WVU Biology 117 Final Exam
questions with verified answers rated
A+
Evolution - correct answer ✔✔ change in the gene pool of a population over time
Population - correct answer ✔✔ All the organisms of a particular species living in the same
place at the same time
Gene Pool - correct answer ✔✔ All the alleles of all the genes in a species or population
Natural Selection - correct answer ✔✔ Differential reproduction based on heritable traits
Biological fitness - correct answer ✔✔ The ability of an individual to produce surviving, fertile
offspring relative to that ability in other individuals in the population
Facts of Natural selection - correct answer ✔✔ - requires varied population
-does not create new traits or alleles
-mutations do not occur to solve problems
-adaptations do not occur because organisms want or need them
-evolution is not progressive
-nat. sel. does not change an organism over its lifetime
-does not make perfect organisms
-A fitness trade-off is a compromise between traits in terms of how those traits perform in the
environment
,Fossil Record - correct answer ✔✔ -imprints or remains of organisms that lived in the past
-reveals the appearance (and disappearance) of organisms in a historical sequence
Biogeography - correct answer ✔✔ -the study of the geographic distribution of species that first
suggested to Darwin that today's organisms evolved from ancestral
-species in the same area tend to be more closely related to one another
-must also consider Continental Drift
Homologous structures - correct answer ✔✔ -comparative anatomy reveals this
-similarity due to shared ancestry
-different functions, different shape on outside, BUT similar bones inside
Vestigial traits - correct answer ✔✔ similar in structure but no longer functional
Comparative Embryology - correct answer ✔✔ early stages of development are very similar
-developmental homology
-embryos of vertebrates begin similarly but then develop differently
Molecular biology - correct answer ✔✔ studies look to DNA, RNA, and proteins for differences
and similarities between organisms to determine how long they may have shared a common
ancestor
Anatomy - correct answer ✔✔ the study of an organism's physical structure
Physiology - correct answer ✔✔ the study of how the physical structures in an organism
function
,Five causes of Evolution - correct answer ✔✔ 1. Genetic Drift
a. Bottleneck
b. Founder Effect
2. Gene Flow
3. Mutation
4. Natural Selection
5. Nonrandom mating (including
sexual selection)
Genetic Drift - correct answer ✔✔ - any change in allele frequencies in a population due to
chance
- random with respect to fitness
>especially prevalent in small
populations
Two cases of Genetic Drift - correct answer ✔✔ - Founder Effect
-Bottleneck Event
Bottleneck Event - correct answer ✔✔ sharp reduction in the size of a population due to
environmental events (such as earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, or droughts) or human
activities (such as genocide)
Founder Effect - correct answer ✔✔ when a new colony is founded by a small number of
individuals
-Example: Deafness in Martha's
vineyard
>37 to 230 times more
, common than rest of US
Gene flow - correct answer ✔✔ -genetic exchange with another population
-Immigration
-Emigration
-Examples: Human movement/colonization
Mutation - correct answer ✔✔ the changing of the structure of a gene, resulting in a variant
form that may be transmitted to subsequent generations, caused by the alteration of single
base units in DNA, or the deletion, insertion, or rearrangement of larger sections of genes or
chromosomes
Missense mutation
(may not need to know) - correct answer ✔✔ This type of mutation is a change in one DNA base
pair that results in the substitution of one amino acid for another in the protein made by a
gene.
Nonsense mutation
(may not need to know) - correct answer ✔✔ A nonsense mutation is also a change in one DNA
base pair. Instead of substituting one amino acid for another, however, the altered DNA
sequence prematurely signals the cell to stop building a protein. This type of mutation results in
a shortened protein that may function improperly or not at all
Insertion mutation
(may not need to know) - correct answer ✔✔ An insertion changes the number of DNA bases in
a gene by adding a piece of DNA. As a result, the protein made by the gene may not function
properly
Deletion mutation
questions with verified answers rated
A+
Evolution - correct answer ✔✔ change in the gene pool of a population over time
Population - correct answer ✔✔ All the organisms of a particular species living in the same
place at the same time
Gene Pool - correct answer ✔✔ All the alleles of all the genes in a species or population
Natural Selection - correct answer ✔✔ Differential reproduction based on heritable traits
Biological fitness - correct answer ✔✔ The ability of an individual to produce surviving, fertile
offspring relative to that ability in other individuals in the population
Facts of Natural selection - correct answer ✔✔ - requires varied population
-does not create new traits or alleles
-mutations do not occur to solve problems
-adaptations do not occur because organisms want or need them
-evolution is not progressive
-nat. sel. does not change an organism over its lifetime
-does not make perfect organisms
-A fitness trade-off is a compromise between traits in terms of how those traits perform in the
environment
,Fossil Record - correct answer ✔✔ -imprints or remains of organisms that lived in the past
-reveals the appearance (and disappearance) of organisms in a historical sequence
Biogeography - correct answer ✔✔ -the study of the geographic distribution of species that first
suggested to Darwin that today's organisms evolved from ancestral
-species in the same area tend to be more closely related to one another
-must also consider Continental Drift
Homologous structures - correct answer ✔✔ -comparative anatomy reveals this
-similarity due to shared ancestry
-different functions, different shape on outside, BUT similar bones inside
Vestigial traits - correct answer ✔✔ similar in structure but no longer functional
Comparative Embryology - correct answer ✔✔ early stages of development are very similar
-developmental homology
-embryos of vertebrates begin similarly but then develop differently
Molecular biology - correct answer ✔✔ studies look to DNA, RNA, and proteins for differences
and similarities between organisms to determine how long they may have shared a common
ancestor
Anatomy - correct answer ✔✔ the study of an organism's physical structure
Physiology - correct answer ✔✔ the study of how the physical structures in an organism
function
,Five causes of Evolution - correct answer ✔✔ 1. Genetic Drift
a. Bottleneck
b. Founder Effect
2. Gene Flow
3. Mutation
4. Natural Selection
5. Nonrandom mating (including
sexual selection)
Genetic Drift - correct answer ✔✔ - any change in allele frequencies in a population due to
chance
- random with respect to fitness
>especially prevalent in small
populations
Two cases of Genetic Drift - correct answer ✔✔ - Founder Effect
-Bottleneck Event
Bottleneck Event - correct answer ✔✔ sharp reduction in the size of a population due to
environmental events (such as earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, or droughts) or human
activities (such as genocide)
Founder Effect - correct answer ✔✔ when a new colony is founded by a small number of
individuals
-Example: Deafness in Martha's
vineyard
>37 to 230 times more
, common than rest of US
Gene flow - correct answer ✔✔ -genetic exchange with another population
-Immigration
-Emigration
-Examples: Human movement/colonization
Mutation - correct answer ✔✔ the changing of the structure of a gene, resulting in a variant
form that may be transmitted to subsequent generations, caused by the alteration of single
base units in DNA, or the deletion, insertion, or rearrangement of larger sections of genes or
chromosomes
Missense mutation
(may not need to know) - correct answer ✔✔ This type of mutation is a change in one DNA base
pair that results in the substitution of one amino acid for another in the protein made by a
gene.
Nonsense mutation
(may not need to know) - correct answer ✔✔ A nonsense mutation is also a change in one DNA
base pair. Instead of substituting one amino acid for another, however, the altered DNA
sequence prematurely signals the cell to stop building a protein. This type of mutation results in
a shortened protein that may function improperly or not at all
Insertion mutation
(may not need to know) - correct answer ✔✔ An insertion changes the number of DNA bases in
a gene by adding a piece of DNA. As a result, the protein made by the gene may not function
properly
Deletion mutation
