EEOB 3310 EXAM 4 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, are based on
evidence, 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
Galápagos Islands. 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
nearly-identical habitats.
Why did the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus change the prevailing view about our
common ancestor with the chimpanzee linage?
Prior to this discovery, anthropologists assumed that the common ancestor was more likely to be
ape-like. For example, the common ancestor was not expected to be bipedal
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
The figure shows how beak size changed in Darwin's finches as a result of a drought in
1977 that led plants to produce relatively large and hard seeds. 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 the beak size in the
finches would have change 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
Why should we worry about antibiotic resistance in medieval settings if there are always
pharmaceutical companies that are motivated by profit to product more different types of
antibiotics?
The slow rate of antibiotic discovery, including no new major types of antibiotics since 1987,
suggests the 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 experiemental
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 that 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 would also lead to
phenotypic changes
How did visits to volcanic islands during the voyage of the Beagle influence Charles 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
uniformitariasm, which Darwin then applied to evolutionary theory
, How did studying the domestication of pigeons and other animals by human influence
Charles Darwin's thinking as he developed his theory of evolution?
Domestication provided an example of how quickly selection could lead to changes in the
phenotype.
Morphological changes in the ancestors of modern dogs likely occurred via the
developmental process?
Paedomorphosis
Fossils are one of the key pieces of evidence in support of the theory if evolution. How
scientists know how old fossils are?
fossils can be dated using absolute dating techniques, such as radiometric dating, or relative
dating techniques, such as comparing the relative positions of different rock strata
what is the theory of uniformitarianism, and how did it influence a young Charles Darwin
on the voyage of the beagle?
this theory, developed by Charles Lyell, uses the action of everyday processes acting over long
periods of geological time to explain geological formation such as canyons and volcanic islands.
Darwin was influence by the ideals of gradual change, particularly after he observed volcanic
islands off the coast of Africa
How does the work by Carlos Bustamante et al. provide evidence that natural selection is
occurring in modern Homo sapiens?
statistical tests are used to identify parts of the human genome that contain patterns of variation
that match what we would expect given both positive and negative selection
In Dan Lieberman's investigation of human skull morphological change, what clue helped
him to develop his hypothesis that the facial shortening in modern Homo sapiens was
largely the result o differences in the duration of development of the sphenoid?
a comparative analysis of the length of the sphenoid and the degree of midfacial projection in
hominid and apes suggested that these dimensions are highly correlated, and a separate ontogenic
CORRECT ANSWERS!!
identify the best definition for the term scientific theory?
Theories are overarching explanations that make sense of some aspect of nature, are based on
evidence, 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
Galápagos Islands. 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
nearly-identical habitats.
Why did the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus change the prevailing view about our
common ancestor with the chimpanzee linage?
Prior to this discovery, anthropologists assumed that the common ancestor was more likely to be
ape-like. For example, the common ancestor was not expected to be bipedal
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
The figure shows how beak size changed in Darwin's finches as a result of a drought in
1977 that led plants to produce relatively large and hard seeds. 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 the beak size in the
finches would have change 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
Why should we worry about antibiotic resistance in medieval settings if there are always
pharmaceutical companies that are motivated by profit to product more different types of
antibiotics?
The slow rate of antibiotic discovery, including no new major types of antibiotics since 1987,
suggests the 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 experiemental
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 that 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 would also lead to
phenotypic changes
How did visits to volcanic islands during the voyage of the Beagle influence Charles 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
uniformitariasm, which Darwin then applied to evolutionary theory
, How did studying the domestication of pigeons and other animals by human influence
Charles Darwin's thinking as he developed his theory of evolution?
Domestication provided an example of how quickly selection could lead to changes in the
phenotype.
Morphological changes in the ancestors of modern dogs likely occurred via the
developmental process?
Paedomorphosis
Fossils are one of the key pieces of evidence in support of the theory if evolution. How
scientists know how old fossils are?
fossils can be dated using absolute dating techniques, such as radiometric dating, or relative
dating techniques, such as comparing the relative positions of different rock strata
what is the theory of uniformitarianism, and how did it influence a young Charles Darwin
on the voyage of the beagle?
this theory, developed by Charles Lyell, uses the action of everyday processes acting over long
periods of geological time to explain geological formation such as canyons and volcanic islands.
Darwin was influence by the ideals of gradual change, particularly after he observed volcanic
islands off the coast of Africa
How does the work by Carlos Bustamante et al. provide evidence that natural selection is
occurring in modern Homo sapiens?
statistical tests are used to identify parts of the human genome that contain patterns of variation
that match what we would expect given both positive and negative selection
In Dan Lieberman's investigation of human skull morphological change, what clue helped
him to develop his hypothesis that the facial shortening in modern Homo sapiens was
largely the result o differences in the duration of development of the sphenoid?
a comparative analysis of the length of the sphenoid and the degree of midfacial projection in
hominid and apes suggested that these dimensions are highly correlated, and a separate ontogenic
