Deck 29: Evolutionary Genetics

Question 1

Select the prezygotic isolating mechanisms.

A) Temporal isolation
B) Habitat isolation
C) Mechanical isolation
D) Hybrid inviability
E) Sexual isolation

Answer 1

A, B, C, E

Question 2

The changing composition of a gene pool with regard to a particular allele over a measurable period of time is called ________.

A) microevolution
B) macroevolution
C) molecular evolution
D) None of the answers are correct

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What is the most common form of cladogenesis?

A) Parapatric speciation
B) Allopatric speciation
C) Sympatric speciation

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The formation of polyploids in plants is an example of which model of cladogenesis?

A) Parapatric speciation
B) Allopatric speciation
C) Sympatric speciation

Question 5

Molecular clocks are based on ________ mutations.

A) advantageous
B) lethal
C) deleterious
D) neutral

Question 6

In which form of cladogenesis do hybrid zones exist?

A) Parapatric speciation
B) Allopatric speciation
C) Sympatric speciation

Question 7

Differences in sexual attraction between males and females based on behavior, physiology, or morphology is an example of a ________ isolation mechanism.

A) prezygotic
B) postzygotic

Question 8

Microevolution is the term given to evolutionary changes that produce new species and groups of species.

Question 9

Homologous genes that are found in different species are called

A) paralogs.
B) orthologs.
C) gene families.
D) clades.

Question 10

Regions of a chromosome that contain groups of linked genes in several species are called ________.

A) linkage groups
B) synteny groups
C) regression groups
D) homology groups

Question 11

Horizontal gene transfer is most common among what group of organisms?

A) Humans
B) Bacteria
C) Fungi
D) Plants

Question 12

What form of cladogenesis occurs due to geographic separation dividing a population?

A) Parapatric speciation
B) Allopatric speciation
C) Sympatric speciation

Question 13

What type of cladogenesis can occur through the founder effect?

A) Parapatric speciation
B) Allopatric speciation
C) Sympatric speciation

Question 14

Analysis of rRNA sequences led to the proposal of what main branches of life?

A) Bacteria
B) Animalia
C) Archaea
D) Eukaryotes
E) Protists

Question 15

What type of cladogenesis occurs when a new species arises in the same habitat as the species from which it was derived?

A) Parapatric speciation
B) Allopatric speciation
C) Sympatric speciation

Question 16

Which concept of speciation uses multiple criteria to determine if a population is part of an independent evolutionary lineage, and thus a species, which is distinct from others?

A) Ecological species concept
B) General lineage concept
C) Biological species concept
D) Evolutionary species concept

Question 17

One definition of species is a group of individuals whose members have the potential to interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring.

Question 18

The production of sterile offspring is an example of a prezygotic isolation mechanism.

Question 19

The biological species concept was introduced by

A) Dobzhansky.
B) Darwin.
C) Mayr.
D) Mendel.
E) Wallace.

Question 20

Based on rRNA analysis, all life on Earth can be grouped into how many major branches?

A) 1
B) 3
C) 5
D) 6

Question 21

It is currently believed that apple maggot flies are undergoing a divergence into two separate species. Two hundred years ago these maggot flies laid their eggs only on the hawthorn fruit, but after apples were introduced in the Americas, some maggot flies started laying their eggs on apples. Today, females generally lay their eggs on the type of fruit they grew up in, and male flies end up mating on the type of fruit they grew up in. Therefore hawthorn flies mate with hawthorn flies and apple flies mate with apple flies. If genetic changes between the hawthorn maggot flies and the apple maggot flies continue until the flies are different species, this would be an example of

A) allopatric speciation.
B) parapatric speciation.
C) sympatric speciation.

Question 22

Neutral mutations can be acted on by natural selection

Question 23

Many species of cats (including big cats like lions, tigers, etc.) have tails. For cats, tails are likely to be a ________.

A) synapomorphy
B) shared derived character
C) ancestral character
D) clade

Question 24

Homologous genes are derived from the same ancestral gene.

Question 25

Researchers who study molecular evolution often analyze DNA sequences using computer programs which identify homologous sequences.

Question 26

You are studying a new strain of bacteria. You discover that its genome contains some genes that are not found in any form in its most recent ancestor. You suspect

A) anagenesis.
B) an extremely high rate of mutation.
C) horizontal gene transfer.
D) cladogenesis.

Question 27

A gene family consists of two or more paralogs within the genome of a particular species.

Question 28

At the microevolutionary level, natural selection is based on genetic differences that give an individual a selective advantage.

Question 29

In the frog genus, when certain species attempts to mate with other species, embryo development is halted at various stages including zygotic segmentation, blastula formation, gastrulation, or in the final phases of embryo development. The stage where the developing frog arrests depends on the species involved in the cross. This is an example of

A) hybrid breakdown.
B) hybrid sterility.
C) hybrid inviability.
D) sexual isolation.

Question 30

In this phylogenetic tree, select the change that is a shared derived character for sequences A, B, and C.

A) A6→T
B) T5→G
C) G2→A
D) A7→T

Question 31

Proteins that are functionally less important for the survival of an organism generally evolve ________ more important proteins.

A) more slowly than
B) more quickly than
C) at the same rate as

Question 32

In the construction of a phylogenetic tree, a ________ considers the overall similarities among a group of species without trying to understand their evolutionary history, whereas a ________ considers the possible pathways of evolution to find the best possible tree.

A) cladistic approach; phenetic approach
B) phenetic approach; cladistic approach
C) shared derived character; ancestral character
D) ancestral character; shared derived character

Question 33

Human alpha hemoglobin and horse alpha hemoglobin are orthologs

Question 34

Molecular paleontology ________.

A) studies the morphology of extinct species
B) studies the DNA of extinct species
C) cannot use rRNA

Question 35

A graphic illustration of the relationships between species is called a phylogenetic tree.

Question 36

One theory of human evolution suggests that Homo erectus evolved directly into Homo sapiens (humans), after which point Homo erectus became extinct. If this is true, humans arose by ________.

A) cladogenesis
B) anagenesis
C) allopatric speciation
D) parapatric speciation