©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
Evolutionary Analysis Exam Questions With
Correct Answers
What supports evolution - answer✔patterns of descent with modification
Evolution - answer✔genetic change in a population over time
common ancestor - answer✔The shared ancestor of new, different species that arose from one
population
Macroevolution - answer✔dramatic evolutionary changes (usually morphological) deriving
novel life forms from earlier ones
-think innovative features
-diverging at bigger scale than speciation (living on land versus in water)
evidence of macroevolution - answer✔FOSSILS (though record is sparce)
vestigial stuctures
microevolution - answer✔small scale changes (changes in gene frequency and trait distribution
that occur within a population or species)
examples of microevolution - answer✔1. selective breeding
2. antibiotic resistance
3. plant flowering time
4. vestigial traits
pseudogenes in terms of evolution - answer✔vestigial trait (no longer have intron or promoter)
track time genetically
vestigial traits - answer✔Traits that were useful in ancestors that are inherited today, but that
have lost their original use.
speciation - answer✔process by which ancestral species give rise to 2 daughter species
, ©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
species - answer✔populations or groups of populations within and among which these
individuals actually or potentially interbreed outside of which they do not interbreed
lab experiments - answer✔1. species of Pseudomonas syringae cannot infecct wild type species
2. fruit flies adapt to different diets doesn't lead to new species but difference in mating
preferences
partial reproductive isolation - answer✔hybrid fertility or viability lower, but not 0
speciation stages - answer✔1. variation exists
2. subpopulations form
3. distinct populations
4. reproductive isolation
(5. maybe ring species)
ring species - answer✔evidence that one species can split into two (all 4 stages in continuous
loop)
Evidence from the fossil record - answer✔1. The Fact of Extinction
2. The Law of Succession
3. Transitional Forms
fact of extinction - answer✔vast majority of species have been lost to extinction
transitional forms - answer✔fossils that connect ancestral species with their descendants
through a series of tiny steps
law of succession - answer✔extinct species in the fossil record were succeeded in the same
region by similar species
common ancestry is supported by - answer✔genetics, anatomical similarities (homology)
homology - answer✔similarity resulting from common ancestry
nested patterns of traits - answer✔used in phylogenetic trees
-functional similarity does not necessarily indicate common ancestry
convergent evolution - answer✔environmental pressures shape genes- homoplasy
homoplasy - answer✔A similar (analogous) structure or molecular sequence that has evolved
independently in two species.
Evolutionary Analysis Exam Questions With
Correct Answers
What supports evolution - answer✔patterns of descent with modification
Evolution - answer✔genetic change in a population over time
common ancestor - answer✔The shared ancestor of new, different species that arose from one
population
Macroevolution - answer✔dramatic evolutionary changes (usually morphological) deriving
novel life forms from earlier ones
-think innovative features
-diverging at bigger scale than speciation (living on land versus in water)
evidence of macroevolution - answer✔FOSSILS (though record is sparce)
vestigial stuctures
microevolution - answer✔small scale changes (changes in gene frequency and trait distribution
that occur within a population or species)
examples of microevolution - answer✔1. selective breeding
2. antibiotic resistance
3. plant flowering time
4. vestigial traits
pseudogenes in terms of evolution - answer✔vestigial trait (no longer have intron or promoter)
track time genetically
vestigial traits - answer✔Traits that were useful in ancestors that are inherited today, but that
have lost their original use.
speciation - answer✔process by which ancestral species give rise to 2 daughter species
, ©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
species - answer✔populations or groups of populations within and among which these
individuals actually or potentially interbreed outside of which they do not interbreed
lab experiments - answer✔1. species of Pseudomonas syringae cannot infecct wild type species
2. fruit flies adapt to different diets doesn't lead to new species but difference in mating
preferences
partial reproductive isolation - answer✔hybrid fertility or viability lower, but not 0
speciation stages - answer✔1. variation exists
2. subpopulations form
3. distinct populations
4. reproductive isolation
(5. maybe ring species)
ring species - answer✔evidence that one species can split into two (all 4 stages in continuous
loop)
Evidence from the fossil record - answer✔1. The Fact of Extinction
2. The Law of Succession
3. Transitional Forms
fact of extinction - answer✔vast majority of species have been lost to extinction
transitional forms - answer✔fossils that connect ancestral species with their descendants
through a series of tiny steps
law of succession - answer✔extinct species in the fossil record were succeeded in the same
region by similar species
common ancestry is supported by - answer✔genetics, anatomical similarities (homology)
homology - answer✔similarity resulting from common ancestry
nested patterns of traits - answer✔used in phylogenetic trees
-functional similarity does not necessarily indicate common ancestry
convergent evolution - answer✔environmental pressures shape genes- homoplasy
homoplasy - answer✔A similar (analogous) structure or molecular sequence that has evolved
independently in two species.
