Deck 2: Evolution: Constructing a Fundamental Scientific Theory

Question 1

Evolutionary synthesis is

A) the concept of evolution through natural selection.
B) a unified theory of evolution that combines genetics with natural selection.
C) a combination of the inheritance of acquired characteristics and natural selection.
D) the combination of the theory of evolution and Linnaean taxonomy.

Answer 1

a unified theory of evolution that combines genetics with natural selection.

Question 2

Darwinian evolution proposes that

A) species adapt and change over time based on the environment.
B) an individual can change within its own lifetime.
C) species adapt based on individual goals.
D) individuals determine their own biological adaptations.

Answer 2

species adapt and change over time based on the environment.

Question 3

The relevance of the theory of uniformitarianism is that it

A) supports the theory of catastrophism.
B) proves that changes to the earth were caused by cataclysmic events like earthquakes and floods.
C) allowed the understanding of evidence of change in the geological past by understanding what we see in the present day.
D) demonstrates that the earth is 4.4 billion years old, based on geologic evidence from stratigraphic layers.

Answer 3

allowed the understanding of evidence of change in the geological past by understanding what we see in the present day.

Question 4

Adaptive radiation occurs when

A) one species gives rise to multiple closely related species.
B) several species adapt to one environment.
C) species adapt to environments with high radiation levels.
D) an individual adapts to varying environments.

Question 5

According to Darwin, natural selection operates at the level of

A) individuals.
B) genes.
C) populations.
D) species.

Question 6

Uniformitarianism is the theory that

A) the earth is very old, based on geologic evidence from stratigraphic layers in Scotland.
B) the natural processes operating today are the same as the natural processes that operated in the past.
C) the uniformity of species is derived from the common ancestor of all species.
D) processes such as earthquakes are evidence supporting catastrophism as proposed by Lamarck.

Question 7

Cuvier, Lamarck, and Erasmus Darwin all shared an idea of evolution; however, their ideas all lacked

A) the longevity necessary for evolution to take place.
B) a basic understanding of inheritance.
C) an understanding of variation.
D) a description of natural selection, a key mechanism for evolutionary change.

Question 8

The English demographer whose work on population growth greatly influenced Darwin's thinking on population adaptation was

A) Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck.
B) Georges Cuvier.
C) Thomas Malthus.
D) Charles Lyell.

Question 9

James Hutton is associated primarily with

A) adaptation.
B) catastrophism.
C) uniformitarianism.
D) principles of heredity.

Question 10

How did Lamarck contribute to the theory of evolution?

A) He discovered genetic mutation through experiments with pea plants.
B) He proposed the concept of natural selection after his voyage to the Galápagos Islands and his study of finches.
C) He proposed the first serious model of how traits are passed on from parent to offspring through inheritance of acquired characteristics, though that idea turned out to be incorrect.
D) He proposed a concept known today as gene flow.

Question 11

How was Darwin influenced by Thomas Malthus's work on population growth?

A) Darwin was interested in Malthus's examination of population changes in pea plants.
B) Darwin was influenced by Malthus's work on demography and population responses to food availability.
C) Darwin liked the concept of Latin taxonomic classification as it pertained to human groups.
D) Darwin was greatly influenced by research on acquired characteristics.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a cause of evolution in a population?

A) inheritance of acquired traits
B) mutation
C) gene flow
D) genetic drift

Question 13

Without the work of X-ray crystallographer ________, DNA might not have been discovered for some time longer than it was.

A) James Watson
B) Francis Crick
C) Thomas Malthus
D) Rosalind Franklin

Question 14

Thomas Malthus's contribution to natural selection is the

A) binomial taxonomic system of naming species.
B) theory that the earth's old age is based on geologic evidence resulting from cataclysmic events.
C) observation that an abundance of food would allow a population to increase geometrically and indefinitely, but there simply is not enough food, so populations are limited by food supply.
D) theory that environmental resources increase to population pressures.

Question 15

The English scientist who independently codiscovered the theory of natural selection was

A) Charles Lyell.
B) Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck.
C) Alfred Russell Wallace.
D) Carolus Linnaeus.

Question 16

Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species (1859) was considered an important contribution to modern science because it

A) coined the concept of evolution.
B) synthesized information from diverse scientific fields in order to document evolutionary change.
C) was immediately and widely accepted by the scientific community as the mechanism for evolutionary change.
D) proposed the use of the scientific method for the first time.

Question 17

From which five scientific disciplines did Darwin draw information?

A) geology, biological anthropology, taxonomy and systematics, demography, and evolutionary biology
B) geology, paleontology, taxonomy and systematics, geography, and evolutionary biology
C) geology, paleontology, taxonomy and systematics, demography, and biology
D) geology, paleontology, taxonomy and systematics, demography, and evolutionary biology

Question 18

The advantageous so-called attributes to which Darwin refers are now known as

A) traits.
B) genes.
C) alleles.
D) chromosomes.

Question 19

Why is the work of Alfred Russell Wallace considered when discussing the theory of evolution?

A) He was an English naturalist who had arrived at many of the same conclusions as Darwin through his own research.
B) His work is not considered, as he was mistakenly credited with the theory of natural selection.
C) He was a British dog breeder who worked on artificial selection experiments in the same way Mendel worked on sweet peas to determine inheritance.
D) He was the most prominent scientist of the time who opposed Darwin's work on evolution.

Question 20

The forces of evolution include

A) gene flow, mutations, chromosomes, and genes.
B) mutations, genes, and genetic drift.
C) natural selection, gene flow, genetic drift, and mutations.
D) natural selection, genes, alleles, and chromosomes.

Question 21

Darwin observed that adaptations

A) resulted from supernatural forces.
B) did not vary among Galápagos finches living in different habitats.
C) were physical traits that enhanced survival and reproduction.
D) were peripheral to evolutionary change.

Question 22

What are some of the important scientific discoveries that laid the groundwork for Darwin's theory of evolution?

Question 23

Why was Darwin's 1859 published theory of natural selection not widely accepted by his peers? What later scientific advance was critical to the subsequent broad acceptance of natural selection as a major force in evolutionary change?

Question 24

In what way did the West African Ebola pandemic of 2014-2015 demonstrate the value of an anthropological approach?

A) Careful research by anthropologists identified the first human infection, from which all the other cases ultimately came.
B) Research on chimpanzees, who are also affected by Ebola, led to the development of a vaccine.
C) A medical anthropologist discovered that quarantine, an effective way to limit the spread of disease, could also contribute to mortality, in unexpected ways.
D) Anthropologists discovered that there were five different species of Ebola.

Question 25

What are the classification levels of humans from order to species?

A) Chordata, Mammalia, Haplorhini, Hominoidea, Homo, and sapiens
B) Primates, Haplorhini, Anthropoidea, Catarrhini, Hominoidea, Hominidae, Homininae, Hominine, Homo, and sapiens
C) Primates, Strepsirhini, Catarrhini, Hominoidea, Hominidae, Homo, and sapiens
D) Mammalia, Platyrrhini, Hominioidea, Hominidae, Homo, and sapiens

Question 26

What were the three key observations made by Darwin that allowed him to deduce that natural selection is a primary driver of evolution?

A) Species change and adapt based on environmental pressure, individuals change within their lifetimes, and offspring inherit the changes.
B) Genetic drift, gene flow, and mutations provide the change necessary in populations that affect future generations.
C) Organisms produce more offspring than survive, variation exists among members of populations, and advantageous variations increase in relative frequency over time.
D) The number of adults tends to remain the same over time, individuals vary little over time, and natural selection works on only the best of those adults in each generation.

Question 27

The individual genotypes in a breeding population, taken as a whole, are the

A) gene pool.
B) DNA.
C) phenotype.
D) polygene.

Question 28

How does genetic drift affect small populations differently than large populations?

A) Smaller populations can be transformed into large ones if genetic drift is sufficiently nonrandom.
B) Since genetic drift is a random effect, it has the same outcome in large and small populations.
C) An entire trait and its underlying genetic basis can disappear from a small population quickly, but may be maintained in a large population.
D) Since there are many instances of a rare trait in the large population, it is more likely to be selected out, and disappear, in that larger population.

Question 29

Mendel's plant experiments demonstrated that

A) traits inherited from each parent blended together in the offspring.
B) DNA was the molecule carrying the genetic code.
C) peas were a poor choice for understanding basic hereditary principles.
D) traits are passed on from parent to offspring as discrete units.

Question 30

In your textbook, the lower frequency of sickle-cell anemia among present-day Americans of West African ancestry as compared to people living in West Africa is attributed to

A) genetic drift.
B) gene flow.
C) new mutations.
D) natural selection.

Question 31

Gene flow differs from genetic drift because it is the

A) random change in the frequency of alleles.
B) random change in a gene or chromosome.
C) guiding force of evolution.
D) spread of new genetic material from one gene pool to another.

Question 32

Fossils represent the remains of once-living

A) extant species that tell the story of human origins.
B) extinct organisms that provide a record of the history of life on the planet.
C) plants that provide proof of catastrophism.
D) organisms that demonstrate the age of the earth through the process of uniformitarianism.

Question 33

The scientist who coined the name Homo sapiens for human beings and placed them in a higher taxonomic group (primates) was

A) Charles Darwin.
B) Georges Cuvier.
C) Carolus Linnaeus.
D) Robert Hooke.

Question 34

The scientist whose work provided the foundation for later understandings of genetics was

A) John Ray.
B) Gregor Mendel.
C) Charles Darwin.
D) Robert Hooke.

Question 35

Discuss four key individuals who helped Darwin formulate the theory of natural selection.

Question 36

Thomas Hunt Morgan

A) demonstrated that chromosomes carry genetic material in the form of genes.
B) studied mutations in Homo sapiens.
C) thought change was gradual and occurred over long time periods.
D) proposed the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Question 37

James Hutton

A) extensively studied fossils.
B) revealed that fossils would provide the history of past life.
C) created the first scientific classification of plants and animals.
D) provided geologic evidence necessary for calculating the time span of evolution.

Question 38

Linnaeus's taxonomic system is referred to as a "hierarchy" because

A) each species has a "higher level" genus and "lower level" species, and are placed within additional higher-level categories.
B) species are placed in a ranked list called the "Great Chain of Being."
C) humans are considered the most evolved species.
D) naming species officially requires approval of an appointed board of high-level experts.

Question 39

Why are Darwin's finches considered good examples of natural selection?

A) They are found on every continent.
B) They originated in North America, according to fossil evidence.
C) They embody the idea of descent with modification.
D) They did not differ between populations.

Question 40

The geneticist who studied the workings of fruit flies' chromosomes was

A) Charles Darwin.
B) Gregor Mendel.
C) Thomas Hunt Morgan.
D) Thomas Huxley.

Question 41

What is the significance for evolutionary theory of Darwin's analysis of the Galápagos finches? Provide at least one example in your answer.

Question 42

Discuss the forces of evolution and their role in evolution.