Deck 19: Systematics: Seeking Order Amid Diversity

Question 1

Canis latrans, Canis lupus, and Canis familiaris are all members of the same

A) family.
B) subspecies.
C) genus.
D) race.
E) species.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Historically, in the field of taxonomy, what characteristic was most commonly used for determining species relationships?

A) Chromosomal similarity
B) Anatomical similarity
C) Capability of interbreeding
D) DNA sequence similarity
E) Geographic proximity

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The science of reconstructing the evolutionary history of life is called

A) taxidermy.
B) gradualism.
C) systematics.
D) biology.
E) pre- adaptation.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

DNA analysis reveals that two species of birds appear to have evolved from a common ancestor. These two species belong to the same

A) gene pool.
B) species.
C) breeding group.
D) clade.
E) nest group.

Question 5

Which of the following is the correct way to write the scientific name of the wolf?

A) canis lupus
B) Canis lupus
C) canis Lupus
D) Canis Lupus
E) Canis lupus

Question 6

What is the main reason scientists use Latin scientific names?

A) Common names don't sound professional.
B) All scientists speak Latin.
C) Linnaeus was from Italy, so he spoke Latin.
D) Scientific publications are usually in Latin.
E) Latin names are recognized worldwide, overcoming language barriers.

Question 7

The most powerful way to infer evolutionary relationships relies on which type of evidence?

A) Comparative anatomy
B) Comparison of DNA base sequences
C) The ability to mate and produce fertile offspring
D) Behavioral similarities

Question 8

Which of the following is the smallest or least inclusive group?

A) Kingdom
B) Species
C) Genus
D) Class
E) Order

Question 9

Comparing the chromosomes of chimpanzees and humans has revealed that the two species

A) are only distantly related.
B) should be classified in the same species.
C) should be classified in the same genus.
D) are closely related.
E) should not be classified in the same family.

Question 10

The Asian elephant has the scientific name Elephas maximus. The term Elephas is the

A) species.
B) genus.
C) kingdom.
D) order.
E) family.

Question 11

Who was the Swedish naturalist who established the modern system for classifying organisms?

A) Aristotle
B) Linnaeus
C) Whittaker
D) Woese
E) Darwin

Question 12

A house cat has the scientific name Felis catus. The term catus is the

A) species.
B) genus.
C) kingdom.
D) order.
E) family.

Question 13

Which of the following is the smallest or least inclusive group?

A) Genus
B) Kingdom
C) Family
D) Domain
E) Class

Question 14

Which of the following is the largest or most inclusive group?

A) Genus
B) Order
C) Class
D) Family
E) Phylum

Question 15

In the scientific name of humans, Homo sapiens, the term Homo is the

A) genus.
B) family.
C) species.
D) order.
E) class.

Question 16

A mountain lion, or puma, has the scientific name Felis concolor. The term Felis is the

A) species.
B) genus.
C) kingdom.
D) order.
E) family.

Question 17

A major difficulty facing systematists is

A) placing specimens into the predefined taxonomic categories of species and genus.
B) understanding the sequence of cell divisions in the early embryology of plants and animals.
C) distinguishing similar features due to common ancestry from those due to convergent evolution.
D) distinguishing anatomy from physiology in plant evolution.
E) sequencing DNA.

Question 18

What is the second of the two names in an organism's scientific name?

A) Species
B) Genus
C) Kingdom
D) Order
E) Family

Question 19

If two organisms are members of the same phylum, then they must also be members of the same

A) class.
B) domain.
C) family.
D) genus.
E) species.

Question 20

Which of the following groups contains the fewest number of species?

A) Kingdom
B) Class
C) Phylum
D) Domain
E) Order

Question 21

Which of the following is prokaryotic?

A) humans
B) Fungi
C) Plantae
D) Archaea
E) Animalia

Question 22

Systematics reassigns phylogenetic placement based on

A) seed formation.
B) physical features.
C) behaviors.
D) new information about genetic relationships.
E) reproduction.

Question 23

Which biologist first proposed that all organisms share a common ancestry?

A) Aristotle
B) Linnaeus
C) Whittaker
D) Woese
E) Darwin

Question 24

If genetic studies reveal that a population has genetic sequences in common with two closely related species but has no unique sequences of its own, then

A) it should be assigned separate species status.
B) all three should be considered subspecies within the same species.
C) it should be considered a hybrid of the two species.
D) all three should be assigned to the same species.
E) it should be assigned to the species with which it shares more sequences.

Question 25

Genetics studies of human populations have revealed that

A) it is nearly impossible to determine the relatedness of human populations.
B) Homo sapiens probably did not evolve from primates.
C) all humans are virtually identical.
D) humans have very little genetic variation compared to other mammals.
E) human populations vary tremendously at the level of DNA sequences.

Question 26

Which of the following groups is composed of eukaryotic organisms?

A) Monera
B) Fungi
C) Bacteria
D) Archaea

Question 27

Why do some biologists NOT consider reptiles to be a monophyletic group?

A) Birds are the direct descendants of some reptiles.
B) Reptiles evolved independently at several different times in the past and from several different ancestral species.
C) Reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish appeared in the fossil record at approximately the same time.
D) All reptiles do not reproduce sexually.
E) The ancestors of reptiles are the class Amphibia.

Question 28

Modern systematics constructs clades and evolutionary relationships on the basis of

A) whether or not an organism reproduces sexually.
B) fossils.
C) mating behaviors.
D) anatomical similarities.
E) genetic similarities.

Question 29

What should biologists do when two similar organisms that were originally thought to be separate species are found to interbreed freely and produce normal offspring whenever they live in the same habitat?

A) Develop a new name for the hybrids.
B) Retain the two species' names if the organisms have very different appearances.
C) Separate the two groups until they become dissimilar enough to prevent interbreeding.
D) Consider both types to be a single species.

Question 30

An organism with a nucleus would be placed in which domain?

A) Animalia
B) Eukarya
C) Fungi
D) Archaea
E) Bacteria

Question 31

A modern system of classification gives the category name domain to

A) insects.
B) Prokaryota.
C) Hominidae.
D) Fungi.
E) Eukarya.

Question 32

Based on evolutionary lineage, fungi and animals belong to the same

A) species.
B) order.
C) genus.
D) family.
E) clade.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a monophyletic group?

A) The family Semionotidae, which includes fish that may not share a common ancestor
B) Turtles and lizards
C) The kingdom Animalia, which includes all animals
D) You, your parents, and your siblings
E) The class Mammalia, which includes all mammals

Question 34

Which group contains mostly unicellular, eukaryotic organisms?

A) Bacteria
B) Animalia
C) Protists
D) Plantae
E) Fungi

Question 35

Before 1970, what was the basis for the biological classification system?

A) Two kingdoms: Bacteria and Eukarya
B) Two kingdoms: Animalia and Plantae
C) Two kingdoms: Monera and Animalia
D) Three kingdoms: Bacteria, Animalia, and Plantae
E) Five kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Animalia, and Plantae

Question 36

Who introduced the "two- part" system (genus and species) that biologists use to name organisms?

A) Aristotle
B) Linnaeus
C) Whittaker
D) Woese
E) Darwin

Question 37

Evolutionary relationships among organisms are most likely to be revised at the level.

A) kingdom
B) genus
C) domain
D) order
E) species

Question 38

Which of the following is a prokaryote?

A) Troglodytes gorilla
B) Blechnum nudum
C) Porifera
D) Homo sapiens
E) Vibrio cholerae

Question 39

Which of the following groups is composed of eukaryotic organisms?

A) Monera
B) Protists
C) Archaea
D) Bacteria

Question 40

The greatest genetic diversity among humans is found between some populations.

A) North American
B) Australian
C) African
D) European
E) Asian

Question 41

The science of reconstructing an organism's evolutionary history is called systematics.

Question 42

A phylogenetic species is defined as the smallest diagnosable group that contains all the descendants of a single common ancestor.

Question 43

All organisms that are derived from a single common ancestor make up a clade.

Question 44

evolution results in similar anatomical features between unrelated organisms that may be misleading in determining species relationships.

Question 45

Research indicates that HIV developed from a bird virus.

Question 46

The virus most closely related to HIV infects monkeys.

Question 47

The second of the two names in an organism's scientific name is the .

Question 48

Modern systematics is based on similarities.

Question 49

The total number of named species is about

A) 1.6 million.
B) 1.6 billion.
C) 1,600.
D) 160.
E) 160,000.

Question 50

Each class can be split into several kingdoms.

Question 51

Systematists use synapomorphies to build phylogenetic trees.

Question 52

The number and variety of species in an area is the

A) clade.
B) synapomorphy.
C) taxonomy.
D) domain.
E) biodiversity.

Question 53

Systematics holds that the more similar the DNA of two organisms, the more closely related they are.

Question 54

Monophyletic groups contain all the species that evolved from a common ancestor.

Question 55

Current research indicates that the temperate forest has the greatest biodiversity.

Question 56

Based on taxonomic ranks, each order is divided into _.

Question 57

Historically, most classification has been based on similarity.

Question 58

Scientists currently identify three domains: plants, animals, and bacteria.

Question 59

is a term that refers to the "evolutionary history" of an organism.

Question 60

Once an organism is placed in a specific species, the designation cannot be changed.

Question 61

Dogs, wolves, foxes, and coyotes are genetically similar and form a group called a _ .

Question 62

groups are groups in which all members are descendants of a common ancestor.

Question 63

groups contain only some of the descendants of a common ancestor.

Question 64

How did Darwin's evolutionary theory change the significance of the taxonomic categories of organisms?

Question 65

Briefly explain why the adoption of a standard, two- part scientific naming system is helpful to biologists.

Question 66

Ferns and flowering plants belong to the clade _ _.

Question 67

Why are Archaea and Bacteria, which are both prokaryotes, different domains?

Question 68

Organisms that reproduce do not meet the standard criterion of a species.

Question 69

Based on current hypotheses, the prokaryotic group that gave rise to eukaryotes is the .

Question 70

Fungi and animals belong to the domain .

Question 71

Sponges and worms belong to the domain .

Question 72

HIV appears to have developed from a(n) .

Question 73

How can DNA tell you how closely related two organisms are?

Question 74

List the following taxonomic categories from the most specific to the most general: genus, domain, family, phylum, order.

Question 75

How do Archaea and Bacteria differ?

Question 76

Two butterflies have identical wing patterns, but in one the pigment is blue and in the other the pigment is yellow. The original ancestor had green wing pigments. The wing pigment is an example of a(n) .

Question 77

Explain how systematics and Linnaean taxonomy differ.

Question 78

Why can organisms that look physically similar belong to different clades?

Question 79

The smallest diagnosable group that contains all the descendants of a single common ancestor is a(n) .

Question 80

Eukaryotes that are not plants, animals, or fungi are classified as .