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Q:
Many people argue that evolution is "only a theory." Define theory, and then describe how evolution does or does not fit the definition.
Q:
Discuss the definition of fitness as it pertains to natural selection.
Q:
Although natural selection acts on the individual, it is argued that populations evolve. Explain.
Q:
How is natural selection related to environmental factors? How can selective pressures change? Give an example.
Q:
Discuss the ideas of two individuals who significantly affected Darwin's formulation of the theory of natural selection.
Q:
Outline Lamarck's theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics. According to this theory, what was the environment's role in biological change?
Q:
Explain how traditionally held views prevented wide acceptance of evolutionary theories in 19th century Europe and America. Give a specific example.
Q:
Creationism is considered a science because it has testable hypotheses.
Q:
There are no well-documented examples of natural selection operating in natural populations.
Q:
Charles Darwin refrained from immediately publishing his theory of natural selection because he was aware of its controversial nature.
Q:
Charles Darwin acknowledged the importance of sexual reproduction when formulating his theory of natural selection.
Q:
Charles Darwin recognized the importance of beak variation in finches while visiting the Galpagos Islands.
Q:
Charles Lyell, author of Principles of Geology, is considered the founder of modern geology.
Q:
The theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics has recently displaced natural selection as mainstream science's most accepted theory of evolutionary change.
Q:
We credit Erasmus Darwin with significantly influencing Charles Darwin's evolutionary thinking.
Q:
The concept of evolution is unique to Western science.
Q:
Evolution is a theory that has considerable support from genetic evidence.
Q:
Which is among the reasons that about half of Americans believe that evolution does not occur?
a. the mechanisms of evolution are simple and easily explained
b. the mechanisms of evolution are complex and do not lend themselves to simple explanations
c. most people possess extensive familiarity with the principles of genetics
d. most have not read and studied "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type", by Alfred Russel Wallace
e. many people do not want clear-cut answers
Q:
When it came to explaining the origins of variation within species, Darwin
a. used Mendel's theory of heredity
b. agreed with Lamarck that it was caused by an animal's inner needs
c. argued it was caused by differential use of an animal's body parts
d. had no idea of the true causes
e. used his research gathered while at Cambridge
Q:
"Fitness," in an evolutionary sense, refers to an individual's
a. strength
b. reproductive success
c. aggressiveness
d. size
e. age at death
Q:
Which is the best example of natural selection?
a. the peppered moth
b. the medium ground finch of the Galpagos
c. the recent increase in resistant strains of disease-causing microorganisms
d. the recent decrease in resistant strains of disease-causing microorganisms
e. Mendel's project with peas and beans
Q:
Regarding the example of the peppered moth, which of the following is not true
a. the two color patterns resulted from genetic variation in the species
b. it has recently come under criticism
c. natural selection acted upon pre-existing variation in the population
d. the dark is more visible on the trees darkened by pollution
e. the most common variety of the peppered moth in England, prior to the 19th century, was a mottled gray color.
Q:
Which contemporary of Charles Darwin also developed a theory of evolution by means of natural selection?
a. Charles Lyell
b. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
c. Erasmus Darwin
d. Alfred Russel Wallace
e. Georges Cuvier
Q:
Darwin
a. was reluctant to publish his theories
b. wrote his theory of natural selection while still on board the Beagle
c. published his theories as soon as he returned from his voyage on the Beagle
d. was not concerned with public opinion and did not mind if his theories were criticized
e. knew his friends and colleagues would not be affected by the publication of his theory
Q:
Which of the following concepts did NOT influence Darwin in developing his theory of evolution?
a. Population size increases more rapidly than food supplies.
b. There is competition among individuals for resources.
c. Species are unchanging types, and individual variation within a species is not important.
d. There is biological variation in all members of a species.
e. Favorable variations are passed on and accumulate in populations over time.
Q:
The fact that individuals who possess favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those who possess less favorable traits is the basis for which theory?
a. uniformitarianism
b. natural selection
c. the inheritance of acquired characteristics
d. catastrophism
e. the fixity of species
Q:
In formulating his theory of natural selection, Darwin did not
a. recognize the importance of biological variation within a population
b. apply his knowledge of domesticated species to undomesticated ones
c. appreciate the fact that population size is limited by availability of food
d. wonder if he had enough supportive data
e. claim that favorable variations would tend to be destroyed, unfavorable ones be preserved.
Q:
Charles Darwin
a. grew up in modest circumstances
b. began to doubt the fixity of species during a voyage around the world in the 1830s
c. received no formal education
d. spent two years in Africa where he developed the theory of natural selection
e. was a physician who studied natural history as a hobby
Q:
Alfred Russel Wallace is best known for
a. the principle of uniformitarianism
b. being the co-discoverer of natural selection
c. finding numerous important fossils during the 19th century
d. finding numerous important fossils during the 18th century
e. identifying changes in the coloration of a species moth
Q:
The principle of uniformitarianism
a. stated that the geological processes that operated in the past are still occurring in the present
b. was a problem for the development of evolutionary theories
c. proposed that the earth was only a few thousand years old
d. was the same as the theory of catastrophism
e. was first proposed by Georges Cuvier
Q:
Which concept, proposed by Charles Lyell, had a profound effect on 19th century scientific thought?
a. recent origins for earth
b. the role of catastrophic events in producing geological phenomena
c. natural selection
d. the immense age of the earth
e. the inheritance of acquired characteristics
Q:
__________________ proposed that population size increases at a faster rate than food supplies.
a. Erasmus Darwin
b. Alfred Russel Wallace
c. Thomas Malthus
d. Charles Lyell
e. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Q:
Thomas Malthus did not
a. propose that population size is kept in check by the availability of resources
b. writeAn Essay on the Principle of Population
c. influence the development of Darwin's and Wallace's theories of natural selection
d. enter the discussion of evolution as an economist
e. argue against limits to human population growth.
Q:
___________________wrote the highly praised Principles of Geology in which was emphasized the principle of uniformitarianism.
a. Charles Darwin
b. Charles Lyell
c. Alfred Russel Wallace
d. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
e. Thomas Malthus
Q:
_________________was the opponent of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the proposer of the view that the earth's geological landscape is the result of violent cataclysmic events.
a. Charles Lyell
b. Alfred Russel Wallace
c. Thomas Malthus
d. Erasmus Darwin
e. Georges Cuvier
Q:
What is the view that the extinction and the subsequent appearance of more modern forms could be explained by a series of disasters and creations?
a. natural selection
b. catastrophism
c. use-disuse theory
d. uniformitarianism
e. descent with modification
Q:
What is the term for the theory stating that characteristics acquired during the lifetime of an individual could be passed on to that individual's offspring?
a. natural selection
b. catastrophism
c. use-disuse theory
d. uniformitarianism
e. fixity of species
Q:
Who coined the term "biology"?
a. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
b. Georges Cuvier
c. Thomas Malthus
d. Charles Darwin
e. Charles Lyell
Q:
Who was the first to recognize the role of the environment as a significant factor in evolutionary change?
a. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
b. Georges Cuvier
c. Thomas Malthus
d. Charles Darwin
e. Charles Lyell
Q:
Who was the first to actually attempt to explain the mechanism by which species change?
a. Carolus Linnaeus
b. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
c. Charles Lyell
d. Charles Darwin
e. Erasmus Darwin
Q:
Charles Darwin was not the only one to conceive of natural selection. Who published an article suggesting current species were descended from other species?
a. Jean Baptiste Lamarck
b. Erasmus Darwin
c. Georges-Louis Leclerk de Buffon
d. Alfred Russel Wallace
e. John Scopes
Q:
_________ was an 18th century thinker who believed that living forms changed in response to the environment yet still rejected the idea that one species could give rise to another.
a. Alfred Russel Wallace
b. Georges-Louis Leclerk de Buffon
c. Erasmus Darwin
d. John Ray
e. Georges Cuvier
Q:
Carolus Linnaeus
a. established a binomial system of classification for plants and animals
b. was a proponent of evolutionary change
c. opposed all notions of fixity of species
d. was a supporter of Charles Darwin
e. developed theories of natural selection
Q:
_____________________refined the existing system of classifying biological organisms into a binomial system.
a. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
b. Georges Cuvier
c. Carolus Linnaeus
d. George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
e. Erasmus Darwin
Q:
__________________first recognized that species were groups of organisms that were distinguished from other such groups by their ability to mate with one another and produce fertile offspring.
A. John Ray
B. Charles Darwin
C. Carolus Linnaeus
D. Alfred Russel Wallace
E. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Q:
By the 17th century, some scientists were beginning to break with long-held traditions and sought to investigate _______.
a. natural phenomena
b. the supernatural forces that created life
c. the structure of the DNA molecule
d. how genetic mutations occur
e. fertility rates
Q:
Several events had combined to alter Western Europeans' ideas about the earth by the 18th century. These did not include
a. the circumnavigation of the globe
b. the discovery of the New World
c. the notion of a sun-centered universe
d. a less than rigid feudal class system
e. "arguments from design", meaning structures were engineered to meet purposes for which they were designed
Q:
Growing attacks on traditional beliefs resulted with growing awareness of biological diversity. _________challenged a notion proposed by Aristotle to account for the movement of the sun and planets.
a. Copernicus
b. Linnaeus
c. Darwin
d. Wallace
e. Mendel
Q:
What is the belief that species do not change but are the same as when first created known as?
a. fixity of species
b. the Great Chain of Being
c. truth
d. uniformitarianism
e. natural selection
Q:
The discovery of evolutionary principles first took place in western Europe, made possible by
a. advances in scientific thinking that began in the 18th century
b. understanding by Christians that there was a recent origin of life on earth
c. the cohesive theory formulated by Arabs, Indians, and Chinese that species were continuously changing
d. advances in scientific thinking that date back to the 16th century.
e. the central importance placed on evolution by physical anthropologists.
Q:
In Europe during the Middle Ages, it was believed that
a. all species had evolved from a common ancestor
b. evolution was the result of natural selection acting upon genetic variation
c. all forms were created by God and did not change over time
d. most species had become extinct over time
e. life was created slowly, over millions of years
Q:
Allele frequencies are indicators of the genetic makeup of a population. Use the example of ABO blood types to show how allele frequencies change.
Q:
Discuss the differences between Mendelian and polygenic modes of inheritance. Provide an example of a Mendelian and a polygenic trait.
Q:
Using the HbS allele to illustrate, describe why fitness levels are a function of the environment.
Q:
Why is mutation an important element in accounting for the variation in mtDNA? What are the factors that redistribute genetic variation?
Q:
What is meant by the statement, "natural selection is the one factor that can cause directional change in allele frequency relative to specific environmental factors"?
Q:
What is the effect of genetic bottlenecks on human and nonhuman species?
Q:
Define genetic drift. How are founder effect and genetic drift related?
Q:
Explain how two parents who do NOT express a particular trait in their phenotype can nevertheless produce children who express the trait. Give an example of a specific trait or disease where this could occur.
Q:
Explain why a woman with type O blood and a man with type A blood could potentially have children with either type A or O blood.
Q:
Explain the concepts of dominance, co-dominance, and recessiveness as used in modern genetics.
Q:
What are the typical Mendelian phenotypic and genotypic ratios in the F2 generation for a cross of purebred tall and short plants? Why are these ratios typical?
Q:
Explain Mendel's principle of independent assortment.
Q:
Explain Mendel's principle of segregation.
Q:
In regions where malaria is present, it acts as a selective agent that favors the heterozygous phenotype, because people with sickle-cell trait produce more offspring than those with only normal hemoglobin, who may die of malaria.
Q:
A manifestation of sickle-cell anemia is the abnormal hemoglobin S reduces the ability of red blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body.
Q:
The relationship between malaria and the HbS allele is an example of natural selection as a factor that can cause directional change in allele frequencies.
Q:
Genetic drift is the random factor in evolution.
Q:
New alleles are the results of mutations.
Q:
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is extremely useful for studying genetic change over time.
Q:
The genotype sets limits and potentials for development and interacts with the environment to produce the phenotype.
Q:
Polygenic traits account for few, if any, of the readily observable phenotypic variation seen in humans.
Q:
Melanin production is the result of interactions between several different loci.
Q:
Dominance and recessiveness are all-or-nothing situations because the recessive allele has no phenotypic effects in heterozygotes.
Q:
Recessive conditions are usually associated with the lack of production of an enzyme.
Q:
All human genetic disorders are inherited as recessive traits.
Q:
The HbS allele increased in frequency in West African populations due to which of the following?
a. sickle-cell anemia
b. genetic drift
c. migration
d. increased mutation rates
e. natural selection
Q:
Which of the statements below is false regarding the relationship between malaria and the HbS allele?
a. There is no geographic correlation between the distribution of the HbS allele and malaria.
b. Heterozygotes have greater resistance to malaria than homozygous individuals.
c. The malarial parasite does not reproduce very well in the red blood cells of heterozygotes.
d. Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite.
e. Most people are homozygous for the HbA allele.
Q:
Genetic drift is
a. the change in allele frequencies produced by random factors
b. the result of large populations
c. the opposite of founder effect
d. not evolutionary change
e. the change in allele frequencies produced by nonrandom factors
Q:
What is gene flow defined as?
a. production of new alleles
b. production of new genetic material
c. chance loss of alleles in a population
d. exchange of genes between populations
e. differential reproductive success of individuals