BIO 114 EVALUATION EXAM 2026/2027 QUESTIONS
AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Natural selection - ✔✔A process in which individuals with favorable heritable traits
survive and reproduce more than others
✔✔Population - ✔✔A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same
area and interbreed
✔✔Variation - ✔✔Differences in traits among individuals in a population
✔✔Heritable variation - ✔✔Trait differences that can be passed from parents to
offspring
✔✔Overproduction - ✔✔Production of more offspring than the environment can support
✔✔Differential reproductive success - ✔✔Greater contribution of some individuals to the
next generation based on trait advantages
✔✔Fitness - ✔✔The relative ability of an individual to survive and reproduce
✔✔Gradualism - ✔✔The idea that profound change occurs through slow, continuous
processes
✔✔Uniformitarianism - ✔✔The principle that geological processes operating today also
operated in the past
✔✔Use and disuse - ✔✔Lamarck's idea that body parts used more become stronger,
unused parts weaken
✔✔Inheritance of acquired characteristics - ✔✔Lamarck's incorrect idea that traits
acquired during life can be passed on
✔✔Homologous structures - ✔✔Anatomical features shared due to common ancestry
✔✔Analogous structures - ✔✔Features with similar function but different evolutionary
origins
✔✔Vestigial structures - ✔✔Remnants of ancestral traits that have little or no current
function
✔✔Biogeography - ✔✔The study of the geographic distribution of species
, ✔✔Common ancestry - ✔✔The idea that all organisms share ancestors in the
evolutionary past
✔✔Molecular homology - ✔✔Similarities in DNA or protein sequences due to shared
ancestry
✔✔Molecular clock - ✔✔A method using mutation rates to estimate evolutionary
divergence times
✔✔Gene pool - ✔✔The total collection of alleles in a population
✔✔Allele frequency - ✔✔The proportion of a specific allele in a population
✔✔Genotype frequency - ✔✔The proportion of a specific genotype in a population
✔✔Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium - ✔✔A state where allele frequencies remain constant
from generation to generation
✔✔Hardy-Weinberg principle - ✔✔A model used to test whether evolution is occurring
in a population
✔✔Directional selection - ✔✔Natural selection that favors one extreme phenotype
✔✔Stabilizing selection - ✔✔Natural selection that favors intermediate phenotypes
✔✔Disruptive selection - ✔✔Natural selection that favors both extreme phenotypes
✔✔Genetic drift - ✔✔Random changes in allele frequencies due to chance events
✔✔Bottleneck effect - ✔✔Loss of genetic variation following a drastic population
reduction
✔✔Founder effect - ✔✔Genetic drift resulting from a small group establishing a new
population
✔✔Gene flow - ✔✔Movement of alleles between populations via migration
✔✔Mutation - ✔✔A change in DNA that creates new alleles
✔✔Relative fitness - ✔✔The reproductive success of an individual compared to others
✔✔Balancing selection - ✔✔Natural selection that maintains multiple alleles in a
population
AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Natural selection - ✔✔A process in which individuals with favorable heritable traits
survive and reproduce more than others
✔✔Population - ✔✔A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same
area and interbreed
✔✔Variation - ✔✔Differences in traits among individuals in a population
✔✔Heritable variation - ✔✔Trait differences that can be passed from parents to
offspring
✔✔Overproduction - ✔✔Production of more offspring than the environment can support
✔✔Differential reproductive success - ✔✔Greater contribution of some individuals to the
next generation based on trait advantages
✔✔Fitness - ✔✔The relative ability of an individual to survive and reproduce
✔✔Gradualism - ✔✔The idea that profound change occurs through slow, continuous
processes
✔✔Uniformitarianism - ✔✔The principle that geological processes operating today also
operated in the past
✔✔Use and disuse - ✔✔Lamarck's idea that body parts used more become stronger,
unused parts weaken
✔✔Inheritance of acquired characteristics - ✔✔Lamarck's incorrect idea that traits
acquired during life can be passed on
✔✔Homologous structures - ✔✔Anatomical features shared due to common ancestry
✔✔Analogous structures - ✔✔Features with similar function but different evolutionary
origins
✔✔Vestigial structures - ✔✔Remnants of ancestral traits that have little or no current
function
✔✔Biogeography - ✔✔The study of the geographic distribution of species
, ✔✔Common ancestry - ✔✔The idea that all organisms share ancestors in the
evolutionary past
✔✔Molecular homology - ✔✔Similarities in DNA or protein sequences due to shared
ancestry
✔✔Molecular clock - ✔✔A method using mutation rates to estimate evolutionary
divergence times
✔✔Gene pool - ✔✔The total collection of alleles in a population
✔✔Allele frequency - ✔✔The proportion of a specific allele in a population
✔✔Genotype frequency - ✔✔The proportion of a specific genotype in a population
✔✔Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium - ✔✔A state where allele frequencies remain constant
from generation to generation
✔✔Hardy-Weinberg principle - ✔✔A model used to test whether evolution is occurring
in a population
✔✔Directional selection - ✔✔Natural selection that favors one extreme phenotype
✔✔Stabilizing selection - ✔✔Natural selection that favors intermediate phenotypes
✔✔Disruptive selection - ✔✔Natural selection that favors both extreme phenotypes
✔✔Genetic drift - ✔✔Random changes in allele frequencies due to chance events
✔✔Bottleneck effect - ✔✔Loss of genetic variation following a drastic population
reduction
✔✔Founder effect - ✔✔Genetic drift resulting from a small group establishing a new
population
✔✔Gene flow - ✔✔Movement of alleles between populations via migration
✔✔Mutation - ✔✔A change in DNA that creates new alleles
✔✔Relative fitness - ✔✔The reproductive success of an individual compared to others
✔✔Balancing selection - ✔✔Natural selection that maintains multiple alleles in a
population
