PCB4674 Evolution Exam 1 - Questions with Correct
Answers (Verified Update)
23 questions with answers
Topic: PCB4674 Evolution Exam 1
1. Which of the following statements about whale evolution is true?
A. Once biologists find all the missing links, they will be able to understand whale
evolution.
B. The fossil record provides evidence about the timing of certain events in whale
evolution.
C. The fossil record demonstrates that the major changes involved in the shift from land to
sea happened all at once.
D. DNA evidence allows scientists to understand most of the early history of whale
evolution.
Answer: B. The fossil record provides evidence about the timing of certain events in whale
evolution.
2. Certain features of viruses enable them to evolve rapidly. Flu viruses evolve,
evading detection by host immune cells, by
A. Reassorting genes of multiple viral strains during viral replication.
B. Accelerating their mutation rate.
C. Evolving to kill their host more quickly.
D. All of the above.
Answer: A. Reassorting genes of multiple viral strains during viral replication.
3. A lineage, in an evolutionary sense, is best described how?
A. A successive chain of ancestor and descendent populations perpetuating through
generations.
B. Species evolving into other species.
C. A collection of unrelated species that interact.
D. An ancestral species and some of its descendents.
Answer: A. A successive chain of ancestor and descendent populations perpetuating
through generations.
4. What is the main significance to evolutionary biology of the geological map and
description of English stratigraphy produced by William Smith?
A. It demonstrated that the land surface was formerly underwater.
B. It demonstrated that fossils occurred in predictable groups in characteristic rocks.
C. It showed that certain rocks produced unique fossils.
D. It showed that the same fossils can occur in different places.
Answer: B. It demonstrated that fossils occurred in predictable groups in characteristic
rocks.
5. Which intellectual predecessor to Darwin had the least influence on the theory of
evolution by natural selection?
A. Gregor Mendel's work on the genetics of peas
B. Charles Lyell's principle of uniformatarianism
C. Buffon's insistence on natural explanations for natural phenomena
D. Lamarck's proposal of a specific mechanism for evolutionary change
Answer: A. Gregor Mendel's work on the genetics of peas
Page 1
, 6. The earliest fossils of our own species date to:
A. approximately 500,000 years ago
B. approximately, 2 million years ago
C. approximately 6 million years ago
D. approximately 200,000 years ago
Answer: D. approximately 200,000 years ago
7. The oldest currently known fossil of a land animal is:
A. a tetrapod
B. a bird
C. a millipede
D. bacteria
Answer: C. a millipede
8. Lord Kelvin argued that, based on the temperature of rocks, the earth could not
be as old some geologists thought. What turned out to be wrong with his reasoning?
A. He claimed that the temperature of surface rocks should be used in calcuations, but
these calculations were shown to be unreliable.
B. He did not realize that the planet's interior was being heated by radioactive decay,
which had not been discovered yet.
C. The upper layers of the earth are cooler than Kelvin realized.
D. all of the above
Answer: B. He did not realize that the planet's interior was being heated by radioactive
decay, which had not been
9. Tetrapods include:
A. organisms descended from ancestors with four limbs
B. birds
C. whales
D. all of the above
Answer: D. all of the above
10. Which of the following allowed scientists to determine whether early hominins
were browsers (eating shrubs primarily) or grazers (eating grasses primarily)?
A. shrubs and grasses differ in the type of photosynthesis they perform
B. shrubs and grasses have different carbon isotopic signatures
C. fossil remains of plants surrounding hominins indicate what they most likely ate
D. a and b are correct
Answer: D. a and b are correct
11. You are constructing a phylogeny of a hypothetical group of insects. Several of
the species have a pattern of four veins on the forewing while another group of
species has a pattern of six veins. The three outgroups in your analysis all have a
pattern of six veins. From this you can conclude:
A. the trait of having six veins is a synapomorphy
B. the group of species with six veins are more closely related to each other than they are
to the any of the species with four veins
C. the trait of having four veins is a synapomorphy
D. a and b are correct
E. b and c are correct
Answer: C. the trait of having four veins is a synapomorphy
Page 2
Answers (Verified Update)
23 questions with answers
Topic: PCB4674 Evolution Exam 1
1. Which of the following statements about whale evolution is true?
A. Once biologists find all the missing links, they will be able to understand whale
evolution.
B. The fossil record provides evidence about the timing of certain events in whale
evolution.
C. The fossil record demonstrates that the major changes involved in the shift from land to
sea happened all at once.
D. DNA evidence allows scientists to understand most of the early history of whale
evolution.
Answer: B. The fossil record provides evidence about the timing of certain events in whale
evolution.
2. Certain features of viruses enable them to evolve rapidly. Flu viruses evolve,
evading detection by host immune cells, by
A. Reassorting genes of multiple viral strains during viral replication.
B. Accelerating their mutation rate.
C. Evolving to kill their host more quickly.
D. All of the above.
Answer: A. Reassorting genes of multiple viral strains during viral replication.
3. A lineage, in an evolutionary sense, is best described how?
A. A successive chain of ancestor and descendent populations perpetuating through
generations.
B. Species evolving into other species.
C. A collection of unrelated species that interact.
D. An ancestral species and some of its descendents.
Answer: A. A successive chain of ancestor and descendent populations perpetuating
through generations.
4. What is the main significance to evolutionary biology of the geological map and
description of English stratigraphy produced by William Smith?
A. It demonstrated that the land surface was formerly underwater.
B. It demonstrated that fossils occurred in predictable groups in characteristic rocks.
C. It showed that certain rocks produced unique fossils.
D. It showed that the same fossils can occur in different places.
Answer: B. It demonstrated that fossils occurred in predictable groups in characteristic
rocks.
5. Which intellectual predecessor to Darwin had the least influence on the theory of
evolution by natural selection?
A. Gregor Mendel's work on the genetics of peas
B. Charles Lyell's principle of uniformatarianism
C. Buffon's insistence on natural explanations for natural phenomena
D. Lamarck's proposal of a specific mechanism for evolutionary change
Answer: A. Gregor Mendel's work on the genetics of peas
Page 1
, 6. The earliest fossils of our own species date to:
A. approximately 500,000 years ago
B. approximately, 2 million years ago
C. approximately 6 million years ago
D. approximately 200,000 years ago
Answer: D. approximately 200,000 years ago
7. The oldest currently known fossil of a land animal is:
A. a tetrapod
B. a bird
C. a millipede
D. bacteria
Answer: C. a millipede
8. Lord Kelvin argued that, based on the temperature of rocks, the earth could not
be as old some geologists thought. What turned out to be wrong with his reasoning?
A. He claimed that the temperature of surface rocks should be used in calcuations, but
these calculations were shown to be unreliable.
B. He did not realize that the planet's interior was being heated by radioactive decay,
which had not been discovered yet.
C. The upper layers of the earth are cooler than Kelvin realized.
D. all of the above
Answer: B. He did not realize that the planet's interior was being heated by radioactive
decay, which had not been
9. Tetrapods include:
A. organisms descended from ancestors with four limbs
B. birds
C. whales
D. all of the above
Answer: D. all of the above
10. Which of the following allowed scientists to determine whether early hominins
were browsers (eating shrubs primarily) or grazers (eating grasses primarily)?
A. shrubs and grasses differ in the type of photosynthesis they perform
B. shrubs and grasses have different carbon isotopic signatures
C. fossil remains of plants surrounding hominins indicate what they most likely ate
D. a and b are correct
Answer: D. a and b are correct
11. You are constructing a phylogeny of a hypothetical group of insects. Several of
the species have a pattern of four veins on the forewing while another group of
species has a pattern of six veins. The three outgroups in your analysis all have a
pattern of six veins. From this you can conclude:
A. the trait of having six veins is a synapomorphy
B. the group of species with six veins are more closely related to each other than they are
to the any of the species with four veins
C. the trait of having four veins is a synapomorphy
D. a and b are correct
E. b and c are correct
Answer: C. the trait of having four veins is a synapomorphy
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