Evolution Study Questions AP Biology

Name:

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Catastrophism, meaning the regular occurrence of geological or meteorological disturbances (catastrophes), was Cuvier's attempt to explain the existence of

a.	evolution.
b.	the fossil record.
c.	uniformitarianism.
d.	the origin of new species.
e.	natural selection.

What was the prevailing notion prior to the time of Lyell and Darwin?

a.	Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations are unchanging.
b.	Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations gradually change.
c.	Earth is millions of years old, and populations rapidly change.
d.	Earth is millions of years old, and populations are unchanging.
e.	Earth is millions of years old, and populations gradually change.

During a study session about evolution, one of your fellow students remarks, "The giraffe stretched its neck while reaching for higher leaves; its offspring inherited longer necks as a result." Which statement is most likely to be helpful in correcting this student's misconception?

a.	Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on through genes.
b.	Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of new traits.
c.	Only favorable adaptations have survival value.
d.	Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance.
e.	Overproduction of offspring leads to a struggle for survival.

In the mid-1900s, the Soviet geneticist Lysenko believed that his winter wheat plants, exposed to ever-colder temperatures, would eventually give rise to ever more cold-tolerant winter wheat. Lysenko's attempts in this regard were most in agreement with the ideas of

a.	Cuvier.
b.	Hutton.
c.	Lamarck.
d.	Darwin.
e.	Plato.

Darwin's mechanism of natural selection required long time spans in order to modify species. From whom did Darwin get the concept of Earth's ancient age?

a.	Georges Cuvier
b.	Charles Lyell
c.	Alfred Wallace
d.	Thomas Malthus
e.	John Henslow

Which of these naturalists synthesized a concept of natural selection independently of Darwin?

a.	Charles Lyell
b.	Gregor Mendel
c.	Alfred Wallace
d.	John Henslow
e.	Thomas Malthus

Charles Darwin was the first person to propose

a.	that evolution occurs.
b.	a mechanism for how evolution occurs.
c.	that the Earth is older than a few thousand years.
d.	a mechanism for evolution that was supported by evidence.
e.	a way to use artificial selection as a means of domesticating plants and animals.

It has been observed that organisms on islands are different from, but closely related to, similar forms found on the nearest continent. This is taken as evidence that

a.	island forms and mainland forms descended from common ancestors.
b.	common environments are inhabited by the same organisms.
c.	the islands were originally part of the continent.
d.	the island forms and mainland forms are converging.
e.	island forms and mainland forms have identical gene pools.

The theory of evolution is most accurately described as

a.	an educated guess about how species originate.
b.	one possible explanation, among several scientific alternatives, about how species have come into existence.
c.	an opinion that some scientists hold about how living things change over time.
d.	an overarching explanation, supported by much evidence, for how populations change over time.
e.	an idea about how acquired characteristics are passed on to subsequent generations.

10.

Which of the following pairs of structures is least likely to represent homology?

a.	The wings of a bat and the arms of a human
b.	The hemoglobin of a baboon and that of a gorilla
c.	The mitochondria of a plant and those of an animal
d.	The wings of a bird and those of an insect
e.	The brain of a cat and that of a dog

11.

Which of these is a statement that Darwin would have rejected?

a.	Environmental change plays a role in evolution.
b.	The smallest entity that can evolve is an individual organism.
c.	Individuals can acquire new characteristics as they respond to new environments or situations.
d.	Inherited variation in a population is a necessary precondition for natural selection to operate.
e.	Natural populations tend to produce more offspring than the environment can support.

12.

About which of these did Darwin have a poor understanding?

a.	that individuals in a population exhibit a good deal of variation
b.	that much of the variation between individuals in a population is inherited
c.	the factors that cause individuals in populations to struggle for survival
d.	the sources of genetic variations among individuals
e.	how a beneficial trait becomes more common in a population over the course of generations

13.

If, on average, 46% of the loci in a species' gene pool are heterozygous, then the average homozygosity of the species should be

a.	23%
b.	46%
c.	54%
d.	92%
e.	There is not enough information to say.

14.

Which of these is the smallest unit upon which natural selection directly acts?

a.	a species' gene frequency
b.	a population's gene frequency
c.	an individual's genome
d.	an individual's genotype
e.	an individual's phenotype

15.

Which of these is the smallest unit that natural selection can change?

a.	a species' gene frequency
b.	a population's gene frequency
c.	an individual's genome
d.	an individual's genotype
e.	an individual's phenotype

16.

Each of the following has a better chance of influencing gene frequencies in small populations than in large populations, but which one most consistently requires a small population as a precondition for its occurrence?

a.	Mutation
b.	Non-random mating
c.	Genetic drift
d.	Natural selection
e.	Gene flow

17.

In modern terminology, diversity is understood to be a result of genetic variation. Sources of variation for evolution include all of the following except

a.	mistakes in translation of structural genes.
b.	mistakes in DNA replication.
c.	translocations and mistakes in meiosis.
d.	recombination at fertilization.
e.	recombination by crossing over in meiosis.

18.

The DNA polymerases of all cellular organisms have proofreading capability. This capability tends to reduce the introduction of

a.	extra genes by gene duplication events.
b.	chromosomal translocation.
c.	genetic variation by mutations.
d.	proofreading capability into prokaryotes.

19.

Which of these makes determining the evolutionary relatedness of different species based on the amino acid sequence of homologous proteins generally less accurate than determinations of relatedness based on the nucleotide sequences of homologous genes?

a.	Silent mutations
b.	Gene duplications
c.	Translocation events that change gene sequences
d.	Crossing-over
e.	Independent assortment

Use the following information to answer the questions below.

In a hypothetical population of 1,000 people, tests of blood-type genes show that 160 have the genotype AA, 480 have the genotype AB, and 360 have the genotype BB.

20.

What is the frequency of the B allele?

a.	0.001
b.	0.002
c.	0.100
d.	0.400
e.	0.600

21.

If there are 4,000 children born to this generation, how many would be expected to have AB blood under the conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

a.	100
b.	960
c.	1,920
d.	2,000
e.	2,400

22.

In peas, a gene controls flower color such that R = purple and r = white. In an isolated pea patch, there are 36 purple-flowering plants and 64 white-flowering plants. Assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, what is the value of q for this population?

a.	0.36
b.	0.60
c.	0.64
d.	0.75
e.	0.80

23.

Over time, the movement of people on Earth has steadily increased. This has altered the course of human evolution by increasing

a.	non-random mating.
b.	geographic isolation.
c.	genetic drift.
d.	mutations.
e.	gene flow.

The following questions refer to this information:

Adult male humans generally have deeper voices than do adult female humans, as the direct result of higher levels of testosterone causing growth of the larynx.

24.

If one excludes the involvement of gender in the situation described in the paragraph above, then the pattern that is apparent in the fossil record is most similar to one that should be expected from

a.	pansexual selection.
b.	directional selection.
c.	disruptive selection.
d.	stabilizing selection.
e.	asexual selection.

25.

The Darwinian fitness of an individual is measured most directly by

a.	the number of its offspring that survive to reproduce.
b.	the number of "good genes" it possesses.
c.	the number of mates it attracts.
d.	its physical strength.
e.	how long it lives.

In a very large population, a quantitative trait has the following distribution pattern:

Figure 23.1

26.

What is true of the trait whose frequency distribution in a large population appears above? It has probably undergone

a.	directional selection.
b.	stabilizing selection.
c.	disruptive selection.
d.	sexual selection.
e.	random selection.

27.

If the curve shifts to the left or to the right, there is no gene flow, and the population size consequently increases over successive generations, then which of these is (are) probably occurring?

1. immigration or emigration
2. directional selection
3. adaptation
4. genetic drift
5. disruptive selection

a.	1 only
b.	4 only
c.	2 and 3
d.	4 and 5
e.	1, 2, and 3

28.

Which of the following statements about species, as defined by the biological species concept, is (are) correct?

I.	Biological species are defined by reproductive isolation.
II.	Biological species are the model used for grouping extinct forms of life.
III.	The biological species is the largest unit of population in which successful reproduction is possible.

a.	I only
b.	II only
c.	I and III
d.	II and III
e.	I, II, and III

29.

There is still some controversy among biologists about whether Neanderthals should be placed within the same species as modern humans, or into a separate species of their own. Most DNA sequence data analyzed so far indicate that there was probably little or no gene flow between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. Which species concept is most applicable in this example?

a.	phylogenetic
b.	ecological
c.	morphological
d.	biological

30.

What was the species concept most used by Linnaeus?

a.	biological
b.	morphological
c.	ecological
d.	phylogenetic

31.

You are confronted with a box of preserved grasshoppers of various species that are new to science and have not been described. Your assignment is to separate them into species. There is no accompanying information as to where or when they were collected. Which species concept will you have to use?

a.	biological
b.	phylogenetic
c.	ecological
d.	morphological

The questions below are based on the following description.

Several closely related frog species of the genus Rana are found in the forests of the southeastern United States. The species boundaries are maintained by reproductive barriers. In each case, match the various descriptions of frogs below with the appropriate reproductive barrier listed.

32.

Males of one species sing only when its predators are absent; males of another species sing only when its predators are present.

a.	behavioral
b.	gametic
c.	habitat
d.	temporal
e.	mechanical

33.

One species lives only in tree holes; another species lives only in streams.

a.	behavioral
b.	gametic
c.	habitat
d.	temporal
e.	mechanical

34.

Females of one species choose mates based on song quality; females of another species choose mates on the basis of size.

a.	behavioral
b.	gametic
c.	habitat
d.	temporal
e.	mechanical

35.

One species mates at the season when daylight is increasing from 13 hours to 13 hours, 15 minutes; another species mates at the season when daylight is increasing from 14 hours to 14 hours, 15 minutes.

a.	behavioral
b.	gametic
c.	habitat
d.	temporal
e.	mechanical

36.

Males of one species are too small to perform amplexus (an action that stimulates ovulation) with females of all other species.

a.	behavioral
b.	gametic
c.	habitat
d.	temporal
e.	mechanical

37.

A hybrid zone is properly defined as

a.	an area where two closely related species' ranges overlap.
b.	an area where mating occurs between members of two closely related species, producing viable offspring.
c.	a zone that features a gradual change in species composition where two neighboring ecosystems border each other.
d.	a zone that includes the intermediate portion of a cline.
e.	an area where members of two closely related species intermingle, but experience no gene flow.

38.

In the narrow hybrid zone that separates the toad species Bombina bombina and Bombina variegata, what is true of those alleles that are unique to the parental species?

a.	Such alleles should be absent.
b.	Their allele frequency should be nearly the same as the allele frequencies in toad populations distant from the hybrid zone.
c.	The alleles' heterozygosity should be higher among the hybrid toads there.
d.	Their allele frequency on one edge of the hybrid zone should roughly equal their frequency on the opposite edge of the hybrid zone.

The following questions refer to the description below.

On the volcanic, equatorial West African island of Sao Tomé, two species of fruit fly exist. Drosophila yakuba inhabits the island's lowlands, and is also found on the African mainland, located about 200 miles away. At higher elevations, and found only on Sao Tomé, is found the very closely related Drosophila santomea. The two species can hybridize, though male hybrids are sterile. A hybrid zone exists at middle elevations, though hybrids there are greatly outnumbered by D. santomea. Studies of the two species' nuclear genomes reveal that D. yakuba on the island is more closely related to mainland D. yakuba than to D. santomea (2n=4 in both species). Sao Tomé rose from the Atlantic Ocean about 14 million years ago.

39.

Which of these reduces gene flow between the gene pools of the two species on Sao Tomé, despite the existence of hybrids?

a.	hybrid breakdown
b.	hybrid inviability
c.	hybrid sterility
d.	temporal isolation
e.	a geographic barrier

40.

The observation that island D. yakuba are more closely related to mainland D. yakuba than island D. yakuba are to D. santomea is best explained by proposing that D. santomea

a.	descended from a now-extinct, non-African fruit fly.
b.	arose de novo; that is, had no ancestors.
c.	descended from a single colony of D. yakuba, which had been introduced from elsewhere, with no subsequent colonization events.
d.	descended from an original colony of D. yakuba, of which there are no surviving members. The current island D. yakuba represent a second colonization event from elsewhere.

41.

If a speciation event occurred on Sao Tomé, producing D. santomea from a parent colony of D. yakuba, then which terms apply?

I.	macroevolution
II.	allopatric speciation
III.	sympatric speciation

a.	I only
b.	II only
c.	I & II
d.	I & III

42.

Using only the information provided in the paragraph, which of these is the best initial hypothesis for how D. santomea descended from D. yakuba?

a.	geographic isolation
b.	autopolyploidy
c.	habitat differentiation
d.	sexual selection
e.	allopolyploidy

43.

Which of these evolutionary trees represents the situation described in the paragraph above (NOTE: yakuba (I) represents the island population, and yakuba (M) represents the mainland population)?

a.
b.
c.
d.

44.

If the low number of hybrid flies in the hybrid zone, relative to the number of D. santomea flies there, is due to the fact that hybrids are poorly adapted to conditions in the hybrid zone, and if fewer hybrid flies are produced with the passage of time, this is most likely to lead to

a.	fusion.
b.	reinforcement.
c.	stability.
d.	further speciation events.

45.

Which gas was least abundant in Earth's early atmosphere, prior to 2 billion years ago?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

46.

In their laboratory simulations of the early Earth, Miller and Urey observed the abiotic synthesis of

a.	amino acids.
b.	complex organic polymers.
c.	DNA.
d.	liposomes.
e.	genetic systems.

47.

The first genes on Earth were probably

a.	DNA produced by reverse transcriptase from abiotically produced RNA.
b.	DNA molecules whose information was transcribed to RNA and later translated in polypeptides.
c.	auto-catalytic RNA molecules.
d.	RNA produced by autocatalytic, proteinaceous enzymes.
e.	oligopeptides located within protobionts.

48.

RNA molecules can both carry genetic information and be catalytic. This supports the proposal that

a.	RNA was the first hereditary information.
b.	protobionts had an RNA membrane.
c.	RNA could make energy.
d.	free nucleotides would not have been necessary ingredients in the synthesis of new RNA molecules.
e.	RNA is a polymer of amino acids.

49.

Approximately how far back in time does the fossil record extend?

a.	6,000 years
b.	3,500,000 years
c.	6,000,000 years
d.	3,500,000,000 years
e.	5,000,000,000,000 years

The following questions are based on the observation that several dozen different proteins comprise the prokaryotic flagellum and its attachment to the prokaryotic cell, producing a highly complex structure.

50.

It has been found that certain proteins of the complex motor that drives bacterial flagella are modified versions of proteins that had previously belonged to plasma membrane pumps. This is evidence in support of the claim that

a.	some structures are so complex that natural selection cannot, and will not, explain their origins.
b.	the power of natural selection allows it to act in an almost predictive fashion, producing organs that will be needed in future environments.
c.	the motors of bacterial flagella were originally synthesized abiotically.
d.	natural selection can produce new structures by cobbling together parts of other structures.
e.	bacteria that possess flagella must have lost the ability to pump certain chemicals across their plasma membranes.

51.

An explanation for the evolution of insect wings suggests that wings began as lateral extensions of the body that were used as heat dissipaters for thermoregulation. When they had become sufficiently large, these extensions became useful for gliding through the air, and selection later refined them as flight-producing wings. If this hypothesis is correct, insect wings could best be described as

a.	adaptations.
b.	mutations.
c.	exaptations.
d.	isolating mechanisms.
e.	examples of natural selection's predictive ability.

52.

If one organ is an exaptation of another organ, then what must be true of these two organs?

a.	They are both vestigial organs.
b.	They are homologous organs.
c.	They are undergoing convergent evolution.
d.	They are found together in the same hybrid species.
e.	They have the same function.

53.

The oxygen revolution changed Earth's environment dramatically. Which of the following adaptations took advantage of the presence of free oxygen in the oceans and atmosphere?

a.	the evolution of cellular respiration, which used oxygen to help harvest energy from organic molecules
b.	the persistence of some animal groups in anaerobic habitats
c.	the evolution of photosynthetic pigments that protected early algae from the corrosive effects of oxygen
d.	the evolution of chloroplasts after early protists incorporated photosynthetic cyanobacteria
e.	the evolution of multicellular eukaryotic colonies from communities of prokaryotes

54.

The legless condition that is observed in several groups of extant reptiles is the result of

a.	their common ancestor having been legless.
b.	a shared adaptation to an arboreal (living in trees) lifestyle.
c.	several instances of the legless condition arising independently of each other.
d.	individual lizards adapting to a fossorial (living in burrows) lifestyle during their lifetimes.

55.

The scientific discipline concerned with naming organisms is called

a.	taxonomy.
b.	cladistics.
c.	binomial nomenclature.
d.	systematics.
e.	phylocode

56.

Which of these illustrates the correct representation of the binomial scientific name for the African lion?

a.	Panthera leo
b.	panthera leo
c.	Panthera leo
d.	Panthera Leo
e.	Panthera leo

57.

The correct sequence, from the most to the least comprehensive, of the taxonomic levels listed here is

a.	family, phylum, class, kingdom, order, species, and genus.
b.	kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
c.	kingdom, phylum, order, class, family, genus, and species.
d.	phylum, kingdom, order, class, species, family, and genus.
e.	phylum, family, class, order, kingdom, genus, and species.

58.

Phylogenetic hypotheses (such as those represented by phylogenetic trees) are strongest when

a.	they are based on amino acid sequences from homologous proteins, as long as the genes that code for such proteins contain no introns.
b.	each clade is defined by a single derived character.
c.	they are supported by more than one kind of evidence, such as when fossil evidence corroborates molecular evidence.
d.	they are accepted by the foremost authorities in the field, especially if they have won Nobel Prizes.
e.	they are based on a single DNA sequence that seems to be a shared derived sequence.

59.

Morphologically, Species A is very similar to four other species, B—E. Yet the nucleotide sequence deep within an intron in a gene shared by all five of these eukaryotic species is quite different in Species A compared to that of the other four species when one studies the nucleotides present at each position.

Figure 26.4

If the sequence of Species A differs from that of the other four species due to simple misalignment, then what should the computer software find when it compares the sequence of Species A to those of the other four species?

a.	The nucleotide at position 1 should be different in Species A, but the same in species B—E.
b.	The nucleotide sequence of Species A should have long sequences that are nearly identical to those of the other species, but offset in terms of position number.
c.	The sequences of species B—E, though different from that of Species A, should be identical to each other, without exception.
d.	If the software compares, not nucleotide sequence, but rather the amino acid sequence of the actual protein product, then the amino acid sequences of species B-E should be similar to each other, but very different from that of Species A.
e.	Computer software is useless in determining sequences of introns; it can only be used with exons.

The following questions refer to the table below, which compares the % sequence homology of four different parts (2 introns and 2 exons) of a gene that is found in five different eukaryotic species. Each part is numbered to indicate its distance from the promoter (e.g., Intron I is that closest to the promoter). The data reported for Species A were obtained by comparing DNA from one member of species A to another member of Species A.

% Sequence Homology

Species	Intron I	Exon I	Intron VI	Exon V
A	100%	100%	100%	100%
B	98%	99%	82%	96%
C	98%	99%	89%	96%
D	99%	99%	92%	97%
E	98%	99%	80%	94%

60.

Based on the tabular data, and assuming that time advances vertically, which cladogram (a type of phylogenetic tree) is the most likely depiction of the evolutionary relationships among these five species?

a.
b.
c.
d.

61.

Based on this tree, which of the following statements is not correct?

a.	The lineage leading to salamanders was the first to diverge from the other lineages.
b.	Salamanders are a sister group to the group containing lizards, goats, and humans.
c.	Salamanders are as closely related to goats as they are to humans.
d.	Lizards are more closely related to salamanders than lizards are to humans.
e.	The group highlighted by shading is paraphyletic.

62.

To apply parsimony to constructing a phylogenetic tree,

a.	choose the tree that assumes all evolutionary changes are equally probable.
b.	choose the tree in which the branch points are based on as many shared derived characters as possible.
c.	base phylogenetic trees only on the fossil record, as this provides the simplest explanation for evolution.
d.	choose the tree that represents the fewest evolutionary changes, either in DNA sequences or morphology.
e.	choose the tree with the fewest branch points.