Deck 17: Life on Earth Qa: Evolution

Question 1

All of the following are TRUE of radioactive isotopes,EXCEPT

A) they are unstable.
B) they transform into other elements.
C) they release high-energy electrons.
D) they are used in radioactive dating.
E) the amount of time for a radioactive isotope to decay to half its original quantity is called its half-life.

Answer 1

they release high-energy electrons.

Question 2

The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years.If a rock starts with 12,000 atoms of potassium-40,how many atoms will remain in 650 million years?

A) 1,000
B) 3,000
C) 4,000
D) 6,000
E) 9,000

Answer 2

9,000

Question 3

Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years.You have a rock that formed with 100,000 uranium-238 molecules.How many uranium-238 molecules will be left in 4.5 billion years?

A) 100,000
B) 75,000
C) 50,000
D) 25,000
E) 0

Answer 3

50,000

Question 4

To determine the age of rocks,the decay of which radioactive element(s)can be used?

A) carbon-14
B) uranium-238, rubidium-87, and/or potassium-40
C) phosphorus-40, uranium-234, and/or rubidium-87
D) carbon-14 and uranium-238
E) uranium-240

Question 5

Uranium-238 decays into thorium-234 and finally into

A) thorium-232.
B) lead-232.
C) radon-222.
D) radon-224.
E) lead-206.

Question 6

Radiometric decay of carbon-14 would be used in dating

A) sedimentary rock.
B) a trace fossil.
C) an insect in amber.
D) a fossil imprint.
E) All of the above.

Question 7

Uranium-238 after many decay events becomes this stable element.

A) radon-222
B) uranium-234
C) thorium-234
D) lead-206
E) polonium-210

Question 8

Which of the following radioactive isotopes is used to date organic remains?

A) carbon-14
B) potassium-40
C) rubidium-87
D) uranium-238
E) lead-206

Question 9

Half-life is an estimate of

A) half of the age of a rock's life.
B) the age of a rock's life that is at least 50% likely to be correct.
C) the former size of a rock.
D) the time it takes for half of a rock's isotope atoms to decay.
E) the weight of the isotope in a rock.

Question 10

A radioactive isotope is

A) a pair of identical molecules.
B) two molecules with the same tonicity.
C) an element with an unstable nucleus that decays to a more stable form.
D) an element that generates electrons.

Question 11

The idea that the entire solar system and all the planets in it were formed at the same time is called

A) the black hole hypothesis.
B) the derivation hypothesis.
C) the extraterrestrial hypothesis.
D) the nebular hypothesis.
E) the solar hypothesis.

Question 12

How old is Earth?

A) 1-2 million years old
B) 3-4 million years old
C) 1-2 billion years old
D) 4-5 billion years old
E) 1-2 trillion years old

Question 13

An isotope is the same element with a different number of

A) protons.
B) neutrons.
C) electrons.
D) electrons and protons.
E) protons and neutrons.

Question 14

Carbon-14 decays and becomes

A) carbon-16.
B) nitrogen-14.
C) carbon-11.
D) boron-12.
E) oxygen-15.

Question 15

Which CANNOT be accurately dated using radiometric techniques?

A) peat
B) wood
C) charcoal
D) sedimentary rocks
E) igneous rocks

Question 16

Why do scientists look at rocks from other planets to estimate the age of Earth? Why not use rocks from Earth itself?

Question 17

Define the term half-life.

Question 18

Which element has the shortest half-life?

A) rubidium-87
B) lead-214
C) uranium-238
D) carbon-14
E) potassium-40

Question 19

The half-life of carbon-14 is _____ years.

A) 12
B) 57,000
C) 5730
D) 1 billion
E) 4.5 billion

Question 20

To determine the age of organic remains,the decay of which radioactive element(s)are measured?

A) carbon-14
B) uranium-238
C) uranium-238 and carbon-14
D) carbon-12
E) uranium-240

Question 21

Which of these is most likely to be used to directly date the age of a fossil?

A) carbon-12
B) uranium-238
C) lead-206
D) carbon-14
E) thorium-234

Question 22

Earth is estimated to be around

A) 6,000-8,000 years old.
B) 4,000-6,000 years old.
C) 4,600,000 years old.
D) 4,600,000,000 years old.
E) 4,600,000,000,000 years old.

Question 23

Can radiometric dating be performed on igneous or sedimentary rock? Why can't the other type of rock be dated using radiometric methods?

Question 24

Where are MOST fossils found?

A) igneous rock
B) sedimentary rock
C) amber
D) in frozen ice packs
E) in deserts

Question 25

Where would the most lead be found in a radiometric analysis of a 5-foot,millions of years old deposit of volcanic ash?

A) at the top
B) at the bottom
C) in the middle
D) in the mid-center
E) in the mid-bottom

Question 26

The half-life of uranium-238 is 4.5 billion years.Uranium-238 decays to lead-206.You find a rock with 18,000 atoms of uranium-238 and 6,000 atoms of lead-206.How old is the rock?

A) 1.12 billion years old
B) 2.25 billion years old
C) 4.45 billion years old
D) 6.75 billion years old
E) 8.90 billion years old

Question 27

If a radiometric analysis of an isotope and its stable element yielded 50% of each,how many half-lives would have occurred?

A) 5
B) 4
C) 3
D) 2
E) 1

Question 28

Based on the information in the graph,approximately how old are two rocks,one containing 25% uranium-238 and 75% lead,and one containing 50% uranium-238 and 50% lead?

A) around 2.25 billion years and 4.5 billion years, respectively
B) around 9 billion years and 4.5 billion years, respectively
C) around 1.3 billion years and 2.4 billion years, respectively
D) around 4.5 billion years and 9 billion years, respectively
E) The question cannot be answered with the information provided.

Question 29

This gas began to accumulate between 3 and 2.5 billion years ago.

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

Question 30

The first fossil remains are from this geologic time.

A) Pre-Cambrian
B) Cambrian
C) Paleozoic
D) Cenozoic
E) Mesozoic

Question 31

If fossils are most often found in sedimentary rock but sedimentary rock cannot be aged using radiometric methods,then how can a scientist know how old a fossil is?

Question 32

Which ratio is NOT analyzed for radiometric analysis?

A) rubidium-strontium
B) uranium-lead
C) potassium-argon
D) carbon-nitrogen
E) uranium-nitrogen

Question 33

The half-life of an isotope is 5,000 years.With a starting material of 1g of an isotope,after 5,000 years,how much would remain?

A) 2 g
B) 0.5 g
C) 1 g
D) 2.5 g
E) 0.25 g

Question 34

What percentage of lead-206 would a 9-billion-year-old rock have?

Question 35

Which element has the longest half-life?

A) rubidium-87
B) lead-214
C) uranium-238
D) carbon-14
E) potassium-40

Question 36

Why would it be unlikely to find a rock with 90% lead-206?

Question 37

If a radiometric analysis of an isotope and its stable element yielded 25% of the isotope and 75% of its stable element,how many half-lives would have occurred?

A) 5
B) 4
C) 3
D) 2
E) 1

Question 38

How likely would it be to find a rock with 90% lead-206? Explain.

Question 39

If a rock contains 75% lead-206,you would estimate it to be about ____ billion years old.

A) 13.5
B) 9
C) 1
D) 6.75
E) 11.25

Question 40

If you don't know how many radioactive isotope atoms were present at the time a rock was formed,how can you tell how many have decayed since that time?

Question 41

Which period contains the present day?

A) Tertiary
B) Quaternary
C) Cambrian
D) Carboniferous
E) Cenozoic

Question 42

What is punctuated equilibrium?

Question 43

During which of the following eras did the atmosphere have the least oxygen?

A) Cambrian
B) Archean
C) Jurassic
D) Cretaceous
E) Tertiary

Question 44

Forests of large seedless plants dominated the planet during the _____ period.

A) Cambrian
B) Jurassic
C) Cretaceous
D) Carboniferous
E) Tertiary

Question 45

All of the following are TRUE of earth's early atmosphere,EXCEPT

A) ammonia was abundant.
B) hydrogen was abundant.
C) methane was abundant.
D) oxygen was nearly absent.
E) the very first organisms that could survive the early atmosphere were photosynthetic organisms.

Question 46

The first organisms on land were

A) plants.
B) insects.
C) fish.
D) amphibians.
E) reptiles.

Question 47

During which of the following eras was the planet the warmest?

A) Cambrian
B) Tertiary
C) Jurassic
D) Triassic
E) Archean

Question 48

Animal life greatly diversified during the _____ period.

A) Cambrian
B) Triassic
C) Jurassic
D) Proterozoic
E) Tertiary

Question 49

Miller and Urey demonstrated the formation of organic molecules from simulating a primitive Earth atmosphere containing water vapor and the gases

A) carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia.
B) carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia.
C) hydrogen, methane, and ammonia.
D) oxygen, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia.
E) oxygen, methane, and ammonia.

Question 50

How old are the oldest known fossils?

A) 30-40 million years old
B) 400-500 million years old
C) 800-900 million years old
D) 1-2 billion years old
E) 3-4 billion years old

Question 51

Humans are currently living in which era?

A) Cenozoic
B) Mesozoic
C) Paleozoic
D) Cambrian
E) Pre-Cambrian

Question 52

Put the following in order of their evolution.

A) invertebrates→algae→amphibians→birds→reptiles→mammals
B) invertebrates→algae→vertebrates→reptiles→amphibians→mammals
C) algae→invertebrates→vertebrates→reptiles→amphibians→mammals
D) algae→vertebrates→ amphibians→reptiles→mammals→invertebrates
E) algae→invertebrates→vertebrates→amphibians→reptiles→mammals

Question 53

How did the emergence of photosynthetic organisms alter Earth's early atmosphere? How did this change influence the evolution of life on Earth?

Question 54

Life first began during the _____ period.

A) Cambrian
B) Archean
C) Jurassic
D) Proterozoic
E) Tertiary

Question 55

All of the following statements about the evolution of life on Earth are TRUE,EXCEPT

A) evolution has involved several mass extinctions followed by periods of diversification.
B) the first diversification of animal life occurred during the Cenozoic era.
C) when life colonizes new habitats, it rapidly diversifies into new species.
D) the dinosaurs most likely went extinct when a huge asteroid crashed into Earth.
E) oxygen only became abundant in the atmosphere as a result of the evolution of photosynthetic organisms.

Question 56

What percentage of life on the planet died off during the Permian extinction?

A) 10%
B) 80%
C) 75%
D) 95%
E) 99%

Question 57

When life first began,

A) the planet had a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere and was much warmer.
B) the planet had a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere and was much cooler.
C) the planet had a lot of methane in the atmosphere and was much warmer.
D) the planet had a lot of methane in the atmosphere and was much cooler.
E) the planet had very little oxygen in the atmosphere and was much cooler.

Question 58

Based on the information in the partial geological timeline,which of the following sequences correctly identifies the order in which organisms arose on Earth?

A) vertebrate ancestors, seedless plants on land, amphibians, reptiles
B) vertebrates, insects, seedless plants, reptiles
C) vertebrate ancestors, insects, fungi, reptiles
D) fungi, primitive insects, reptiles, amphibians
E) None of the above.

Question 59

The first diverse animal world appeared during the

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

Question 60

How long ago did dinosaurs go extinct?

A) 65,000 years ago
B) 650,000 years ago
C) 6.5 million years ago
D) 65 million years ago
E) 650 million years ago

Question 61

Why does adaptive radiation occur after a mass extinction?

Question 62

Compare the atmosphere today to the atmosphere when life first began.

Question 63

Marsupials are mammals that give birth to premature young and carry them in pouches; examples include kangaroos,wallabies,and opossums.Most marsupials live in Australia,but one species,the Virginia opossum,occurs in North and South America.How do you think a marsupial came to be in North and South America when all others are on the opposite side of Earth?

Question 64

The movement of Earth's crust is termed

A) volcanism.
B) pangaea.
C) plate tectonics.
D) biogeography.
E) the continental divide.

Question 65

Approximately 245 million years ago,near the end of Paleozoic,Earth's plates were joined in a land mass called

A) Rhodinia.
B) Pangaea.
C) Laurasia.
D) Gondwana.
E) Pannotia.

Question 66

How could an asteroid striking Earth lead to the death of 60% of the species on the planet?

Question 67

Write T for true and F for false after each statement.
A. Penguins may be found close to the equator.
B. Penguins may be found in the Arctic.
C. Polar bears inhabit Antarctica.
D. Polar bears and penguins may once have lived on the same continent.
E. The continents are still moving.

Question 68

What are the causes of mass extinction?

Question 69

Compare today's temperatures with the temperature of the planet when life first began.

Question 70

Bison and wildebeest are both large grazing animals with similar adaptations to life on relatively arid grasslands.Bison are found only in North America; wildebeest are found only in Africa.Which of the following explains why they share similar adaptations but live on different continents?

A) Their common adaptations are due to the similarities in their environments, but they evolved on separate continents and have always been isolated from one another.
B) Their common adaptations are due to the fact that they both evolved in Africa and later spread to North America. Bison outcompeted wildebeest in North America, though, and wildebeest outcompeted bison in Africa, leaving them separated from one another.
C) Their common adaptations are due to the fact that they are closely related evolutionarily. They live in different areas because wildebeest are extinct in North America.
D) Each species evolved on a separate continent, where the arid grasslands in which they lived forced each species to evolve the same adaptations.
E) None of the above.

Question 71

Millions of years ago,all the continents were one big landmass called ________.Eventually,however,the continents separated by a geologic process called ________.

A) Pangaea; plate tectonics
B) Gaia; plate tectonics
C) Pangaea; continental tectonics
D) Gaia; continental tectonics
E) Pangaea; geotectonics

Question 72

Large plant-eating dinosaurs were common during the _____ period.

A) Cambrian
B) Tertiary
C) Cretaceous
D) Carboniferous
E) Jurassic

Question 73

Plate tectonics influences

A) local climate.
B) distribution of organisms.
C) evolution of species on land.
D) evolution of species near land.
E) All of the above.

Question 74

Which of the following BEST describes the current distribution of life on Earth?

A) The distribution of species is determined by the current habitat and climate.
B) The distribution of species is determined by the habitat and climate that prevailed millions of years ago.
C) The distribution of species is determined by where species occurred when Earth's landmasses moved and separated from each other.
D) The distribution of species is determined by ancient and modern barriers to dispersal.
E) All of the above.

Question 75

The continents we recognize today used to be one supercontinent called

A) Oceania.
B) Australasia.
C) Zoolandia.
D) Pangaea.
E) Caladonia.

Question 76

The field of biogeography provides information about

A) the geographic location of a species.
B) the distribution or range of a species.
C) the adaptations of a species over time.
D) the evolutionary history of a species.
E) All of the above.

Question 77

What is a mass extinction?

Question 78

The geologic process that divided the continents is called

A) continental divide.
B) plate tectonics.
C) desertification.
D) continental realignment.
E) continental shift.

Question 79

Although dinosaurs were restricted to warm climates,many dinosaur fossils have been found in Antarctica.How do you explain this?

Question 80

You discover a fossil in an ancient streambed in the southeastern United States of what appears to be an early member of the Camelidae family,which includes camels and llamas.However,the closest living members of this family are the llamas of South America.Should you be concerned that you have misidentified the bone? Why or why not?