,Name: Class: Date:
Chapter 2
1. Which statement best describes the concept known as the Great Chain of Being?
a. Biological entities can be organized into groups based on similarities.
b. Species are arranged on a scale from lower to higher forms.
c. Humans and other large species descended from microbes.
d. Parents pass traits to their offspring.
ANSWER: b
2. The first proponents of the Great Chain of Being were
a. early Greek philosophers.
b. Renaissance scholars.
c. the seventeenth-century Catholic Church.
d. eighteenth-century naturalists.
ANSWER: a
3. Carlos Linnaeus
a. devised a system of taxonomy that is still used today.
b. accepted the idea that most of life's diversity arose through the process of evolution.
c. believed that life's diversity reflected a divine plan.
d. a and b
e. a and c
ANSWER: e
4. Nicolaus Steno
a. was one of the first to recognize that fossils were the remains of once living organisms.
b. recognized the basic principles of stratigraphy.
c. a and b
d. none of the above
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,ANSWER: c
5. The most influential text on natural theology was published by
a. Jean Baptiste Lamarck.
b. Charles Lyell.
c. William Paley.
d. Nicolaus Steno.
ANSWER: c
6. Natural theology describes the idea that
a. the mechanical function of living things is evidence of a divine designer.
b. the natural laws observable currently are responsible for events in the past.
c. differences between individuals cause some to reproduce more effectively than others.
d. life is arranged on a scale from lower to higher forms, with humans at the top of the scale.
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, Name: Class: Date:
Chapter 2
ANSWER: a
7. On which point would Charles Darwin and Georges Buffon have likely disagreed?
a. the idea that Earth was formed according to the laws of physics
b. the idea that all life shares a common ancestor
c. the idea that species change over time
d. none of the above
ANSWER: b
8. Georges Cuvier discovered that
a. the remains of plants and animals were sometimes preserved in stone.
b. living things were made up of the same kinds of particles as those found in rocks.
c. fossilized elephants differed from the skeletons of modern elephants in crucial ways.
d. types of animals had lived across a wide variety of geographical ranges for a period of time.
ANSWER: c
9. What contribution did British naturalist Mary Anning make to paleontology?
a. the comparison of elephant fossils and the skeletons of living elephants
b. the discovery of fossilized marine animals and other strange animals
c. the idea that rocks formed through very slow changes
d. the realization that tongue stones were actually shark teeth
ANSWER: b
10. The discovery of the fossilized remains of animals that no longer existed was persuasive evidence for which
concept?
a. extinction
b. homology
c. paleontology
d. uniformitarianism
ANSWER: a
11. William Smith
a. created the first geological map.
b. devised a system of taxonomy still in use today.
c. was the first to establish the fact of extinction.
d. first proposed the idea of natural selection.
ANSWER: a
12. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed that
a. bacteria represent some of the youngest species on Earth.
b. organisms can adapt to their environment.
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Chapter 2
1. Which statement best describes the concept known as the Great Chain of Being?
a. Biological entities can be organized into groups based on similarities.
b. Species are arranged on a scale from lower to higher forms.
c. Humans and other large species descended from microbes.
d. Parents pass traits to their offspring.
ANSWER: b
2. The first proponents of the Great Chain of Being were
a. early Greek philosophers.
b. Renaissance scholars.
c. the seventeenth-century Catholic Church.
d. eighteenth-century naturalists.
ANSWER: a
3. Carlos Linnaeus
a. devised a system of taxonomy that is still used today.
b. accepted the idea that most of life's diversity arose through the process of evolution.
c. believed that life's diversity reflected a divine plan.
d. a and b
e. a and c
ANSWER: e
4. Nicolaus Steno
a. was one of the first to recognize that fossils were the remains of once living organisms.
b. recognized the basic principles of stratigraphy.
c. a and b
d. none of the above
Page 1
,ANSWER: c
5. The most influential text on natural theology was published by
a. Jean Baptiste Lamarck.
b. Charles Lyell.
c. William Paley.
d. Nicolaus Steno.
ANSWER: c
6. Natural theology describes the idea that
a. the mechanical function of living things is evidence of a divine designer.
b. the natural laws observable currently are responsible for events in the past.
c. differences between individuals cause some to reproduce more effectively than others.
d. life is arranged on a scale from lower to higher forms, with humans at the top of the scale.
Page 2
, Name: Class: Date:
Chapter 2
ANSWER: a
7. On which point would Charles Darwin and Georges Buffon have likely disagreed?
a. the idea that Earth was formed according to the laws of physics
b. the idea that all life shares a common ancestor
c. the idea that species change over time
d. none of the above
ANSWER: b
8. Georges Cuvier discovered that
a. the remains of plants and animals were sometimes preserved in stone.
b. living things were made up of the same kinds of particles as those found in rocks.
c. fossilized elephants differed from the skeletons of modern elephants in crucial ways.
d. types of animals had lived across a wide variety of geographical ranges for a period of time.
ANSWER: c
9. What contribution did British naturalist Mary Anning make to paleontology?
a. the comparison of elephant fossils and the skeletons of living elephants
b. the discovery of fossilized marine animals and other strange animals
c. the idea that rocks formed through very slow changes
d. the realization that tongue stones were actually shark teeth
ANSWER: b
10. The discovery of the fossilized remains of animals that no longer existed was persuasive evidence for which
concept?
a. extinction
b. homology
c. paleontology
d. uniformitarianism
ANSWER: a
11. William Smith
a. created the first geological map.
b. devised a system of taxonomy still in use today.
c. was the first to establish the fact of extinction.
d. first proposed the idea of natural selection.
ANSWER: a
12. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed that
a. bacteria represent some of the youngest species on Earth.
b. organisms can adapt to their environment.
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