Deck 21: The Origin and Evolutionary History of Life

Question 1

High energy sources on early Earth, which were most likely involved in the origin of life, included:

A) volcanic activity, lightning, and ultraviolet radiation.
B) bombardment from meteorites, gamma radiation, and cosmic radiation.
C) intense radiation, volcanic activity, and redox energy.
D) oxidizing environment, electrical discharge, and geothermal energy.
E) infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, and oxidizing radiation.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The concept that simple organic molecules could form spontaneously from simpler raw materials was first proposed by:

A) Miller and Urey.
B) Charles Darwin.
C) Thomas Malthus.
D) Watson and Crick.
E) Oparin and Haldane.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The hypothesis that organic molecules formed near the Earth's surface in pools of water is called the:

A) clay hypothesis.
B) iron-sulfur world hypothesis.
C) iron-clay hypothesis.
D) organic broth hypothesis.
E) prebiotic soup hypothesis.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which of the following is not one of the requirements that must have existed for the chemical evolution of life on Earth to have occurred?

A) a source of energy
B) availability of chemical building blocks
C) oxygen (O₂)
D) time
E) carbon dioxide

Question 5

Multicellular eukaryotes arose about:

A) 3.8 billion years ago.
B) 2 billion years ago.
C) 1.3 billion years ago.
D) 600 million years ago.
E) 250 million years ago.

Question 6

The most significant outcome of the Miller and Urey experiment was that they:

A) were the first to synthesize living cells.
B) demonstrated natural selection.
C) proved that the iron-sulfur world hypothesis was false.
D) proved that life did not originate on Earth.
E) synthesized organic molecules from inorganic materials.

Question 7

Chemical evolution:

A) cannot be investigated experimentally.
B) was tested in experiments performed by Watson and Crick.
C) occurred about 1 billion years ago.
D) resulted in simple organic molecules.
E) started with unicellular prokaryotic organisms.

Question 8

One critical requirement for life to arise on Earth was time for:

A) the atmospheric temperature to increase sufficiently.
B) molecules to accumulate and react with one another.
C) the Earth's various climates to stabilize.
D) the salinity of the oceans to stabilize.
E) the ozone layer to form, so that the level of ultraviolet radiation was reduced.

Question 9

Which of the following gases was not present in the Earth's early atmosphere but appeared after the evolution of certain organisms?

A) hydrogen
B) methane
C) nitrogen
D) oxygen
E) carbon dioxide

Question 10

Presently, it is thought that organic polymers may have formed and accumulated on:

A) water and shells.
B) sand and mud.
C) silt and sand.
D) rocks and clay.
E) sand and heavy metals.

Question 11

The approximate age of the Earth is:

A) 100,000 years.
B) 1.2 billion years.
C) 4.6 billion years.
D) 10.5 billion years.
E) 13.6 billion years.

Question 12

The hypothesis that organic molecules formed near deep sea hydrothermal vents is called the:

A) iron-sulfur world hypothesis.
B) iron-clay hypothesis.
C) organic sea hypothesis.
D) prebiotic soup hypothesis.
E) sulfur vent hypothesis.

Question 13

The Earth's early atmosphere was probably strongly:

A) oxidizing.
B) electronegative.
C) reducing.
D) ionic.
E) acidic.

Question 14

A compound that could not have been present in the early atmosphere, because it is quite reactive and would have broken down organic molecules that were a necessary step in the origin of life on Earth, is:

A) oxygen.
B) sulfur dioxide.
C) hydrogen sulfide.
D) carbon dioxide.
E) sodium chloride.

Question 15

There is evidence that life existed about:

A) 3.5 billion years ago.
B) 2 billion years ago.
C) 1.3 billion years ago.
D) 630 million years ago.
E) 250 million years ago.

Question 16

Amino acids and other organic molecules were formed in the laboratory of Miller and Urey from which of the following?

A) heat, electrical discharge, water, nitric oxide, and carbon dioxide
B) heat, ultraviolet radiation, water, carbon dioxide, and amines
C) heat, infrared radiation, water, carbon dioxide, and free nitrogen
D) hydrogen, methane, water, ammonia, and electrical discharge
E) ultraviolet radiation, electrical discharge, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and ammonia

Question 17

The hypothesis that life developed from nonliving matter is known as:

A) abiotic evolution.
B) chemical evolution.
C) natural selection.
D) organic evolution.
E) inorganic evolution.

Question 18

The atmosphere of the early Earth is currently thought to have contained:

A) carbon dioxide, water, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen.
B) carbon dioxide, water, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
C) carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water, hydrogen, and nitric oxide.
D) carbon dioxide, ozone, nitric oxide, water, and hydrogen sulfide.
E) methane, water, ammonia, nitrogen, and oxygen.

Question 19

Some protobionts have been shown to have the ALL of following features except

A) divide by binary fission.
B) maintain a chemical environment different from their external environment.
C) metabolize certain compounds.
D) grow in size.
E) disorganization

Question 20

Assemblages of abiotically produced polymers are called:

A) stomatolites.
B) protobionts.
C) polyribosomes.
D) endosymbionts.
E) ribozymes.

Question 21

It has been suggested that RNA was the first informational molecule to evolve because:

A) RNA molecules are more central to modern inheritance than DNA.
B) RNA molecules can catalyze a variety of biologically important reactions.
C) RNA molecules degrade more slowly in solution than DNA molecules.
D) RNA molecules were the first molecules synthesized by Miller and Urey.
E) RNA molecules have different structures..

Question 22

The earliest photosynthetic organisms arose about:

A) 3.8-4.6 billion years ago.
B) 3.1-3.5 billion years ago.
C) 1.3 billion years ago.
D) 630 million years ago.
E) 250 million years ago.

Question 23

Macromolecules that are capable of self-replication are:

A) proteins.
B) polysaccharides.
C) steroids.
D) DNA and RNA.
E) triglycerides.

Question 24

The atmospheric gas that prevents the majority of the sun's ultraviolet radiation from penetrating to the Earth's surface is:

A) methane.
B) ammonia.
C) oxygen.
D) ozone.
E) carbon dioxide.

Question 25

Millions of years ago, the activity of which cellular organelle would have been dependent upon the presence of cyanobacteria?

A) Golgi
B) nucleus
C) ribosome
D) endoplasmic reticulum
E) mitochondrion

Question 26

In the process of splitting water during photosynthesis, the first cyanobacteria released:

A) hydrogen gas.
B) oxygen gas.
C) photons of light.
D) heat from longer wavelengths of light.
E) electrons, protons, and neutrons.

Question 27

One of the most significant steps in the evolution of true cells from macromolecular assemblages was the evolution of:

A) molecular reproduction.
B) covalent bonding.
C) hydrogen bonding.
D) electronegativity.
E) valence electrons.

Question 28

The appearance of air breathing organisms was most dependent upon:

A) the accumulation of methane gas in the atmosphere.
B) the survival of cyanobacteria on the primitive earth.
C) the accumulation of ozone in the upper atmosphere.
D) the survival of organisms around undersea thermal vents.
E) the absence of predators on the first land masses.

Question 29

The first organisms to release oxygen by photosynthesis were:

A) gymnosperms.
B) green sulfur bacteria.
C) algae.
D) flowering plants.
E) cyanobacteria.

Question 30

Experiments called in vitro evolution or directed evolution have shown that:

A) RNA can evolve into DNA.
B) RNA can evolve to catalyze a variety of reactions.
C) RNA can evolve into protein enzymes.
D) DNA can evolve the double helix structure.
E) RNA can evolve to self replicate.

Question 31

The theory that eukaryotic organelles originated as prokaryotes that survived ingestion by a host cell and ultimately evolved mutualistic relationships with the host cell is termed the:

A) obligative symbiotic theory.
B) heterosymbiont theory.
C) endosymbiont theory.
D) facultative symbiotic theory.
E) autotrophic symbiotic theory.

Question 32

The first enzymes were probably:

A) protein reproducing enzymes.
B) RNA degrading enzymes.
C) DNA synthesis enzymes.
D) ribozymes.
E) RNA synthesis enzymes.

Question 33

The results of the experiment represented in the accompanying figure and similar experiments include the formation of all of the following except:

A) sugars.
B) lipids.
C) ATP.
D) amino acids.
E) oxygen

Question 34

The first cells were probably:

A) autotrophic aerobes.
B) heterotrophic aerobes.
C) eukaryotic anaerobes.
D) autotrophic anaerobes.
E) heterotrophic anaerobes.

Question 35

The earliest photosynthetic autotrophs were probably:

A) similar to the green and purple sulfur bacteria of today.
B) first formed about 1 billion years ago.
C) the first organisms to release oxygen.
D) obligate aerobes.
E) fermenting heterortrophs.

Question 36

A significant reduction in the amount of which gas would allow more ultraviolet radiation to reach the earth's surface?

A) carbon dioxide
B) methane
C) ozone
D) cyanide
E) oxygen

Question 37

The first cells were most likely heterotrophic anaerobes because:

A) they were dependent upon cyanobacteria for oxygen.
B) they manufactured organic molecules and needed oxygen.
C) they manufactured organic molecules and do not need oxygen.
D) they utilized preformed organic molecules and needed oxygen.
E) they utilized preformed organic molecules and did not need oxygen.

Question 38

Organisms whose metabolic processes are harmed by the presence of oxygen are called:

A) obligate anaerobes.
B) facultative anaerobes.
C) facultative aerobes.
D) heterotrophs.
E) obligate aerobes.

Question 39

Cyanobacteria can be found in columns of fossils referred to as:

A) protobionts.
B) anaerobes.
C) stromatolites.
D) microspheres.
E) ribozymes.

Question 40

Protobionts produced by abiotically produced polypeptides are called:

A) prokaryotes.
B) stromatolites.
C) microspheres.
D) peptidebionts.
E) polybionts.

Question 41

One source of fossil organisms in Precambrian rock formations is:

A) Yixian fossils.
B) Ediacarian fossils.
C) Burgess Shale fossils.
D) Chenjiang fossils.
E) index fossils.

Question 42

The "Age of Fishes" is an informal name for the:

A) Ordovician period.
B) Silurian period.
C) Devonian period.
D) Permian period.
E) Carboniferous period.

Question 43

The first land animals were probably the:

A) arthropods.
B) amphibians.
C) reptiles.
D) mammals.
E) dinosaurs.

Question 44

Great swamp forests covered the globe and formed the major coal deposits during the:

A) Jurassic period.
B) Eocene epoch.
C) Carboniferous period.
D) Precambrian.
E) Ordovician period.

Question 45

Precambrian rocks contain fossils of:

A) only single celled organisms.
B) great forests of flowering plants.
C) the first insects.
D) cells and simple organisms.
E) primitive fish.

Question 46

Dragonflies that ranged in size from those smaller than today's dragonflies to some with wingspans of 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) appeared during the:

A) Cambrian period.
B) Ordovician period.
C) Silurian period.
D) Devonian period.
E) Carboniferous period.

Question 47

The greatest mass extinction of all time, which occurred at the end of the Permian period:

A) affected plants living on land more than any other group.
B) was spread out over several million years.
C) resulted in the extinction of more than 90% of all existing marine species.
D) only impacted a few geographic regions, although the impact in these regions was staggering.
E) did not affect terrestrial species.

Question 48

Amphibians' history include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) underwent an adaptive radiation during the Carboniferous period.
B) inhabited both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
C) are thought to have descended from lungfish during the late Devonian period.
D) were the dominant terrestrial carnivores of the Carboniferous period.
E) appeared for the first time in the Silurian period

Question 49

Among the following, which is the longest unit of geological time (i.e., the most inclusive)?

A) century
B) era
C) epoch
D) period
E) millennium

Question 50

The time in the history of Earth when evolution was progressing at the most rapid rate, as evidenced by fossils such as those of the Burgess Shale, is the:

A) Cambrian period.
B) Ordovician period.
C) Silurian period.
D) Devonian period.
E) Carboniferous period.

Question 51

The first fish:

A) were small and jawless but had bony armor.
B) appeared about 2 billion years ago.
C) were the lobe-finned fish.
D) appeared in the Silurian period.
E) developed in the Precambrian period.

Question 52

Not much physical evidence of life is available from rocks of the Precambrian because these ancient rocks:

A) have been greatly eroded in most areas.
B) have been deeply buried in most areas.
C) have been deposited in oceanic trenches deep in the oceans.
D) occupy inaccessible areas of mountainous regions.
E) occupy the polar regions and are thus covered by glaciers.

Question 53

Mammal-like reptiles arose during the:

A) Carboniferous period.
B) Cambrian period.
C) Eocene epoch.
D) Jurassic period.
E) Cretaceous period.

Question 54

Figure 21-1
Use the figure to answer the corresponding question(s).
The theory illustrated in Figure 21-1 is supported by which piece of additional evidence?

A) The results of the Miller-Urey experiment.
B) Burgess shale fossils.
C) Ediacarian fossils.
D) The presence of DNA in some organelles.
E) All answers support the illustrated theory.

Question 55

Figure 21-1
Use the figure to answer the corresponding question(s).
The theory illustrated by Figure 21-1 is used to explain the origin of:

A) anaerobes.
B) prokaryotes.
C) eukaryotes.
D) vascular plants.
E) protobionts.

Question 56

Reptiles dominated the:

A) Proterozoic era.
B) Paleozoic era.
C) Mesozoic era.
D) Cenozoic era.
E) Triassic era.

Question 57

Vascular plants and air-breathing animals first appeared during the:

A) Silurian period.
B) Ordovician period.
C) Cambrian period.
D) Permian period.
E) Cretaceous period.

Question 58

Amphibians evolved directly from what ancestral organisms?

A) reptiles
B) shelled invertebrates
C) fishes
D) soft-bodied animals
E) marine invertebrates

Question 59

Figure 21-2
Use the figure to answer the corresponding question(s).
The animal in Figure 21-2 represents:

A) a mosasaur.
B) an ichthyosaur.
C) a pterosaur.
D) a thecodont.
E) a plesiosaur.

Question 60

Shallow seas covered much of the land during the:

A) Silurian period.
B) Precambrian period.
C) Ordovician period.
D) Triassic period.
E) Oligocene epoch.

Question 61

Fossil stromatolites are evidence that cells exited 3.5 million years ago.
_____________

Question 62

During the Pleistocene epoch, plant communities changed dynamically in response to:

A) a meteor impact.
B) intense grazing pressure.
C) competition with gymnosperms.
D) iridium in the soil.
E) fluctuating climates (ice ages).

Question 63

The mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period:

A) occurred about 250 million years ago.
B) had little impact on gymnosperms.
C) was likely the result of dramatic climate changes.
D) was followed by the period dominated by reptiles and dinosaurs.
E) was caused by the global distribution of iridium and the subsequent radioactive fallout.

Question 64

The Mesozoic era is often called the age of:

A) amphibians.
B) fish.
C) mammals.
D) conifers.
E) reptiles.

Question 65

The earliest birds had all of the folowing traits EXCEPT::

A) appeared during the late Jurassic period.
B) had teeth and long tails.
C) probably glided from trees.
D) had feathers.
E) had long sharp teeth.

Question 66

The serial endosymbiosis hypothesis states that the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts was the result of a mutually advantageous symbiotic relationship between two eukaryotic organisms.
___________

Question 67

The Cenozoic is often referred to the age of all of the following EXCEPT:

A) insects.
B) mammals.
C) flowering plants.
D) birds.
E) reptiles

Question 68

The first photsynthetic autotrophs used the energy of the sun to split H₂O because it is not very electronegative.
_______

Question 69

The incorporation of DNA into the information transfer system was advantageous because DNA is a catalytic molecule.
________

Question 70

Which of the following statements about dinosaurs is false?

A) Some species lived in social groups and hunted in packs.
B) Dinosaurs were all slow-moving, with relatively low metabolic rates.
C) Fossils of dinosaurs with feathers suggest that feathers first evolved to provide insulation.
D) Dinosaur social behaviors include courtship rituals and parental nurturing of the young.
E) Dinosaurs underwent an extensive radiation throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Question 71

Clay is considered a possible site for early polymerization because it binds organic monomers and contains zinc and iron ions that may have functioned as ATP,
_______________

Question 72

The ornithischian dinosaurs:

A) were carnivorous.
B) had pelvic bones similar to birds.
C) died out during the Jurassic period.
D) were the ancestors of the crocodiles and snakes of today.
E) were usually small dinosaurs.

Question 73

During the Oligocene epoch, specializations in mammals that are suggestive of a more open type of habitat include all of the following except::

A) longer legs.
B) larger body size.
C) specialized teeth.
D) larger relative brain size.
E) the amniote egg.

Question 74

Prebiotic soup hypothesis proposes that organic molecules formed from cracks in the ocean floor.
____________

Question 75

The first cells were autrophs,

Question 76

During the __________ epoch, the mammals experienced an explosive adaptive radiation.

A) Holocene
B) Paleocene
C) Pleistocene
D) Eocene
E) Pliocene

Question 77

Figure 21-2
Use the figure to answer the corresponding question(s).
All of the following characteristics apply to the organism in Figure 21-2 EXCEPT?

A) marine reptile
B) lived during the Triassic period
C) body form resembled a porpoise
D) large eyes
E) enlarged sharp claws

Question 78

The first photosynthetic organisms to obtain hydrogen by splitting water were the cyanobacteria .
__________

Question 79

Protobionts are vesicle-like assemblages of abiotically-produced organic polymers.
_______

Question 80

Briefly explain the iron-sulfur world hypothesis and identify two pieces of evidence that support this hypothesis.