Evolution Final Exam – Test Bank Questions – Practice & Revision Guide

Evolution Final Exam – Test Bank Questions – Practice & Revision Guide


The species concept based on careful analysis of the anatomical details of the specimen in
question is ________.

A) the morphospecies concept

B) the phylogenetic species concept

C) the biological species concept

D) the ecological species concept - ANS ✔✔A) the morphospecies concept



The species concept based on analysis of character states that indicate the smallest
monophyletic group is ________.

A) the morphospecies concept

B) the phylogenetic species concept

C) the biological species concept

D) the ecological species concept - ANS ✔✔B) the phylogenetic species concept



The species concept defined as a group of organisms that are capable of interbreeding to
produce fertile offspring is ________.

A) the morphospecies concept

B) the phylogenetic species concept

C) the biological species concept

D) the ecological species concept - ANS ✔✔C) the biological species concept



A disadvantage of the morphospecies concept is ________.

A) it can be difficult to apply to organisms with small, difficult to distinguish features

B) species definitions may become arbitrary if the concept is not applied carefully

C) species definitions applied by different researchers may not be comparable

,D) All of these are potential problems with this species concept. - ANS ✔✔D) All of these are
potential problems with this species concept.



Early classification systems from Aristotle to Linneaus would have been most like what we now
call ________.

A) the morphospecies concept

B) the phylogenetic species concept

C) the biological species concept

D) the ecological species concept - ANS ✔✔A) the morphospecies concept



The species concept that relies most heavily on the criterion that species are evolutionarily
independent units that are isolated by gene flow is ________.

A) the morphospecies concept

B) the phylogenetic species concept

C) the biological species concept

D) This criterion is common to all of these concepts. - ANS ✔✔D) This criterion is common to all
of these concepts



Organisms such as prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea)―along with some
eukaryotes―reproduce asexually. In the case of bacteria and archaea in particular, which
exchange DNA but do not reproduce utilizing conventional sexual reproduction, the BEST way in
which to define species is with ________.

A) the morphospecies concept

B) the phylogenetic species concept

C) the biological species concept

D) an ecological species concept - ANS ✔✔D) an ecological species concept

, 8) There are two closely related populations of squirrels living in the Grand Canyon area―one
lives on the north rim, the other lives on the south rim. Speciation in these squirrels BEST fits
which model?

A) dispersive allopatric speciation

B) dispersive sympatric speciation

C) vicariant allopatric speciation

D) vicariant sympatric speciation - ANS ✔✔C) vicariant allopatric speciation



Which of the following models of speciation hinges on a physical barrier which prevents gene
flow between populations?

A) dispersive allopatric

B) dispersive sympatric

C) vicariant allopatric

D) vicariant sympatric

E) Both A and C. - ANS ✔✔E) Both A and C.



Your textbook authors make the claim that "sympatric species with matching chromosome
numbers are rare." Why is this?

A) because allopatric speciation is far more common

B) because sympatric speciation has only been hypothesized but not documented

C) because coexisting populations need a boundary to gene flow before divergence can occur,
and differences in chromosome numbers provide this

D) because macroevolution is just a theory - ANS ✔✔C) because coexisting populations need a
boundary to gene flow before divergence can occur, and differences in chromosome numbers
provide this



Isolating mechanisms leading to speciation have been documented by ________.

A) geographic isolation