BLG 144 MIDTERM 1 ACTUAL TEST PAPER 2026
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ typological thinking. Answer: based on idea that species are
unchanging types and that variations within species are
unimportant/misleading
◉ great chain of being. Answer: Aristotle believed that there's a
ladder of nature that orders based on increased size and complexity
(humans are at the top)
◉ Lamark's theory of "change through time" and "inheritance of
acquired characters". Answer: proposed a theory of evolution that
species are not static but change through time
-always producing larger and more complex or "BETTER" species
-individual's phenotype changes as challenges in the environment
get passed on to the offspring (ex. giraffe have begin to have long
necks for eating higher trees and now offspring has long necks)
◉ Darwin's theory of natural selection. Answer: -species are not
static, they change through time
◉ descent with modification. Answer: -Darwin proposed that
species in the past are ancestors of species existing today
,1. species change through time
2. species are related by common ancestry.
◉ how old is the earth. Answer: around 3.4-3.6 billion years ago, life
was formed
earth per se is about 4.6 billion years old
◉ transitional feature. Answer: trait in a fossil that is intermediate
between older and younger species
ex. aquatic animals with fins transition to terresterial animals with
limbs
◉ fossil. Answer: any trace of an organism that lived in the past
◉ fossil record. Answer: all fossils found and recorded
-indicates that over 99% of all species that have ever lived are now
extinct
◉ geological time scale. Answer: sequence of named intervals called
eons, periods, eras, that represent major events in earth's history
◉ tetrapods. Answer: 4-fotted
, ◉ vestigial traits. Answer: reduced or incompletely developed
structure with no function or structures in closely related species
ex. tailbone in humans
-evidence that species have changed through time
◉ homology. Answer: study of likeness
-examining striking similarities among certain organisms that both
inherited the trait from a common ancestor
◉ genetic homology. Answer: occurs in DNA sequences
ex. gene sequences in two different organisms are almost completely
identical
◉ Developmental homology. Answer: recognized in embryos
(development)
-similarity in structures within embryo that either continue to
develop until birth or grow to become another functional trait
◉ structural homology. Answer: similarity in adult morphology or
form
ex. limbs of vertebrates;same structure, different function (grasping
for humans, digging for moles, etc)
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ typological thinking. Answer: based on idea that species are
unchanging types and that variations within species are
unimportant/misleading
◉ great chain of being. Answer: Aristotle believed that there's a
ladder of nature that orders based on increased size and complexity
(humans are at the top)
◉ Lamark's theory of "change through time" and "inheritance of
acquired characters". Answer: proposed a theory of evolution that
species are not static but change through time
-always producing larger and more complex or "BETTER" species
-individual's phenotype changes as challenges in the environment
get passed on to the offspring (ex. giraffe have begin to have long
necks for eating higher trees and now offspring has long necks)
◉ Darwin's theory of natural selection. Answer: -species are not
static, they change through time
◉ descent with modification. Answer: -Darwin proposed that
species in the past are ancestors of species existing today
,1. species change through time
2. species are related by common ancestry.
◉ how old is the earth. Answer: around 3.4-3.6 billion years ago, life
was formed
earth per se is about 4.6 billion years old
◉ transitional feature. Answer: trait in a fossil that is intermediate
between older and younger species
ex. aquatic animals with fins transition to terresterial animals with
limbs
◉ fossil. Answer: any trace of an organism that lived in the past
◉ fossil record. Answer: all fossils found and recorded
-indicates that over 99% of all species that have ever lived are now
extinct
◉ geological time scale. Answer: sequence of named intervals called
eons, periods, eras, that represent major events in earth's history
◉ tetrapods. Answer: 4-fotted
, ◉ vestigial traits. Answer: reduced or incompletely developed
structure with no function or structures in closely related species
ex. tailbone in humans
-evidence that species have changed through time
◉ homology. Answer: study of likeness
-examining striking similarities among certain organisms that both
inherited the trait from a common ancestor
◉ genetic homology. Answer: occurs in DNA sequences
ex. gene sequences in two different organisms are almost completely
identical
◉ Developmental homology. Answer: recognized in embryos
(development)
-similarity in structures within embryo that either continue to
develop until birth or grow to become another functional trait
◉ structural homology. Answer: similarity in adult morphology or
form
ex. limbs of vertebrates;same structure, different function (grasping
for humans, digging for moles, etc)
