Chapter
22: Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life
The following
questions are meant to help you get ready for the next hourly exam. Work with your friends to prepare for the
next test now. Do not wait for the night
before the exam.
1) Catastrophism,
meaning the regular occurrence of geological or meteorological disturbances
(catastrophes), was Cuvier's attempt to explain the
existence of
A) evolution.
B)
the fossil record.
C)
uniformitarianism.
D)
the origin of new species.
E)
natural selection.
2) What was the prevailing notion prior to the
time of Lyell and Darwin?
A)
Earth is 6,000 years old, and populations are unchanging.
B)
Earth is 6,000 years old, and populations gradually change.
C)
Earth is millions of
years old, and populations rapidly change.
D)
Earth is millions of years old, and populations are unchanging.
E)
Earth is millions of years old, and populations gradually change.
3) During a study session about evolution, one
of your fellow students remarks, "The giraffe
stretched its neck while reaching for higher leaves; its offspring inherited
longer necks as a result." Which statement would you use to correct this
student's misconception?
A)
Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on
through genes.
B)
Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of new traits.
C)
Only favorable adaptations have survival value.
D)
Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance.
E)
Overproduction of offspring leads to a struggle for survival.
4) "Improving the intelligence of an adult
through education will result in that adult's descendants being born with a
greater native intelligence." This statement is an example of
A) Darwinism.
B)
Lamarckism.
C)
uniformitarianism.
D)
scala naturae.
E)
Malthusianism.
5) In the mid-1900s, the Soviet geneticist Lysenko exposed winter wheat plants to ever-colder
temperatures, collected their seeds, and then exposed the seedlings to
ever-colder temperatures. He repeated
his attempts over the course of decades in an attempt to evolve cold-tolerant
winter wheat. Lysenko's
attempts in this regard were most in agreement with the ideas of
A) Cuvier.
B)
Hutton.
C)
Lamarck.
D)
E)
Plato.
6)
A)
Georges Cuvier
B)
Charles Lyell
C)
Hardy-Weinberg
D)
Thomas Malthus
E)
John Henslow
7) Darwin had initially expected the living
plants of temperate South America to resemble those of temperate Europe, but he
was surprised to find that they more closely resembled the plants of tropical South America. The biological explanation for this observation
is most properly associated with the field of
A) meteorology.
B)
embryology.
C)
vertebrate anatomy.
D)
bioengineering.
E)
biogeography.
8) Who was the naturalist who synthesized a
concept of natural selection independently of
A)
Charles Lyell
B) Gregor Mendel
C)
Alfred Wallace
D)
John Henslow
E)
Thomas Malthus
9) In evolutionary terms, the more closely
related two different organisms are, the
A) more similar their habitats are.
B)
less similar their DNA sequences are.
C)
more recently they shared a common ancestor.
D)
less likely they are to be related to fossil forms.
E)
more similar they are in size.
10) Both Darwin's and Lamarck's
ideas regarding evolution suggest which of the following?
A)
All species were fixed at the time of creation.
B)
Acquired physical characteristics can be inherited.
C)
The giraffe's long neck is the result of artificial selection.
D)
The main mechanism of evolution is natural selection.
E)
The interaction of organisms with their environment is important in the
evolutionary process.
11) Natural selection is based on all of
the following except
A) variation exists within populations.
B)
the fittest individuals tend to leave the most
offspring.
C)
there is differential reproductive success within
populations.
D)
populations tend to produce more individuals than the
environment can support.
E)
individuals must adapt to their environment.
12) Which of the following represents an idea
A)
All species are fixed in the form in which they are created.
B)
Populations tend to increase at a faster rate than their food supply.
C)
Earth changed over the years through a series of catastrophic upheavals.
D)
The environment is responsible for natural selection.
E)
Earth is more than 10,000 years old.
13) Which statement about natural selection is most correct?
A)
Adaptations beneficial in one habitat should generally be beneficial in all
other habitats as well.
B)
Different species that together occupy the same habitat will adapt to that
habitat by undergoing the same genetic changes.
C)
Adaptations beneficial at one time should generally be beneficial during all
other times as well.
D)
Well-adapted individuals leave more offspring, and thus contribute more to the
gene pool, than poorly adapted individuals.
E)
Natural selection is the sole means by which populations can evolve.
14) Given a population that contains genetic
variation, what is the correct sequence of the following events, under the
influence of natural selection?
1. Differential reproduction occurs.
2. A new selective pressure arises.
3. Allele frequencies within the population
change.
4. Poorly adapted individuals have decreased
survivorship.
A)
2, 4, 1, 3
B) 4, 2, 1, 3
C)
4, 1, 2, 3
D)
4, 2, 3, 1
E)
2, 4, 3, 1
15) If the HMS Beagle had completely bypassed the Galapagos Islands,
A)
the age of Earth.
B)
the ability of populations to undergo modification as
they adapt to a particular environment.
C)
the tendency of organisms to produce a larger number
of offspring than the environment can support.
D)
the limited resources available to support population
growth in most natural environments.
E)
how fossils of marine organisms could be found high in
the
16) During drought years on the Galapagos, small,
easily eaten seeds become rare leaving only large, hard-cased seeds that only
birds with large beaks can eat. If a drought persists for several years, then what should one
expect to result from natural selection?
A)
Small birds gaining larger beaks by exercising their mouth parts.
B)
Small birds mutating their beak genes with the result that later-generation
offspring have larger beaks.
C)
Small birds anticipating the long drought and eating more to gain weight and,
consequently, growing
larger beaks.
D)
More small-beaked birds dying
than the larger-beaked birds.
The offspring produced in subsequent generations have a higher
percentage of birds with large beaks.
E)
Larger birds eating less so smaller birds can survive.
17) In a
hypothetical environment, fishes called pike-cichlids are visual predators of
algae-eating fish, i.e., they locate their prey by sight. If a population of
algae eaters experiences predation pressure from pike-cichlids, which of the
following would least likely be
observed in the algae-eater population over the course of many generations?
A)
Coloration of the algae eaters may become drab.
B)
The algae eaters may become nocturnal (active only at night).
C)
Female algae eaters may become larger, bearing broods composed of more, and
larger, young.
D)
The algae eaters may become sexually mature at smaller overall body sizes.
E)
The algae eaters may become faster swimmers.
16) Which of the following is the best example of humans undergoing
evolution, understood as "descent with modification"?
A)
reduction in the amount and coarseness of body hair over millennia
B) reduction in number of hairs on the head of a balding
person
C)
increased pigment production by the skin of a person who is exposed to
increased UV radiation levels
D)
increase in weight over an individual's lifetime
E)
widening of the pupils of the eyes when one encounters dimly lit conditions
17) Which statement best describes how the
evolution of pesticide resistance occurs in a population of insects?
A)
Individual members of the population slowly adapt to the presence of the
chemical by striving to meet the new challenge.
B)
All insects exposed to the insecticide begin to use a formerly silent gene to
make a new enzyme that breaks down the insecticide molecules.
C)
Insects observe the behavior of other insects that survive pesticide
application, and adjust their own behaviors to copy those of the survivors.
D)
A number of genetically resistant pesticide survivors reproduce. The next generation of insects contains more
genes from the survivors than it does from susceptible individuals.
E)
B and D only
18) Of the following
anatomical structures, which is homologous to the wing of a bat?
A)
dorsal fin of a shark
B)
tail of a kangaroo
C)
wing of a butterfly
D)
tail fin of a fish
E)
arm of a human
19) Structures as different as human arms, bat
wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the same bones, these bones having
developed from the same embryonic tissues.
How do biologists interpret these similarities?
A)
by identifying the bones as being homologous
B)
by the principle of convergent evolution
C)
by proposing that humans, bats, and dolphins share a common ancestor
D)
A and C only
E)
A, B, and C
20) Human intestines are held in place by
membranes called mesenteries. In bipedal
humans, it would be logical for these mesenteries to be attached to the rib
cage. Instead, they are attached to the
backbone, as they are in quadrupedal mammals. Because of this arrangement, human
mesenteries have a tendency to tear more often than mesenteries in other
mammals, as frequently observed among truck drivers and jackhammer operators. The same evolutionary modification that
causes increased susceptibility to torn mesenteries is responsible for
A) tonsillitis.
B)
appendicitis.
C)
back and knee problems.
D)
susceptibility to HIV infection.
E)
vision problems associated with advanced age.
21) As adults, certain species of whales possess
baleen instead of teeth. Baleen is used
to filter the whales' diet of planktonic animals from
seawater. As embryos, baleen whales
possess teeth, which are later replaced by baleen. The teeth of embryonic baleen whales are
evidence that
A) all whales are the descendants of terrestrial mammals.
B)
baleen whale embryos pass through a stage when they
resemble adult toothed whales.
C)
baleen whales are descendants of toothed whales.
D)
ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.
E)
among ancient whales, baleen evolved before teeth.
22) Over evolutionary time, many cave-dwelling
organisms have lost their eyes. Tapeworms
have lost their digestive systems.
Whales have lost their hind limbs.
How can natural selection account for these losses?
A)
Natural selection cannot account for losses, only for innovations.
B)
It can account for these losses by the principle of use and disuse.
C)
Under particular circumstances that persisted for long periods, each of these
structures presented greater costs than benefits.
D)
These organisms had the misfortune to experience harmful mutations, which
caused the loss of these structures.
E)
B and D only
23) Evolutionary
forces produce ever increasing complexity in the descendents of an ancestral
group. This statement is
A) always true.
B) usually true.
C)
24) Which of the following pieces of evidence
most strongly supports the common origin of all life on Earth?
A)
All organisms require energy.
B)
All organisms use essentially the same genetic code.
C)
All organisms reproduce.
D)
All organisms show heritable variation.
E)
All organisms have undergone evolution.
25) What would be the best technique for
determining the evolutionary relationships among several closely related
species, each of which still contains living members?
A)
examining the fossil record
B)
comparison of homologous structures
C)
comparative embryology
D)
comparative anatomy
E)
DNA or RNA analysis
26) Which of the following statements gives the least support to the claim that the
human appendix is a completely vestigial organ?
A)
The appendix can be surgically removed with no apparent ill effects.
B)
The appendix might have been larger in fossil hominids.
C)
The appendix can have a substantial amount of defensive lymphatic tissue in its
walls.
D)
Individuals with a larger-than-average appendix leave fewer offspring than
those with a below-average-sized appendix.
E)
In a million years, the human species might completely lack an appendix.
27) Members of two different species possess a
similar-looking structure that they use in a similar fashion to perform the
same function. Which information would
shed the most light on whether these
structures are homologous or whether they are, instead, the result of
convergent evolution?
A)
The two species live at great distance from each other.
B)
The two species share many proteins in common, and the nucleotide sequences
that code for these proteins are almost identical.
C)
The sizes of the structures in adult members of both species are similar in
size.
D)
Both species are well adapted to their particular environments.
E)
Both species reproduce sexually.
28) Ichthyosaurs were aquatic dinosaurs. Fossils
show us that they had dorsal fins and tails just as fish do, even though their
closest relatives were terrestrial reptiles that had neither dorsal fins nor
aquatic tails. The dorsal fins and tails of ichthyosaurs and fish are
A) homologous.
B)
examples of convergent evolution.
C)
adaptations to a common environment.
D)
A and C only
E) B and C only
29) The theory of evolution is most accurately
described as
A)
an educated guess about how species originate.
B)
one possible explanation, among several scientific
alternatives, about how species have come into existence.
C)
an opinion that some scientists hold about how living
things change over time.
D)
an overarching explanation, supported by much
evidence, for how populations change over time.
E)
an idea about how acquired characteristics are passed
on to subsequent generations.
30) Which of these is a consequence of uniformitarianism?
A)
Earth is round, not flat.
B)
Populations evolve.
C)
Populations reproduce faster than their food supply.
D)
A Creator made Earth.
E)
Earth is old.
31) Which explains variations in homologous
structures?
A)
Variations in homologous structures occur because the structures develop from
different parts of an embryo.
B)
The traits evolved independently in different ancestors.
C)
The theory of convergent evolution.
D)
Variations in the development of the structures occur as the embryos grow.
E)
All of the above could be true.
32) Which of the following reflect Hutton and Lyell's ideas of gradualism that were incorporated into
A)
There is a struggle in populations for survival and reproduction.
B)
Natural selection acts on heritable variation.
C)
Small changes accumulated over vast spans of time can produce dramatic results.
D)
Characteristics acquired gradually over an organism's lifetime can lead to
changes in the characteristics of the next generation.
E)
Homologous structures are found in organisms with a common ancestor.
33) Which of the following is not an observation or inference on which
natural selection is based?
A)
There is heritable variation among individuals.
B)
Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring.
C)
There is a struggle for limited resources, and only a fraction of offspring
survive.
D)
Individuals whose characteristics are best suited to the environment generally
leave more offspring than those that are less well suited.
E)
Organisms interact with their environments.
34) Analysis of forelimb anatomy of humans, bats,
and whales shows that humans and bats have fairly similar skeletal structures,
while whales have diverged considerably in the shapes and proportions of their
bones. However, analysis of several genes in these species suggests that all
three diverged from a common ancestor at about the same time. Which of the
following is the best explanation for these data?
A)
Humans and bats evolved by natural selection and whales evolved by Lamarckian
mechanisms.
B)
Evolution of human and bat forelimbs was adaptive, but not for whales.
C)
Natural selection in an aquatic environment resulted in significant changes to
whale forelimb anatomy.
D)
Genes mutate more rapidly in whales than in humans or bats.
E)
Whales are not properly defined as mammals.
35) Which of the following observations helped
A)
Species diversity declines as distance from the equator increases.
B)
Fewer species are found living on islands than on the nearest continents.
C)
Birds can be found on islands that are farther apart from the mainland than the
birds' maximum nonstop flight distance.
D)
South American temperate plants are more similar to the tropical plants of
South America than to the temperate plants of
E)
Earthquakes reshape life by causing mass extinctions.
36) The smallest biological unit that can evolve
over time is
A) a cell.
B)
an individual organism.
C)
a population.
D)
a species.
E)
an ecosystem.