Question 1

To explain how varieties were on the path to becoming new species, Charles Darwin introduced the concept of
A) descent with modification.
B) transformational change.
C) variational change
D) spontaneous change.

Accepted Answer

Charles Darwin introduced the concept of "descent with modification" to explain how varieties could gradually change and become different from their ancestral forms, eventually leading to the formation of new species. This concept emphasizes that species are not static or unchanging, but instead are constantly evolving through the accumulation of small, gradual changes over time.

Question 2

Charles Darwin read Charles Lyell's book, Principles of Geology, while serving as ship's naturalist on the HMS Beagle. Describe how Lyell's work influenced Darwin.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Charles Darwin read Charles Lyell's book, Principles...

Question 3

What was the primary difference in how Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin explained the evolution of new species and the relationship among species?
A) Lamarck viewed all species as interrelated due to common ancestry and believed that species sharing a more recent common ancestor more closely resemble each other; Darwin viewed relationships among species as linear chains, with groups independent of the other.
B) Lamarck viewed lineages of species as not arising independently, but with each group related to the other; Darwin viewed all species as interrelated due to common ancestry and believed that species sharing a more recent common ancestor more closely resemble each other.
C) Lamarck viewed relationships among species as linear chains, with each group independent of the other; Darwin viewed all species as interrelated due to common ancestry and believed that species sharing a more recent common ancestor more closely resemble each other.
D) Lamarck and Darwin both viewed all species as having common ancestry, but Lamarck viewed each group as evolving independently while Darwin viewed groups as interrelated and having evolved from a single common ancestor.

Accepted Answer

Lamarck viewed relationships among species as linear chains, with each group independent of the other, while Darwin viewed all species as interrelated due to common ancestry and believed that species sharing a more recent common ancestor more closely resemble each other. Therefore, the primary difference lies in their view of relationships among species.

Question 4

A local horticulturalist works with her city to design and plant flower gardens in a targeted effort to provide habitat for bees that are experiencing severe population declines. While making observations on a particular plant species she is considering for these plantings, she observes that the deep purple flowers are visited much more frequently by bees than the light pink flowers (this particular species produces flowers with shades of color varying from deep purple to light pink). She decides to collect seeds from the deep purple plants and then germinates and grows the deep purple flowered plants in her greenhouse before transplanting them to some of the city gardens. The different colors of flowers indicate different ________ of plants and the horticulturalists is demonstrating ________ selection.
A) varieties; natural
B) species; artificial
C) species; natural
D) varieties; artificial

Accepted Answer

The different colors of flowers indicate different varieties of the same species, and the horticulturalist's deliberate choice to cultivate and plant the deep purple flowered plants demonstrates artificial selection.

Question 5

What was one of the ideas that separated Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species as a complete, scientific explanation for evolution when compared to all other previous attempts?
A) Darwin provided copious evidence that each species was completely unique.
B) Darwin recognized that species can occasionally spontaneously arise.
C) Darwin articulated a mechanistic explanation for change in species over time and the match between organisms and the environment.
D) Darwin explained that each domain of living organisms has independent ancestry that diversified over much longer periods of time than previously recognized.

Accepted Answer

Darwin's mechanistic explanation for evolution through natural selection and the concept of adaptation to the environment was a significant departure from previous ideas that relied on religious or philosophical beliefs. Darwin's theory provided a naturalistic explanation for the diversity of life on Earth, supported by evidence from various fields such as geology, biology, and comparative anatomy.

Question 6

Explain why the linear hierarchy of Aristotle's scala naturae is incompatible with Darwin's phylogenetic view of biological diversity.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain why the linear hierarchy of Aristotle's...

Question 7

The text presents several examples of the belief in spontaneous generation. Why do you think this theory persisted for thousands of years, until Charles Darwin's time, even after the experiments of Francesco Redi?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The text presents several examples of the...

Question 8

Both Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin traveled extensively and were struck by the strong patterns they observed in the geographic distribution of nature's diversity. Which of the following observations did Wallace make?
A) Similar species tended to be widely separated geographically and occupied widely different times in geologic history.
B) Geographic features seem to play an important role in the clustering of dissimilar, nonrelated species; these dissimilar species clustered together in time and space.
C) Geographic features seem to play an important role in the clustering of similar, closely related species, and these similar species clustered together in time and space.
D) Wallace observed that geographic distribution of species appeared to be random, correlating with the random nature of genetic mutation.

Accepted Answer

Wallace observed that geographic features seem to play an important role in the clustering of similar, closely related species, and these similar species clustered together in time and space. This observation led him to develop the concept of biogeography, or the study of the geographic distribution of living things. This idea was influential in the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection, which suggests that species arise and diverge through the accumulation of small genetic changes over time in response to their environment.

Question 9

In the figure, the hierarchically arrayed groups indicated by the shaded gray boxes are called ________ by modern evolutionary systematists. A Clusters of species

B Hierarchical patterns of similarity

A) nodes
B) species
C) genera
D) clades

Accepted Answer

The answer of In the figure, the hierarchically arrayed groups...

Question 10

What were Charles Darwin's two fundamental insights about the process of evolution?
A) The environment selects on variation in the traits of individual organisms, and all species have descended from one or a few common ancestors.
B) All species have descended from one or a few common ancestors, and populations, not individuals, evolve over time.
C) The environment selects on variation in the traits of individual organisms, and organisms are in a constant struggle for existence.
D) Populations, not individuals, evolve over time, and evolutionary change is connected to environmental fit.

Accepted Answer

Darwin's two fundamental insights were that the environment selects on variation in the traits of individual organisms (natural selection) and that all species have descended from one or a few common ancestors (common descent).

Question 11

In the 1880s, experimental work by August Weisman demonstrated that traits acquired during a lifetime could not be inherited. This dealt a deathblow to previous theories of Lamarckian inheritance and left scientists with which possible scientific processes of evolution?
A) saltationism and slow-acting natural selection
B) creationism and spontaneous generation
C) creationism and saltationism
D) spontaneous generation and slow-acting natural selection

Accepted Answer

August Weisman's discovery invalidated Lamarckian inheritance, leaving scientists with the possibility of slow-acting natural selection or saltationism as processes of evolution. Creationism and spontaneous generation are not considered scientific processes of evolution.

Question 12

The Greek philosopher Empedocles recognized that plant life preceded animal life. Xenophanes (570-470 B.C.) studied fossils in sedimentary rock and concluded that the rocks must have been under water at one time. Explain why these were important shifts in logical thinking.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Greek philosopher Empedocles recognized that plant...

Question 13

The primary difference(s) between the processes of natural selection and artificial selection is/are
A) the mechanism for descent and modification.
B) that artificial selection focuses on nonheritable traits while natural selection focuses on heritable traits.
C) the selective agent and the period of time over which change occurs.
D) that artificial selection focuses on creating varieties while natural selection only produces species.

Accepted Answer

The primary difference between natural selection and artificial selection is the selective agent and the period of time over which change occurs. Natural selection is driven by environmental factors, i.e., the selective agent, and can occur over a long period of time whereas artificial selection only occurs over a short period of time and is driven by human selection. In artificial selection, humans select desirable traits and breed organisms to enhance those traits, while in natural selection, the environment selects traits that increase an organism's chances of survival and reproduction. Mechanism for descent and modification (A) is the same in both processes, as they both involve genetic variation and inheritance. Option B is incorrect as natural selection also focuses on heritable traits. Option D is incorrect as natural selection can also create varieties and not just species.

Question 14

After the rediscovery in 1900 of Gregor Mendel's now-famous experiments from the 1850s and 1860s, evolutionary biologists viewed variation in two ways. What were these views and how were the differences eventually resolved?
A) Mendelians viewed inheritance as continuous while biometricians viewed inheritance as discrete. Scientists eventually learned inheritance operates in both ways, leading to the modern, evolutionary synthesis.
B) Mendelians viewed inheritance as discrete while biometricians viewed inheritance as continuous. Scientists eventually verified that inheritance acts in a discrete manner only, leading to the rejection of the blending theory.
C) Mendelians viewed inheritance as discrete while biometricians viewed inheritance as continuous. Scientists eventually learned inheritance operates in both ways, leading to the modern, evolutionary synthesis.
D) Mendelians viewed inheritance as continuous while biometricians viewed inheritance as discrete. Scientists eventually learned that inheritance is only continuous, verifying Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Accepted Answer

Mendelians believed in discrete inheritance, meaning that traits are passed down in distinct, non-blending units (what we now call genes). Biometricians believed that inheritance was continuous, meaning that traits were determined by a combination of many small, additive factors. The modern evolutionary synthesis, which emerged in the 1930s and 40s, brought these two views together by showing that while some traits are controlled by many genes (and thus show continuous variation), others are determined by just one or a few genes (and thus show discrete variation). This new understanding helped biologists develop a more comprehensive theory of evolution that integrated both genetic and non-genetic factors.

Question 15

Thomas Malthus, a political economist, showed that the human population would outstrip available resources unless kept in check by other factors such as famine, war, and disease. How did Charles Darwin apply this principle to his theory of evolution by natural selection? 
A) Darwin used this as a contrast to plant and animal populations, which live in balance with their available resources.
B) Darwin used this to illustrate that because food supply remains relatively the same, plant and animal populations show little variation in size.
C) Darwin realized this also applied to plant and animal populations, and this struggle for existence was the opportunity for natural selection to act on differences within populations.
D) Darwin used this to illustrate that as food supplies increase, populations increase.

Accepted Answer

Darwin realized that the principle of population growth and limited resources applied to both human and animal populations. He called this struggle for existence and saw it as an opportunity for natural selection to act on differences within populations, allowing those individuals with advantageous traits to survive and reproduce, while those without advantageous traits would perish.

Question 16

What was one of the two primary distinctions between a "transformational" process of evolution, as described Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, and the "variational" process of evolution, as described by Charles Darwin? 
A) Darwin thought change was a result of differences acquired by members of a group and that the changes were acquired during the lifetime of the individuals and passed down to their offspring. Lamarck thought these differences already existed and were not acquired during the lifetime of the members of the group.
B) Lamarck thought change was a result of a supernatural process acting on differences already existing in a group and those processes sorted on that existing variation.
C) Lamarck thought change was a result of differences acquired by members of a group and that the changes were acquired during the lifetime of the individual and passed down to their offspring. Darwin thought those differences already existed and were not acquired during the lifetime of the members of the group.
D) Darwin thought change was a result of a supernatural process acting on differences already existing in a group and those processes sorted on that variation.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What was one of the two primary...

Question 17

Explain and relate the two geological features shown in the figure, employing the principle of uniformitarianism put forth by Charles Lyell in 1830. A

B

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain and relate the two geological features...

Question 18

The Greek philosopher Anaximander (ca. 610-546 B.C.) provided a mechanistic rather than divine explanation of the celestial bodies, as illustrated in the figure. We now know the details were wrong. Explain why, given the state of knowledge during his lifetime, this was a conception of the universe that made sense and was a breakthrough.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Greek philosopher Anaximander (ca. 610-546 B.C.)...

Question 19

While various religious leaders challenged almost all of Charles Darwin's major conclusions, how did the British scientific community react to his work?
A) All early experimental evolutionists agreed with Darwin's theory of evolution and the mechanism for evolutionary change by natural selection.
B) They almost universally accepted natural selection but rejected his theory of evolution.
C) The majority rejected his theory of evolution.
D) They almost universally accepted Darwin's theory of common ancestry but rejected his theory of natural selection.

Accepted Answer

The British scientific community largely accepted the idea of common ancestry that Darwin proposed, recognizing the evidence for evolution itself. However, many scientists were skeptical of natural selection as the mechanism driving evolution, leading to debates and alternative theories being proposed until further evidence and understanding solidified its acceptance.

Question 20

Which scientist of those listed below was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and also developed a complete theory of evolution by natural selection?
A) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
B) Alfred Russel Wallace
C) Aristotle
D) William Paley

Accepted Answer

Alfred Russel Wallace was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and independently developed a theory of evolution by natural selection which he presented together with Darwin in a joint paper in 1858. Lamarck preceded Darwin and proposed a theory of evolution based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics, while Aristotle lived over 2000 years before Darwin and did not propose a theory of evolution. William Paley was a theologian who argued for the existence of a divine creator based on the apparent design in nature, which was a view opposed by Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Quiz 2: Early Evolutionary Ideas and Darwin S Insight

To explain how varieties were on the path to becoming new species, Charles Darwin introduced the concept of

Charles Darwin read Charles Lyell's book, Principles of Geology, while serving as ship's naturalist on the HMS Beagle. Describe how Lyell's work influenced Darwin.

What was the primary difference in how Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin explained the evolution of new species and the relationship among species?

What was one of the ideas that separated Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species as a complete, scientific explanation for evolution when compared to all other previous attempts?

Explain why the linear hierarchy of Aristotle's scala naturae is incompatible with Darwin's phylogenetic view of biological diversity.

The text presents several examples of the belief in spontaneous generation. Why do you think this theory persisted for thousands of years, until Charles Darwin's time, even after the experiments of Francesco Redi?

Both Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin traveled extensively and were struck by the strong patterns they observed in the geographic distribution of nature's diversity. Which of the following observations did Wallace make?

In the figure, the hierarchically arrayed groups indicated by the shaded gray boxes are called ________ by modern evolutionary systematists. A Clusters of species B Hierarchical patterns of similarity

What were Charles Darwin's two fundamental insights about the process of evolution?

In the 1880s, experimental work by August Weisman demonstrated that traits acquired during a lifetime could not be inherited. This dealt a deathblow to previous theories of Lamarckian inheritance and left scientists with which possible scientific processes of evolution?

The Greek philosopher Empedocles recognized that plant life preceded animal life. Xenophanes (570-470 B.C.) studied fossils in sedimentary rock and concluded that the rocks must have been under water at one time. Explain why these were important shifts in logical thinking.

The primary difference(s) between the processes of natural selection and artificial selection is/are

After the rediscovery in 1900 of Gregor Mendel's now-famous experiments from the 1850s and 1860s, evolutionary biologists viewed variation in two ways. What were these views and how were the differences eventually resolved?

Thomas Malthus, a political economist, showed that the human population would outstrip available resources unless kept in check by other factors such as famine, war, and disease. How did Charles Darwin apply this principle to his theory of evolution by natural selection?

What was one of the two primary distinctions between a "transformational" process of evolution, as described Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, and the "variational" process of evolution, as described by Charles Darwin?

Explain and relate the two geological features shown in the figure, employing the principle of uniformitarianism put forth by Charles Lyell in 1830. A B

While various religious leaders challenged almost all of Charles Darwin's major conclusions, how did the British scientific community react to his work?

Which scientist of those listed below was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and also developed a complete theory of evolution by natural selection?