BIO 152 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS LATEST RATED A+
Which of the following is not an observation or inference on which natural selection is
based?
a. There is heritable variation among individuals.
b. Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring.
c. Species produce more offspring than the environment can support.
d. Individuals whose characteristics are best suited to the environment generally leave
more offspring than those whose characteristics are less well suited.
e. Only a fraction of an individual's offspring may survive. - b. Poorly adapted
individualsnever produce offspring.
Which of the following observations helped Darwin shape his concept of descent with
modification?
a. Species diversity declines farther from the equator.
b. Fewer species live on islands than on the nearest continents.
c. Birds can be found on islands located farther from the mainland than the birds'
maximum nonstop flight distance.
d. South American temperate plants are more similar to the tropical plants of South
America than to the temperate plants of Europe.
e. Earthquakes reshape life by causing mass extinctions. - c. Birds can be found on
islands located farther from the mainland than the birds' maximum nonstop flight
distance.
Within six months of effectively using methicillin to treat S. aureus infections in a
community, all new infections were caused by MRSA. How can this result best be
explained?
a. S. aureus can resist vaccines.
b. A patient must have become infected with MRSA from another community.
c. In response to the drug, S. aureus began making drug-resistant versions of the
protein targeted by the drug.
d. Some drug-resistant bacteria were present at the start of treatment, and natural
selection increased their frequency.
e. The drug caused the S. aureus DNA to change. - b. A patient must have become
infected with MRSA from another community.
The upper forelimbs of humans and bats have fairly similar skeletal structures, whereas
the corresponding bones in whales have very different shapes and proportions.
However, genetic data suggests that all three kinds of organisms diverged from a
common ancestor at about the same time. Which of the following is the most likely
explanation for these data?
,a. Humans and bats evolved by natural selection, and whales evolved by Lamarckian
mechanisms.
b. Forelimb evolution was adaptive in people and bats, but not in whales.
c. Natural selection in an aquatic environment resulted in significant changes to whale
forelimb anatomy.
d. Genes mutate faster in whales than in humans or bats.
e. Whales are not properly classified as mammals. - c. Natural selection in an aquatic
environment resulted in significant changes to whale forelimb anatomy.
3
DNA sequences in many human genes are very similar to the sequences of
corresponding genes in chimpanzees. The most likely explanation for this result is that
a. humans and chimpanzees share a relatively recent common ancestor.
b. humans evolved from chimpanzees.
c. chimpanzees evolved from humans.
d. convergent evolution led to the DNA similarities.
e. humans and chimpanzees are not closely related. - d. convergent evolution led to
theDNA similarities.
Natural selection changes allele frequencies because some _ survive and
reproduce more successfully than others.
a. alleles
b. loci
c. gene pools
d. species
e. individuals - e. individuals
No two people are genetically identical, except for identical twins. The main source of
genetic variation among human individuals is
a. new mutations that occurred in the preceding generation.
b. genetic drift due to the small size of the population.
c. the reshuffling of alleles in sexual reproduction.
d. geographic variation within the population.
e. environmental effects. - c. the reshuffling of alleles in sexual reproduction.
Sparrows with average-sized wings survive severe storms better than those with longer
or shorter wings, illustrating
a. the bottleneck effect
b. disruptive selection
c. frequency-dependent selection
d. neutral variation
e. stabilizing selection - e. stabilizing selection
, There are 40 individuals in population 1, all with genotype A1A1, and there are 25
individuals in population 2, all with genotype A2A2. Assume that these populations are
located far from each other and that their environmental conditions are very similar.
Based on the information given here, the observed genetic variation is most likely an
example of
a. genetic drift
b. gene flow
c. disruptive selection
d. discrete variation
e. directional selection - a. genetic drift
A fruit fly population has a gene with two alleles, A1 and A2. Tests show that 70% of
thegametes produced in the population contain the A1 allele. If the population is in
Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium, what proportion of the flies carry both A1 and A2?
a. 0.7
b. 0.49
c. 0.21
d. 0.42
e. 0.09 - d. 0.42
The largest unit within which gene flow can readily occur is a
a. population
b. species
c. genus
d. hybrid
e. phylum - b. species
Males of different species of the fruit fly Drosophila that live in the same parts 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?
a. habitat isolation
b. temporal isolation
c. behavioral isolation
d. gametic isolation
e. postzygotic barriers - c. behavioral isolation
Bird guides once listed the myrtle warbler and Audubon's warbler as distinct species.
Recently, these birds have been classified as eastern and western forms of a single
species, the yellow-rumped warbler. Which of the following pieces of evidence, if true,
would be cause for this reclassification?
a. The two forms interbreed often in nature, and their offspring have good survival and
reproduction.
b. The two forms live in similar habitats
ANSWERS LATEST RATED A+
Which of the following is not an observation or inference on which natural selection is
based?
a. There is heritable variation among individuals.
b. Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring.
c. Species produce more offspring than the environment can support.
d. Individuals whose characteristics are best suited to the environment generally leave
more offspring than those whose characteristics are less well suited.
e. Only a fraction of an individual's offspring may survive. - b. Poorly adapted
individualsnever produce offspring.
Which of the following observations helped Darwin shape his concept of descent with
modification?
a. Species diversity declines farther from the equator.
b. Fewer species live on islands than on the nearest continents.
c. Birds can be found on islands located farther from the mainland than the birds'
maximum nonstop flight distance.
d. South American temperate plants are more similar to the tropical plants of South
America than to the temperate plants of Europe.
e. Earthquakes reshape life by causing mass extinctions. - c. Birds can be found on
islands located farther from the mainland than the birds' maximum nonstop flight
distance.
Within six months of effectively using methicillin to treat S. aureus infections in a
community, all new infections were caused by MRSA. How can this result best be
explained?
a. S. aureus can resist vaccines.
b. A patient must have become infected with MRSA from another community.
c. In response to the drug, S. aureus began making drug-resistant versions of the
protein targeted by the drug.
d. Some drug-resistant bacteria were present at the start of treatment, and natural
selection increased their frequency.
e. The drug caused the S. aureus DNA to change. - b. A patient must have become
infected with MRSA from another community.
The upper forelimbs of humans and bats have fairly similar skeletal structures, whereas
the corresponding bones in whales have very different shapes and proportions.
However, genetic data suggests that all three kinds of organisms diverged from a
common ancestor at about the same time. Which of the following is the most likely
explanation for these data?
,a. Humans and bats evolved by natural selection, and whales evolved by Lamarckian
mechanisms.
b. Forelimb evolution was adaptive in people and bats, but not in whales.
c. Natural selection in an aquatic environment resulted in significant changes to whale
forelimb anatomy.
d. Genes mutate faster in whales than in humans or bats.
e. Whales are not properly classified as mammals. - c. Natural selection in an aquatic
environment resulted in significant changes to whale forelimb anatomy.
3
DNA sequences in many human genes are very similar to the sequences of
corresponding genes in chimpanzees. The most likely explanation for this result is that
a. humans and chimpanzees share a relatively recent common ancestor.
b. humans evolved from chimpanzees.
c. chimpanzees evolved from humans.
d. convergent evolution led to the DNA similarities.
e. humans and chimpanzees are not closely related. - d. convergent evolution led to
theDNA similarities.
Natural selection changes allele frequencies because some _ survive and
reproduce more successfully than others.
a. alleles
b. loci
c. gene pools
d. species
e. individuals - e. individuals
No two people are genetically identical, except for identical twins. The main source of
genetic variation among human individuals is
a. new mutations that occurred in the preceding generation.
b. genetic drift due to the small size of the population.
c. the reshuffling of alleles in sexual reproduction.
d. geographic variation within the population.
e. environmental effects. - c. the reshuffling of alleles in sexual reproduction.
Sparrows with average-sized wings survive severe storms better than those with longer
or shorter wings, illustrating
a. the bottleneck effect
b. disruptive selection
c. frequency-dependent selection
d. neutral variation
e. stabilizing selection - e. stabilizing selection
, There are 40 individuals in population 1, all with genotype A1A1, and there are 25
individuals in population 2, all with genotype A2A2. Assume that these populations are
located far from each other and that their environmental conditions are very similar.
Based on the information given here, the observed genetic variation is most likely an
example of
a. genetic drift
b. gene flow
c. disruptive selection
d. discrete variation
e. directional selection - a. genetic drift
A fruit fly population has a gene with two alleles, A1 and A2. Tests show that 70% of
thegametes produced in the population contain the A1 allele. If the population is in
Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium, what proportion of the flies carry both A1 and A2?
a. 0.7
b. 0.49
c. 0.21
d. 0.42
e. 0.09 - d. 0.42
The largest unit within which gene flow can readily occur is a
a. population
b. species
c. genus
d. hybrid
e. phylum - b. species
Males of different species of the fruit fly Drosophila that live in the same parts 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?
a. habitat isolation
b. temporal isolation
c. behavioral isolation
d. gametic isolation
e. postzygotic barriers - c. behavioral isolation
Bird guides once listed the myrtle warbler and Audubon's warbler as distinct species.
Recently, these birds have been classified as eastern and western forms of a single
species, the yellow-rumped warbler. Which of the following pieces of evidence, if true,
would be cause for this reclassification?
a. The two forms interbreed often in nature, and their offspring have good survival and
reproduction.
b. The two forms live in similar habitats
