocks) to be
determined from the sedimentary layer in which they are found, so long as the
layers have not been disturbed.
12. Using the timeline on pages 404-405, which organism appeared first, horses or
kangaroos? kangaroos
13. The physiological adaptation of camels storing fat in their “humps” that can be
metabolized into water is an adaptation that took millions of years.
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14. Using the law of superposition, the diagram below and information from your
book, list the order of types of fossil from oldest to most recent.
15. Using the cladogram provided, which species (indicated by letters) are now
extinct? A-I, L, N-P Which are ancestors of present day organisms? For J:
I,G,E,A; For K: I,G,E,A; For M: F,E,A
16. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is an example of a physiological adaptation.
17. The diagram below shows embryonic development, a way of comparing shared
morphology in seemingly unrelated organisms.
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18. Paternal testing often includes DNA comparisons, a way of identifying common
ancestors and linked heredity.
19. The diagram below is an example of vestigial structures, unused in present day
organisms.
20. The diagram below shows homologous structures, which may not have the same
use, but do have a common evolutionary origin, and thus structure.
21. Eukaryotes are organisms with true nuclei. According to the timeline on pages
404-405, how many years ago did organisms with true nuclei evolve? 1bya
Multicellular organisms (invertebrates)? 545mya
22. Structural adaptations, or changes in actual physical structure of organisms, may
take a very long time to adapt.
23. Body parts, like those pictured below that are similar in function but different in
structure and origin are analagous structures.
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PEPPER MOTH SAGA
Charles Darwin accumulated a tremendous collection of facts to support the theory of
evolution by natural selection. One of his difficulties in demonstrating the theory,
however, was the lack of an example of evolution over a short period of time, which
could be observed as it was taking place in nature. Although Darwin was unaware of it,
remarkable examples of evolution, which might have helped to persuade people of his
theory, were in the countryside of his native England. One such example is the evolution
of the peppered moth Biston betularia.
The economic changes known as the industrial revolution began in the middle of the
eighteenth century. Since then, tons of soot have been deposited on the country side
around industrial areas. The soot discoloured and generally darkened the surfaces of trees
and rocks. In 1848, a dark-coloured moth was first recorded. Today, in some areas, 90%
or more of the-peppered moths are dark in colour. More than 70 species of moth in
England have undergone a change from light to dark. Similar observations have been
made in other industrial nations, including the United States.
The data in the following table represents the capture of moths over a ten year period as
increasing industrialization darkened the forest they inhabited, and the trees and stones
they rested upon. Create an appropriate graph of the data. Your graph should have a
title, appropriate scaling of the axes and correct labeling.
IV:amount of industrialization
DV:_# of different colored moths
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Testable hypothesis: If there is more soot in an area, then there will be a larger population
of dark-colored moths.
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