EEOB 3310 EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS AND
100% CORRECT ANSWERS!!
Identify the best definition for the term scientific theory:
Theories are overarching explanations that make sense of some aspect. of nature, and are based
on evidence; they allow scientists to make valid predictions and have been tested in many ways.
During the voyage of the Beagle, Darwin visited both the Cape de Verde Islands and the
Galapagos. Why were these visits so important to the development of his theory of
evolution?
The islands had nearly identical habitat and climate, but the species on each island resembled
those on the nearby continents rather than each other. This provided evidence against special
creation because it did not make sense that a creator would create completely different species in
identical habitats.
Why did the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus change the prevailing view about our
common ancestor with the chimpanzee lineage?
Prior to this discovery, anthropologists assumed that the common ancestor was more likely to be
ape-like. For example bipedalism was unexpected.
When Rich Lenski designed his long-term evolution experiment with E. coli, what would he
have predicted about the evolution of cell size?
Cell size should evolve to be smaller because smaller cells have a higher surface area to volume
ratio, which should be advantageous in a resource limited environment.
By the mid 1980s, conditions on Daphne Major became very wet, and as a result the plants
on the island produced relatively small and soft seeds. How would you predict that beak
sizes in the finches would have changed in response?
Beak sizes would evolve to be smaller so long as there was heritable variation in beak
phenotypes and mortality among finches on the island.
, When organismal traits are compared across species to learn about some biological
process, this is an example of?
The comparative method
What sentence best describes the wings of a bird, a bat, and a pterodactyl?
These structures are not homologous because they are modified versions of the different
ancestral anatomical structures that are used in a similar way (wings)
Why should we worry about antibiotic resistance in medical settings if there are always
pharmaceutical companies that are motivated by profit to produce more different types of
antibiotics?
The slow rate of antibiotic discovery, including no new major types of antibiotics since 1987,
suggests that finding new medicines may not be as effective as preventing antibiotic resistance
from evolving in the first place.
How does the ability of E. coli to survive freezing cause them to be an ideal experimental
subject for research into natural selection?
Because colonies of E. coli can be frozen, the Lenski lab is able to calculate mean fitness of
different generations of E. coli by directly competing these generations to demonstrate they are
evolving.
The Russian geneticist Belyaev started a long-term breeding experiment using Silver Foxes,
What was the initial goal of this experiment?
To prove that artificial selection for traits associated with temperament (ie. docile behavior) also
would lead to phenotypic changes.
How did visits to volcanic islands during the Voyage of the Beagle influence Darwin as he
developed his theory of evolution?
They demonstrated that small changes such as the accumulation of lava acting over long time
periods could lead to large geological structures. This supported Lyell's theory
of uniformitarianism, which Darwin then applied to evolutionary theory.
100% CORRECT ANSWERS!!
Identify the best definition for the term scientific theory:
Theories are overarching explanations that make sense of some aspect. of nature, and are based
on evidence; they allow scientists to make valid predictions and have been tested in many ways.
During the voyage of the Beagle, Darwin visited both the Cape de Verde Islands and the
Galapagos. Why were these visits so important to the development of his theory of
evolution?
The islands had nearly identical habitat and climate, but the species on each island resembled
those on the nearby continents rather than each other. This provided evidence against special
creation because it did not make sense that a creator would create completely different species in
identical habitats.
Why did the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus change the prevailing view about our
common ancestor with the chimpanzee lineage?
Prior to this discovery, anthropologists assumed that the common ancestor was more likely to be
ape-like. For example bipedalism was unexpected.
When Rich Lenski designed his long-term evolution experiment with E. coli, what would he
have predicted about the evolution of cell size?
Cell size should evolve to be smaller because smaller cells have a higher surface area to volume
ratio, which should be advantageous in a resource limited environment.
By the mid 1980s, conditions on Daphne Major became very wet, and as a result the plants
on the island produced relatively small and soft seeds. How would you predict that beak
sizes in the finches would have changed in response?
Beak sizes would evolve to be smaller so long as there was heritable variation in beak
phenotypes and mortality among finches on the island.
, When organismal traits are compared across species to learn about some biological
process, this is an example of?
The comparative method
What sentence best describes the wings of a bird, a bat, and a pterodactyl?
These structures are not homologous because they are modified versions of the different
ancestral anatomical structures that are used in a similar way (wings)
Why should we worry about antibiotic resistance in medical settings if there are always
pharmaceutical companies that are motivated by profit to produce more different types of
antibiotics?
The slow rate of antibiotic discovery, including no new major types of antibiotics since 1987,
suggests that finding new medicines may not be as effective as preventing antibiotic resistance
from evolving in the first place.
How does the ability of E. coli to survive freezing cause them to be an ideal experimental
subject for research into natural selection?
Because colonies of E. coli can be frozen, the Lenski lab is able to calculate mean fitness of
different generations of E. coli by directly competing these generations to demonstrate they are
evolving.
The Russian geneticist Belyaev started a long-term breeding experiment using Silver Foxes,
What was the initial goal of this experiment?
To prove that artificial selection for traits associated with temperament (ie. docile behavior) also
would lead to phenotypic changes.
How did visits to volcanic islands during the Voyage of the Beagle influence Darwin as he
developed his theory of evolution?
They demonstrated that small changes such as the accumulation of lava acting over long time
periods could lead to large geological structures. This supported Lyell's theory
of uniformitarianism, which Darwin then applied to evolutionary theory.
