HP Final Exam PracticeQuestions and Answers With Complete Verified Solutions Updated 2024

How are two different species most likely to evolve from one ancestral species? allopatrically, after the ancestral species has split into two populations Fossils of their most recent common ancestor are most likely to occur in which stratum? the layer that is directly below the labeled X The various taxonomic levels (for example, phyla, genera, classes) of the hierarchical classification system differ from each other on the basis of ____. their inclusiveness Which Hardy-Weinberg condition is affected by population size? genetic drift Upon being formed, oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, should feature what characteristic, leading to which phenomenon? a variety of empty ecological niches, leading to adaptive radiation Which of these conditions are always true of populations evolving due to natural selection? The population must vary in traits that are heritable. Some heritable traits must increase reproductive success. Three-spined stickleback fish show substantial heritable variation in gill-ranker length related to differences in their diets. Longer gill rakers appear to function better for capturing open-water prey, while shorter gill rakers function better for capturing shallow-water prey. Which of the following types of selection is most likely to be found in a large lake (open water in the middle and shallow water around the sides) with a high density of these fish? disruptive selection In a comparison of birds and mammals, having four limbs is ______. a shared ancestral character Rocky Mountain juniper and one-seeded juniper have overlapping ranges. Pollen grains from one species are unable to germinate and make pollen tubes on female ovules of the other species. These two juniper species are kept separate by _________. gametic isolation Microevolution occurs when _______. changes in allele frequencies in a population occur over generations In a hardy-weinberg population with two alleles, A and a, that are in equilibrium, the frequency of allele a is 0.1. What is the frequency of individuals with AA genotype? 0.81 Which of the following forms a monophyletic group? E, F ,G Applying the principle of parsimony to the traint "ability to fly", which of the two phylogenetic trees is better? tree 1 -the tree that is more simplified Why are fossils considered to be an incomplete record of evolution? the fossil record is biased for organisms that had hard shells and skeletons The first living organisms were prokaryotes which appeared in oceans The most important feature that permits a gene to act as a molecular clock is a reliable average rate of mutation A hybrid zone is properly defined as _________. an area where mating occurs between members of two closely related species, producing viable offspring Genetic drift.... always increases genetic variation Is this population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? Genotype frequencies: TT: 0.56 Tt: 0.28 tt: 0.16 no You are confronted with a box of preserved grasshoppers of various species that are new to science and have not been described. Your assignment is to separate them into species. There is no accompanying information as to where or when they were collected. Which species concept will you have to use? morphological What is thought to be the correct sequence of these events, from earliest to most recent, in the evolution of life on Earth? origin of cyanobacteria origin of mitochondria origin of chloroplasts origin of multicellular eukaryotes origin of fungal-plant symbioses What are adaptations? inherited characteristics of organisms that enhance their survival Which similarly inclusive taxon is represented as descending from the same common ancestor as Canidae? Mustelidae If the half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 years, then a fossil that has about 1/16 of the normal proportion of carbon-14 to carbon-12 should be about how many years old? 22,900 The first genetic material on Earth was probably self-replicating RNA molecules Darwin and Wallace's theory of evolution by natural selection was revolutionary because it dismissed the idea that species are constant and emphasized the importance of variation and change in populations Some beetles and flies in South America have antler-like structures on their heads, much like the male deer in North America. The existence of antlers in beetle, fly, and deer species is an example of convergent evolution sudd Which one of these processes describes bottleneck effect? sudden change in environments that alters gene frequency of a population In species of cichlid fish, females are grey while males have blue flanks with vertical black bars. Color is an important element of mate choice in cichlid. Based on this information, you conclude that the different colors between males and females of this species is an example of... intersexual selection The appearance of photosynthesis on Earth led to... a rapid increase in oxygen which allowed for aerobic respiration How can reproductive barriers form in sympatric populations while their members remain in the same geographic area? habitat sharing ? or polyploidy Early human embryos have a tail. This is because.. humans are descendants of species that had tails Males of different species of the fruit fly that live in the same part of the Hawaiian Islands have different elaborate courtship rituals. These rituals involve fighting other males and making stylized movements that attract females. What type of reproductive isolation does this represent? behavioral isolation To apply the principle of maximum parsimony to construction of a phylogenetic tree, choose the tree that represents the fewest evolutionary changes, either in DNA sequences or morphology Which of the following is the most predictable outcome of increased gene flow between two populations? decreased genetic differences between the two populations The eukaryotic cells on Earth appeared... around 1.5 billion years ago Which of the following statements about evolution is correct? evolution can lead to the loss of a useful trait Which of the following statements about horizontal gene transfer is accurate? horizontal gene transfer was quite common in the early stages of evolution of life on Earth The best classification system is that which most closely reflects evolutionary history From the perspective of a biologist, the best system of taxonomy... groups organisms according to their evolutionary relatedness. Genetic drift... has a larger effect on small population sizes. While comparing DNA sequences to build a phylogenetic tree of bacteria, Jennifer finds a confusing piece of data: one population which would otherwise fit nicely into a particular clade seems to contain at least one very long DNA sequence that matches to that of a very distantly related clade. What process is most likely responsible for this mystery? Horizontal gene transfer The union of bacterial and archaeal cells resulted in: endosymbiosis a transfer of genes eukaryotic cells Stabilizing selection is best described by the following example: Sparrows with average sized wings are best at surviving storms The first living organisms appeared.. in primitive oceans, about 3.8 billion years ago. Scientific experiments have demonstrated plausible mechanisms by which all of the following happened, except which? the appearance of metabolism and inheritance from self-replicating molecules in protocells It has been observed that organisms on islands are different from, but closely related to, similar forms found on the nearest continent. This is taken as evidence that island forms and mainland forms descended from common ancestors. What does the vertical axis of this phylogenetic tree represent? time Darwin and Wallace were the first to propose that natural selection can change populations over time What is thought to be the correct sequence of these events, from earliest to most recent, in the evolution of life on Earth? 1. origin of mitochondria 2. origin of multicellular eukaryotes 3. origin of animals 4. origin of cyanobacteria 4,1,2,3 Two species of dogfish belonging to the same genus occasionally mate, but the resulting embryo fails to develop and hatch. What is the mechanism for keeping the two dogfish species separate? the postzygotic barrier called hybrid inviability A mutation to which type of gene is most likely to result in the largest change in morphology of the organism? A gene that controls cell differentiation in early development. A population has two alleles, A and a, and is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequency of allele a is 0.1. What is the frequency of individuals with AA genotype? 0.81 You are contacted by a biologist with the Jamaican government, who has access to a large collection of shells that came from marine snails collected on local coral reefs. She asks you to determine how many species are represented in the group. Employing which of the following approaches would be MOST useful for this task? morphological traits A population of yellow peacock cichlid fish in lake Victoria utilizes elaborate courtship rituals, which involve males fighting other males and making specific swimming patterns that attract females. One season, a mutation causes some of the males in this population to change their courtship rituals, which now only attracts a certain genotype of female to mate. If this situation persisted indefinitely, what is the most likely long-term outcome? sympatric speciation Natural selection is based on all of the following EXCEPT individuals adapt to their environments during their lives and, thereby, evolve. Phylogenetic trees are the visual representation of a certain type of hypothesis. Two nearby terrestrial prairie mouse populations were once partially connected through a hybrid zone. A dam reroutes a large river, which completely separates the populations. This allows for which of the following to happen? Reproductive isolation, because the populations cannot interbreed The half-life of Carbon-14 is about 5700 years. You have found a fossil that you believe to be about 28,500 years old because it has _____ the normal (modern) expected ratio of Carbon-14 1/32 Which statement is the best explanation for the high degree of sequence homology found between the DNA of dogs and wolves Dogs and wolves have a recent common ancestor. Below is a phylogeny depicting the relationships of nine species of extant beetles, labeled 1-9. A 'P' above their number indicates that the species is poisonous, and an 'NP' indicates that the species is non-poisonous. Some of the ancestor species are also labeled, A-D. Which of the following statements is most likely accurate regarding this group of species? That both species 8 and species 4 possess the poison trait is an example of convergent evolution. The appearance of photosynthetic prokaryotes lead to dramatic increases in oxygen levels on the Earth. This allowed for the evolution of which of the following? Aerobic respiration as an effective way to generate ATP from organic molecules Which of the following could be evidence that dolphins are descended from terrestrial ancestors? Dolphins grow small hind limb buds early in embryonic development. Which of the following is most likely to aid in the formation of entirely new alleles? Random mutation An archeologist is working at a dig site in sedimentary rocks. At 10m depth, she finds a large number of fish-like fossils. At 15m depth, she finds an equal density of fossils that resemble modern amphibians. What can you say about these fossils? The amphibian fossil is most likely older than the fish fossil Which of the following phylogenetic trees represents different evolutionary relationships than the rest? numbers are rearranged on different branches