Evolution Practice Test – Questions & Revision Guide
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 would you use to correct this student's misconception? - correct
answer ✔✔Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on
through genes.
Who was the naturalist who synthesized a concept of natural selection independently of
Darwin? - correct answer ✔✔Alfred Wallace
Charles Darwin was the first to propose - correct answer ✔✔a mechanism for evolution that
was supported by evidence
In evolutionary terms, the more closely related two different organisms are, the - correct
answer ✔✔more recently they shared a common ancestor
Evolution by natural selection is based on all of the following except: - correct answer
✔✔individuals must adapt to their environment
Which statement about natural selection is most correct? - correct answer ✔✔Well-adapted
individuals leave more offspring, and thus contribute more to the gene pool, than poorly
adapted individuals.
To observe natural selection's effects on a population, what must be true? - correct answer
✔✔One must observe more than one generation of the population. And the population must
contain genetic variation.
During drought years on the Galapagos, small, easily eaten seeds become rare leaving only
large, hard-cased seeds that only birds with large beaks can eat. If a drought persists for several
, years, then what should one expect to result from natural selection? - correct answer ✔✔More
small-beaked birds dying than the larger-beaked birds. The offspring produced in subsequent
generations have a higher percentage of birds with large beaks.
Which of the following statements is not an inference of natural selection? - correct answer
✔✔An individual organism undergoes evolution over the course of its lifetime.
Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that
population? - correct answer ✔✔genetic variation among individuals
A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years. During that time, the population was
never fewer than 30 squirrels and never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the
squirrels born did not survive to reproduce, because of competition for food and predation. In a
single generation, 90% of the squirrels that were born lived to reproduce, and the population
increased to 80. What inferences might you make about this population? - correct answer
✔✔The amount of available food may have increased
The number of predators may have decreased
Which statement best describes how the evolution of pesticide resistance occurs in a
population of insects? - correct answer ✔✔A number of genetically resistant pesticide survivors
reproduce. The next generation of insects contains more genes from the survivors than it does
from susceptible individuals.
DDT was once considered a "silver bullet" that would permanently eradicate insect pests. Today,
instead, DDT is largely useless against many insects. What would need to be true for pest
eradication efforts to have been successful in the long run? - correct answer ✔✔All individual
insects should have possessed genomes that made them susceptible to DDT.
Structures as different as human arms, bat wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the
same bones, these bones having developed from the same embryonic tissues. How do
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 would you use to correct this student's misconception? - correct
answer ✔✔Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on
through genes.
Who was the naturalist who synthesized a concept of natural selection independently of
Darwin? - correct answer ✔✔Alfred Wallace
Charles Darwin was the first to propose - correct answer ✔✔a mechanism for evolution that
was supported by evidence
In evolutionary terms, the more closely related two different organisms are, the - correct
answer ✔✔more recently they shared a common ancestor
Evolution by natural selection is based on all of the following except: - correct answer
✔✔individuals must adapt to their environment
Which statement about natural selection is most correct? - correct answer ✔✔Well-adapted
individuals leave more offspring, and thus contribute more to the gene pool, than poorly
adapted individuals.
To observe natural selection's effects on a population, what must be true? - correct answer
✔✔One must observe more than one generation of the population. And the population must
contain genetic variation.
During drought years on the Galapagos, small, easily eaten seeds become rare leaving only
large, hard-cased seeds that only birds with large beaks can eat. If a drought persists for several
, years, then what should one expect to result from natural selection? - correct answer ✔✔More
small-beaked birds dying than the larger-beaked birds. The offspring produced in subsequent
generations have a higher percentage of birds with large beaks.
Which of the following statements is not an inference of natural selection? - correct answer
✔✔An individual organism undergoes evolution over the course of its lifetime.
Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that
population? - correct answer ✔✔genetic variation among individuals
A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years. During that time, the population was
never fewer than 30 squirrels and never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the
squirrels born did not survive to reproduce, because of competition for food and predation. In a
single generation, 90% of the squirrels that were born lived to reproduce, and the population
increased to 80. What inferences might you make about this population? - correct answer
✔✔The amount of available food may have increased
The number of predators may have decreased
Which statement best describes how the evolution of pesticide resistance occurs in a
population of insects? - correct answer ✔✔A number of genetically resistant pesticide survivors
reproduce. The next generation of insects contains more genes from the survivors than it does
from susceptible individuals.
DDT was once considered a "silver bullet" that would permanently eradicate insect pests. Today,
instead, DDT is largely useless against many insects. What would need to be true for pest
eradication efforts to have been successful in the long run? - correct answer ✔✔All individual
insects should have possessed genomes that made them susceptible to DDT.
Structures as different as human arms, bat wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the
same bones, these bones having developed from the same embryonic tissues. How do
