PCB4674 Final - Questions with Correct Answers
(Verified Update)
322 questions with answers
Topic: PCB4674 Final
1. microevolution vs macroevolution
Answer: microevolution: modification = process macroevolution: common descent/shared
ancestry = pattern
2. 1 origination of life
Answer: 1. intelligent design 2. 1 cell duplicated, developing a species that evolved
(conventional Darwinian evolution)
3. 10^4 - 10^5 originations of life
Answer: Buttonspecies originated then diversified
4. 10^6 originations of life
Answer: special creation
5. 10^13 originations of life
Answer: originations are continuously happening
6. 10^12 - 10^15 originations of life
Answer: spontaneous generation
7. which origination models predict perfect adaptation (2)
Answer: special creation (10^6) intelligent design (1)
8. homology is a consequence of , whereas analogy is a consequence of
Answer: shared descent/common ancestry convergent evolution
9. homology vs analogy
Answer: homology: structural similarity among species, caused by shared descent/common
ancestry analogy: structures look the same but are not (arose separately), caused by
convergent evolution
10. homology of tetrapod limbs
Answer: 1 proximal bone (humerus) 2 distal bones (radius + ulna)
11. homology of orchids
Answer: 3 sepals, 3 petals, middle petal modified, male and female parts fused
12. vestigial traits in cetaceans
Answer: fully aquatic whale has vestigial pelvis because the genetic code is still in the
genome
13. vagus nerve as a vestigial trait
Answer: recurrent laryngeal nerve, a branch of the vagus nerve, loops around the aorta this
means girattes, with long necks, have delayed nerve impulses because the nerve travels all
the way down and back up their neck
Page 1
,14. reptilian jaw bone evolution (2)
Answer: reptilian jaw bones became the inner ear bones in mammals, as seen in fossils
possum embryological sequence resembles fossil sequence
15. the fossil record shows and
Answer: function: intermediate states have advantageous function relative to ancestral
states concordance: ancestral states appear earlier in fossil record
16. one of Darwin's longest and strongest arguments is
Answer: biogeography: the distribution of species
17. two complementary patterns of biogeography
Answer: 1. species with structural homologies are closely related and tend to live near each
other 2. species with structural analogies are functionally similar but unrelated, and often do
not live near each other but live in similar environments
18. happy face spiders
Answer: example of homology, because they are all structurally similar and live near each
other, but they have color/pattern polymorphisms, demonstrating that they came from a
common ancestor
19. bipedal rodents/marsupials
Answer: example of analogy, because ditterent species are found on each continent in
similar environments, but they are unrelated
20. taxonomy
Answer: system of naming and classification of organisms
21. character vs trait vs state
Answer: character and trait are the same (ex: presence of skeleton, position 97 in cyt b)
state refers to versions of a trait (cartilaginous vs bony skeleton, A/C/G/T in position 97)
22. phylogenetics
Answer: the study of evolutionary relationships
23. bottom-up vs top-down perspectives
Answer: bottom-up: how evolution works, trait evolves and is inherited among descendants
top-down: how we reconstruct evolutionary history using shared traits as evidence
24. orthologous genes
Answer: genes in ditterent species that evolved from a common ancestral gene through
speciation
25. speciation synonym
Answer: cladogenesis
26. speciation
Answer: population of interbreeding individuals is divided following a barrier to gene
exchange
27. anagenesis vs cladogenesis
Answer: anagenesis: evolution within a lineage, without speciation cladogenesis: splitting
one group into two, speciation, occurs at a node
Page 2
, 28. sister taxa
Answer: groups that share an immediate common ancestor
29. polytomy
Answer: a branch from which more than two groups emerge
30. cladogram vs phylogram
Answer: cladogram: branch length does not matter phylogram: branch length indicates
passage or time or evolutionary change
31. monophyletic vs paraphyletic groups
Answer: monophyletic group: ancestor and all of its descendants paraphyletic group:
ancestor and some of its descendants
32. how long ago did life originate
Answer: 3.8 BYA
33. the most common fossil before the Cambrian
Answer: stromatolites/bacterial mats
34. between 2.5 and 2 BYA, waste O2 changed the atmosphere by
Answer: oxidizing iron, so iron precipitated out of oceans and banded iron formations were
formed
35. for the first two billion years of life, was evolving
Answer: machinery for cell-cell communication
36. two major symbioses in the history of life
Answer: mitochondria from purple bacteria inside of eukaryotes chloroplast from
cyanobacteria inside of eukaryotes
37. Cambrian explosion
Answer: rapid diversification of most major animal groups marking the start of the Paleozoic
era the fuse: simple multicellular organisms called Ediacaran fauna
38. Ediacaran fauna
Answer: a group of animal species that existed between 575 and 535 million years ago the
fuse of the Cambrian explosion simple multicellular organisms
39. Paleozoic era
Answer: characterized by the rise and fall of many groups 1. 100 MY of increasing diversity
2. 200 MY of stable diversity 3. end-Permian/Permian-Triassic extinction 252 MYA 4. 200+ MY
of increasing diversity
40. life's colonization of land
Answer: in Paleozoic era plants, then arthropods, then tetrapods
41. Permo-Triassic extinction
Answer: lost 98% of species, 90% of genera went extinct, and even if species survived,
many individuals died
42. after the Perma-Triassic extinction, many groups rebounded during the
Answer: Jurassic and Cretaceous period bony fish, crustaceans, insects, large reptiles
Page 3
(Verified Update)
322 questions with answers
Topic: PCB4674 Final
1. microevolution vs macroevolution
Answer: microevolution: modification = process macroevolution: common descent/shared
ancestry = pattern
2. 1 origination of life
Answer: 1. intelligent design 2. 1 cell duplicated, developing a species that evolved
(conventional Darwinian evolution)
3. 10^4 - 10^5 originations of life
Answer: Buttonspecies originated then diversified
4. 10^6 originations of life
Answer: special creation
5. 10^13 originations of life
Answer: originations are continuously happening
6. 10^12 - 10^15 originations of life
Answer: spontaneous generation
7. which origination models predict perfect adaptation (2)
Answer: special creation (10^6) intelligent design (1)
8. homology is a consequence of , whereas analogy is a consequence of
Answer: shared descent/common ancestry convergent evolution
9. homology vs analogy
Answer: homology: structural similarity among species, caused by shared descent/common
ancestry analogy: structures look the same but are not (arose separately), caused by
convergent evolution
10. homology of tetrapod limbs
Answer: 1 proximal bone (humerus) 2 distal bones (radius + ulna)
11. homology of orchids
Answer: 3 sepals, 3 petals, middle petal modified, male and female parts fused
12. vestigial traits in cetaceans
Answer: fully aquatic whale has vestigial pelvis because the genetic code is still in the
genome
13. vagus nerve as a vestigial trait
Answer: recurrent laryngeal nerve, a branch of the vagus nerve, loops around the aorta this
means girattes, with long necks, have delayed nerve impulses because the nerve travels all
the way down and back up their neck
Page 1
,14. reptilian jaw bone evolution (2)
Answer: reptilian jaw bones became the inner ear bones in mammals, as seen in fossils
possum embryological sequence resembles fossil sequence
15. the fossil record shows and
Answer: function: intermediate states have advantageous function relative to ancestral
states concordance: ancestral states appear earlier in fossil record
16. one of Darwin's longest and strongest arguments is
Answer: biogeography: the distribution of species
17. two complementary patterns of biogeography
Answer: 1. species with structural homologies are closely related and tend to live near each
other 2. species with structural analogies are functionally similar but unrelated, and often do
not live near each other but live in similar environments
18. happy face spiders
Answer: example of homology, because they are all structurally similar and live near each
other, but they have color/pattern polymorphisms, demonstrating that they came from a
common ancestor
19. bipedal rodents/marsupials
Answer: example of analogy, because ditterent species are found on each continent in
similar environments, but they are unrelated
20. taxonomy
Answer: system of naming and classification of organisms
21. character vs trait vs state
Answer: character and trait are the same (ex: presence of skeleton, position 97 in cyt b)
state refers to versions of a trait (cartilaginous vs bony skeleton, A/C/G/T in position 97)
22. phylogenetics
Answer: the study of evolutionary relationships
23. bottom-up vs top-down perspectives
Answer: bottom-up: how evolution works, trait evolves and is inherited among descendants
top-down: how we reconstruct evolutionary history using shared traits as evidence
24. orthologous genes
Answer: genes in ditterent species that evolved from a common ancestral gene through
speciation
25. speciation synonym
Answer: cladogenesis
26. speciation
Answer: population of interbreeding individuals is divided following a barrier to gene
exchange
27. anagenesis vs cladogenesis
Answer: anagenesis: evolution within a lineage, without speciation cladogenesis: splitting
one group into two, speciation, occurs at a node
Page 2
, 28. sister taxa
Answer: groups that share an immediate common ancestor
29. polytomy
Answer: a branch from which more than two groups emerge
30. cladogram vs phylogram
Answer: cladogram: branch length does not matter phylogram: branch length indicates
passage or time or evolutionary change
31. monophyletic vs paraphyletic groups
Answer: monophyletic group: ancestor and all of its descendants paraphyletic group:
ancestor and some of its descendants
32. how long ago did life originate
Answer: 3.8 BYA
33. the most common fossil before the Cambrian
Answer: stromatolites/bacterial mats
34. between 2.5 and 2 BYA, waste O2 changed the atmosphere by
Answer: oxidizing iron, so iron precipitated out of oceans and banded iron formations were
formed
35. for the first two billion years of life, was evolving
Answer: machinery for cell-cell communication
36. two major symbioses in the history of life
Answer: mitochondria from purple bacteria inside of eukaryotes chloroplast from
cyanobacteria inside of eukaryotes
37. Cambrian explosion
Answer: rapid diversification of most major animal groups marking the start of the Paleozoic
era the fuse: simple multicellular organisms called Ediacaran fauna
38. Ediacaran fauna
Answer: a group of animal species that existed between 575 and 535 million years ago the
fuse of the Cambrian explosion simple multicellular organisms
39. Paleozoic era
Answer: characterized by the rise and fall of many groups 1. 100 MY of increasing diversity
2. 200 MY of stable diversity 3. end-Permian/Permian-Triassic extinction 252 MYA 4. 200+ MY
of increasing diversity
40. life's colonization of land
Answer: in Paleozoic era plants, then arthropods, then tetrapods
41. Permo-Triassic extinction
Answer: lost 98% of species, 90% of genera went extinct, and even if species survived,
many individuals died
42. after the Perma-Triassic extinction, many groups rebounded during the
Answer: Jurassic and Cretaceous period bony fish, crustaceans, insects, large reptiles
Page 3
