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Biology
9th -
University
Part 1: AP Biology Unit 7: Natural Selection Quiz
25 questions
Show Answers
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- 1. Multiple Choice
Fragments of DNA have been extracted from the remnants of extinct wooly mammoths, amplified, and sequenced. These can now be used to
introduce into relatives, such as elephants, certain mammoth traits
clone live wooly mammoths
study the relationships among wooly mammoths and other wool-producers
understand the evolutionary relationships among members of related taxa
- 2. Multiple Choice
Why might the cricket genome have 11 times as many base pairs than that of Drosophila melanogaster (fruitfly)?
The two insect species evolved at very different geologic eras.
Crickets have higher gene density.
Drosophila are more complex organisms.
Crickets must have more non-coding DNA.
- 3. Multiple Choice
During a study session about evolution, one of your fellow students remarks, ʺThe giraffe stretched its neck while reaching for higher leaves; its offspring inherited longer necks as a result.ʺ Which statement is most likely to be helpful in correcting this studentʹs misconception?
Characteristics acquired during an organismʹs life are generally not passed on through genes.
Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of new traits.
Only favorable adaptations have survival value.
Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance.
- 4. Multiple Choice
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. Lysenkoʹs attempts in this regard were most in agreement with the ideas of
Lamarck
Darwin
- 5. Multiple Choice
Refer to the figure, which shows an outcrop of sedimentary rock whose strata are labeled. Which stratum should contain the greatest proportion of extinct organisms?
A
B
C
D
- 6. Multiple Choice
Refer to the figure, which shows an outcrop of sedimentary rock whose strata are labeled. If ʺxʺ indicates the location of fossils of two closely related species, then fossils of their most-recent common ancestor are most likely to occur in which stratum?
A
B
C
D
- 7. Multiple Choice
As a young biologist, Charles Darwin had expected the living plants of temperate South America would resemble those of temperate Europe, but he was surprised to find that they more closely resembled the plants of tropical South America. The biological explanation for this observation is most properly associated with the field of
embryology
vertebrate anatomy
bioengineering
biogeography
- 8. Multiple Choice
Charles Darwin was the first person to propose
that evolution occurs
a mechanism for how evolution occurs
that the Earth is older than a few thousand years
a mechanism for evolution that was supported by evidence
- 9. Multiple Choice
In Darwinʹs thinking, the more closely related two different organisms are, the
more similar their habitats are
less similar their DNA sequences are
more recently they shared a common ancestor
less likely they are to have the same genes in common
- 10. Multiple Choice
Natural selection is based on all of the following except
genetic variation exists within populations.
the best-adapted individuals tend to leave the most offspring.
individuals who survive longer tend to leave more offspring than those who die young.
populations tend to produce more individuals than the environment can support.
individuals adapt to their environments and, thereby, evolve
- 11. Multiple Choice
Which statement about natural selection is most correct?
Adaptations beneficial in one habitat should generally be beneficial in all other habitats as well.
Different species that occupy the same habitat will adapt to that habitat by undergoing the same genetic changes.
Adaptations beneficial at one time should generally be beneficial during all other times as well.
Well-adapted individuals leave more offspring, and thus contribute more to the next generationʹs gene pool, than do poorly adapted individuals.
- 12. Multiple Choice
Given a population that contains genetic variation, what is the correct sequence of the following events, under the influence of natural selection?
1. Well-adapted individuals leave more offspring than do poorly adapted individuals.
2. A change occurs in the environment.
3. Genetic frequencies within the population change.
4. Poorly adapted individuals have decreased survivorship.
2 → 4 → 1 → 3
4 → 2 → 1 → 3
4 → 1 → 2 → 3
- 13. Multiple Choice
During drought years on the Galapagos, small, easily eaten seeds become rare, leaving mostly large, hard-cased seeds that only birds with large beaks can eat. If a drought persists for several years, what should one expect to result from natural selection?
Small birds gaining larger beaks by exercising their mouth parts.
Small birds mutating their beak genes with the result that later-generation offspring have larger beaks.
Small birds anticipating the long drought and eating more to gain weight and, consequently, growing larger beaks.
More small-beaked birds dying than larger-beaked birds. The offspring produced in subsequent generations have a higher percentage of birds with large beaks.
- 14. Multiple Choice
Which of the following statements is an inference of natural selection?
Subsequent generations of a population should have greater proportions of individuals that possess traits better suited for success in unchanging environments
An individual organism undergoes evolution over the course of its lifetime.
Habitats do not generally have unlimited resources.
Natural populations tend to reproduce to their full biological potential.
- 15. Multiple Choice
Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that population?
Genetic variation among individuals
Variation among individuals caused by environmental factors
Sexual reproduction
- 16. Multiple Choice
The treeʹs horizontal axis is a timeline that extends from 100,000 years ago to the present; the vertical axis represents nothing in particular. The labeled branch points on the tree (V—Z) represent various common ancestors. Letʹs say that only since 50,000 years ago has there been enough variation between the lineages depicted here to separate them into distinct species, and only the tips of the lineages on this tree represent distinct species.
How many separate species, both extant and extinct, are depicted in this tree?
2
3
4
6
- 17. Multiple Choice
The treeʹs horizontal axis is a timeline that extends from 100,000 years ago to the present; the vertical axis represents nothing in particular. The labeled branch points on the tree (V—Z) represent various common ancestors. Letʹs say that only since 50,000 years ago has there been enough variation between the lineages depicted here to separate them into distinct species, and only the tips of the lineages on this tree represent distinct species.
According to this tree, what percent of the species seem to be extant (i.e., not extinct)?
25%
33%
50%
66%
- 18. Multiple Choice
The treeʹs horizontal axis is a timeline that extends from 100,000 years ago to the present; the vertical axis represents nothing in particular. The labeled branch points on the tree (V—Z) represent various common ancestors. Letʹs say that only since 50,000 years ago has there been enough variation between the lineages depicted here to separate them into distinct species, and only the tips of the lineages on this tree represent distinct species. Which of the five common ancestors, labeled V—Z, has given rise to the greatest number of species, both extant and extinct?
V
W
X
Y
Z
- 19. Multiple Choice
The treeʹs horizontal axis is a timeline that extends from 100,000 years ago to the present; the vertical axis represents nothing in particular. The labeled branch points on the tree (V—Z) represent various common ancestors. Letʹs say that only since 50,000 years ago has there been enough variation between the lineages depicted here to separate them into distinct species, and only the tips of the lineages on this tree represent distinct species.
Which of the five common ancestors, labeled V—Z, has been least successful in terms of the percent of its derived species that are extant?
V
W
X
Y
Z
- 20. Multiple Choice
DDT was once considered a ʺsilver bulletʺ that would permanently eradicate insect pests.
Today, instead, DDT is largely useless against many insects. Which of these would have been required for this pest eradication effort to be successful in the long run?
Larger doses of DDT should have been applied.
All habitats should have received applications of DDT at about the same time.
The frequency of DDT application should have been higher.
None of the individual insects should have possessed genomes that made them resistant to DDT.
- 21. Multiple Choice
The graph depicts four possible patterns for the abundance of 3TC-resistant HIV within an infected human over time. If 3TC resistance is costly for HIV, then which plot (I—IV) best represents the response of a strain of 3TC-resistant HIV over time, if 3TC administration begins at the time indicated by the arrow?
I
II
III
IV
- 22. Multiple Choice
Of the following anatomical structures, which is homologous to the wing of a bird?
Dorsal fin of a shark
Hindlimb of a kangaroo
Wing of a butterfly
Flipper of a cetacean
- 23. Multiple Choice
If two modern organisms are distantly related in an evolutionary sense, then one should expect that
they live in very different habitats.
they should share fewer homologous structures than two more closely related organisms.
their chromosomes should be very similar.
they shared a common ancestor relatively recently.
- 24. Multiple Choice
Structures as different as human arms, bat wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the same bones, these bones having developed from very similar embryonic tissues. How do biologists interpret these similarities?
By the principle of convergent evolution
By proposing that humans, bats, and dolphins share a common ancestor
- 25. Multiple Choice
Which of the following pieces of evidence most strongly supports the common origin of all life on Earth?
All organisms require energy.
All organisms use essentially the same genetic code.
All organisms reproduce.
All organisms show heritable variation
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