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- 1. Multiple Choice
Fossils of the Durodon, an aquatic mammal that lived over 40 million years ago, provide scientists with evidence for the ancestry of the modern whale. These fossils contained vestigial, or small, underdeveloped hind limbs. This feature helps scientists conclude that the Durodon probably:
a. Was a mix of many
different types of animals.
b. Descended from animals that could walk on land.
c. Was the apex predator
of the ancient aquatic food chain.
Needed strong back limbs to propel them through the water.
- 2. Multiple Choice
Which of the following best describes the scientific theory of evolution?
A. It represents
scientists' best guess of why animals look the way they do.
B. It offers the strongest scientific explanation of how organisms have changed over very long periods of time
C. It offers a very
tentative and continually changing explanation about animal species.
D. It provides an explanation, developed by one scientist, to explain why some animals look similar to each other.
- 3. Multiple Choice
During biology class, a student asks his teacher, "Once scientists gather enough data and evidence supporting the scientific theory of evolution, will it become the scientific law of evolution?"
Which is the best response to this student's question?
A. Yes, once scientists collect enough evidence, scientific theories can become scientific laws.
B. No, scientific
theories are more widely accepted than scientific laws, so changing a theory to a law is like going backwards.
C. Yes, laws are more reliable than theories, and it is important to keep collecting data so that all scientific theories will eventually become scientific laws.
D. No, scientific theories explain how something might happen and scientific laws describe relationships; they are different and one does not become the other.
- 4. Multiple Choice
Why do scientists use fossil evidence to help support the scientific theory of evolution?
A. Fossils help show which organisms have lived over the last 100 years.
B. Fossils are exact replicas of animals from the past.
C. There are fossils from every species of animal that has ever lived.
D. Fossils can show patterns of change that happened over millions of years
- 5. Multiple Choice
The images represent a limb from four different organisms. How could scientists use images like these to support the scientific theory of evolution?
A. The limbs have similar structures, so the organisms may have a common ancestor.
B. The limbs look alike, so they are likely from the same genus but represent different species of animals.
C. Because the limbs look alike, all animals with limbs must have a humerus, radius, and ulna.
Because the limbs look alike, all limbs with similar structures serve the same function.
- 6. Multiple Choice
The table shows five developmental stages of two different organisms and what they look like when mature. After viewing the table, four students developed arguments about how the data in the chart related to the scientific theory of evolution. Which argument is the most valid?
A. These organisms are very different and, therefore, are not related.
B. These organisms are likely to have a common ancestor because of the similarities in their developmental patterns.
C. Because of the similarities in the development of these organisms, they would likely only differ at the genus level when classified.
D. These organisms may look similar during development, but because they take different amounts of time to develop, they do not share a common ancestor.
- 7. Multiple Choice
The island of Madagascar, off the Southeastern coast of Africa, has many endemic species of plants and animals; meaning these plants and animals are not found anywhere else in the world. What might be a natural reason why so many endemic species of plants and animals exist on the island of Madagascar?
A. Humans only brought a small set of certain plants and animals to the island.
B. Only animals that could swim were able to inhabit the island.
C. Isolation from other landmasses caused unique evolutionary paths, resulting in a variety of unique species.
D. Madagascar was once part of Africa and only unique animals were trapped on the island when it broke away from the continent.
- 8. Multiple Choice
Each year, many Americans receive a flu shot, or vaccination, to decrease their chances of contracting the influenza virus. Why do people have to keep getting vaccinations each year to fight the same illness?
A. The influenza virus evolves over time so it is not actually the same each year.
B. It is too costly to develop a vaccination that lasts more than a year.
C. Only old people and young kids need the new vaccines because their immune systems are not strong.
D. The influenza virus uses natural selection to seek out a weak host and getting the shot eliminates you from the selection process.
- 9. Multiple Choice
Biogeography is the study of the location of organisms around the world. Which of the following best explains how biogeography can provide evidence for evolution?
A. It shows that organisms have structures that serve no purpose but that resemble structural roles in related organisms.
B. It shows that there are similarities and differences among the DNA of different species.
C. It shows that organisms have changed gradually over millions of years.
D. It shows that some organisms that are unrelated have developed similar adaptations to similar environments.
- 10. Multiple Choice
Which of the following correctly describes the general trend in hominid evolution?
A. larger body size, broad forehead, smaller brains
B. Increase in brain capacity, bipedalism, use of tools
C. thickening of the skull, protruding teeth, organized hunting
D. large canine teeth, small skulls, diet of coarse plant material
- 11. Multiple Choice
In his trips to the Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin observed that 4 of the 13 species of the islands' finches have beaks adapted to eating specific foods. Which best explains how these facts provide evidence for divergent evolution?
A. The finches were different species but resemble each other because of how they evolved in a similar environment
B. The finches descended from similar ancestors and have evolved adaptations in response to each other's influences.
C. The finches descended from the same ancestor but evolved along their own lines in isolation from each other.
D. The finches descended from a common ancestor but evolved differently in response to their environment
- 12. Multiple Choice
Humans and chimpanzees have almost identical DNA and many similarities in anatomy. Which statement about the evolutionary relationship between modern humans and chimpanzees is supported by these fact?
A. Humans and chimpanzees are unrelated.
B. Humans descended directly from chimpanzees.
C. Humans are a more evolved version of chimpanzees.
D. Humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor.
- 13. Multiple Choice
Which of the following statements correctly compares a scientific theory and a scientific law?
A. A law is a fact and a theory is an opinion.
B. A law is a theory that has been proven to be true.
C. A law is a description and a theory is an explanation.
D. A law is always true and a theory is sometimes true.
- 14. Multiple Choice
Science explains that different forms of life on Earth developed over a long period of time from a common ancestor. The process by which unrelated organisms come to resemble one another (e.g., birds, bats, and butterflies all having wings) is known as which term?
A. adaptive radiation
B. convergent evolution
C. genetic drift
D. punctuated equilibrium
- 15. Multiple Choice
Biologists have considered two different explanations to the rate of evolution: gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. How would the fossil record indicate that an
organism had evolved via punctuated equilibrium?
A. The fossil record would show a slow, steady rate of change from a common ancestor.
B. The fossil record would be incomplete, and numerous holes would exist within the ancestral record.
C. The fossil record would show rapid change over an extended period of time, with occasional periods of little change.
D. The fossil record would show little change over long periods of time, followed by a sudden, brief period of rapid change.
- 16. Multiple Choice
A small, isolated population of parrots lives in a part of the jungle that does not undergo any changes for an extended period of time. Genetic drift is likely to cause this population to change in what way?
A.The population will stop evolving.
B. New traits will appear more frequently.
C. Genetic diversity within the population will decrease.
D. The population will begin to break up into separate species.
- 17. Multiple Choice
Why does a nonspecialized animal population have a much better chance of surviving a major disturbance in its habitat than a very specialized population?
A. It can reproduce at a faster rate.
B. It can hibernate through a time of crisis.
C. It can more easily adapt to different conditions.
D. It can mutate faster than a specialized population.
- 18. Multiple Choice
A female lobster carries hundreds of fertilized eggs attached to the underside of her abdomen. After they hatch into larvae, almost all of them are eaten by predators before they are full-grown. Why is the large number of offspring an evolutionary advantage even though most get eaten?
A. The hatched lobster larvae are an important part of the ocean food web.
B. The large number of offspring provides the raw material for natural selection.
C. The large number of offspring ensures that at least one will survive and reproduce.
D.The more that are eaten by predators, the more food there is for the surviving ones.
- 19. Multiple Choice
A large population of cockroaches was sprayed with an insecticide. A few of the cockroaches survived and produced a population of cockroaches that was resistant to this spray. What can best be inferred from this example?
A. A species will adapt not matter what the environment.
B. The environment has no effect on the survival of an organism.
C. Insecticides cause mutations that are passed on to the next generation.
D. Individuals with favorable variations survive and reproduce.
- 20. Multiple Choice
Which of the following describes the function of natural selection?
A.The reduction of reproductive capabilities.
B. The removal of older genes from the gene pool.
C. The removal of unfit variants as they arise via mutation
D.The prevention of a population reaching the carrying capacity of the environment.
- 21. Multiple Choice
Certain traits become more or less common in a population as a result of differential reproductive success. Which of the following examples describes the condition most likely to change the frequency of a trait within a population?
A. A large coal mine has been closed and abandoned, thus providing a brown bat population with a new hibernation site.
B. The food availability for a population of brown bats is severely diminished when a drought reduces the number of mosquitoes.
C. Injured brown bats are taken to a rehabilitation center where the animals can recover before they are released into the wild.
D. After a gestation period of 50 days, female brown bats give birth to healthy pups that remain with their mothers for three weeks.
- 22. Multiple Choice
Scientists have discovered bacteria that can survive in the hot temperatures found in the lava of volcanoes. Which statement best explains how bacteria could survive in this environment?
A. Bacteria are small enough not to be killed by heat.
B. Bacteria are simple organisms and can live in any conditions
C. Bacteria have mutated and those suited to the environment survive there.
D. Bacteria grow faster in hot conditions and so are suited to the environment.
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