BIOL 2150 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS
What is the scientific method?
What are the steps? - Answers - A deliberate way of asking and answering questions
about the natural world. The steps: 1. Make observations 2. Make a hypothesis 3. make
predictions 4. experiments or new observations 5. theory
What are the characteristics of living things? - Answers - Livings things: evolve,
reproduce, and adapt.
Are viruses living things? Why or why not? - Answers - No. They cannot harness
energy.
What is the fundamental unit of life? What is the difference between a prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cell? - Answers - Cell, prokaryotic are old, single celled, and have no
nucleus; eukaryotes are multicellular and have a nucleus
What is metabolism? What is a plasma membrane? - Answers - The breaking down of
molecules to convert energy; phospholipid bilayer separating living and nonliving things
in a cell.
What is a phenotype? - Answers - observable traits of an organism
What is a genotype? - Answers - set of alleles possessed by an individual
What is responsible for the visible differences between individuals of species? -
Answers - Phenotypes
What is a mutation? - Answers - heritable change in the genetic material
What is the difference between a somatic and germ cell mutation? - Answers - Somatic
cell mutation occurs in tissues and germ cell mutation occurs in the reproductive system
and is passed on
What are alleles? How are new alleles created? - Answers - One of two or more
alternative forms of a gene; germ line mutations
What is an allele frequency? What do population geneticists study? - Answers - How
often an allele is shown in a species; population geneticists study populations of
organisms including their movements and adaptations
,What are the five assumptions of the hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? - Answers - 1. There
can be no differences in the survival and reproductive successes of individuals
2. Populations must not be added to or subtracted from by migration
3. There can be no mutation
4. The population must be sufficiently large to prevent sampling errors
5. Individuals must rate at random
What causes allele frequencies to change? - Answers - Genetic drift, gene flow,
mutations, non random mating
Who developed the theory of evolution? - Answers - Charles Darwin
What is natural selection? - Answers - Survival of the fittest
Describe the difference between stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection? -
Answers - Stabilizing: maintains the status quo and acts against extremes
Directional: selects against one of two extremes; leads to a change in a trait over time
Disruptive: selects against the mean
What are gene flow and genetic drift? How do these affect allele frequency? - Answers -
Gene flow
Genetic Drift
These affect allele frequency because
What is the definition of species? - Answers - Interbreeding group of organisms that
produce fertile offspring
How does the biological species concept define a species? What are the limitations? -
Answers - Can mate with each other and produce fertile offspring; doesn't apply to
asexual organisms and extinct organisms
How does the morphological species concept define a species? What are the
limitations? - Answers - Organisms look alike, they are apart of the same species; those
who don't look alike can be the same and vice verse
Define reproductive isolation? - Answers - are a collection of mechanisms, behaviors
and physiological processes that prevent the members of two different species that
cross or mate from producing offspring, or which ensure that any offspring that may be
produced are sterile.
What is a ring species? - Answers - Reproductively isolated but can still exchange
genetic material
What are the ecological and evolution species concept? - Answers - Ecological: species
live in niches that separate them
Evolution: share a common ancestry
, Explain the difference between pre zygotic and post zygotic barriers and give examples
of each. Which type of barriers does natural selection for? - Answers - Pre-Zygotic:
prevents mating
Post-Zygotic: no fertile offspring
What is speciation? - Answers - the process that produces new and distinct organisms
forms of life
Explain the processes of allopatric selection? - Answers - populations are separating
from one another geographically
Define peripatric speciation and adaptive radiation? - Answers - Peripatric: some
individuals colonize elsewhere (peripatric speciation)
Adaptive Radiation: rapid evolution due to natural selection
Explain the processes of sympatric speciation? - Answers - no physical barrier but still
can't mate
What information do phylogenetic trees give us? What does the order of branches on
the tree indicate? - Answers - Evolutionary history of species; they indicate more
specificity such as kingdom, phylum, subphylum
How can you identify a sister group on phylogenetic tree? - Answers - Closest related
groups
monophyletic - Answers - includes ancestor and all descendants
What is the difference between homologous and analogous traits? What is a
synapomorphy? - Answers - homologous: same traits as ancestor
analogous: does not share traits w/ ancestor
Synapomorphy: things that evolved in a group that make them differ
What is a fossil? what information do fossils give us about organisms? - Answers - They
tell us about the organisms that lived on Earth from the time of the oldest fossils, about
3.8 billion years ago, to the present. By studying fossils we can learn not only about the
creatures and plants of the distant past, but how they grew, what they ate, how they
interacted, and many aspects of their behavior.
What is radioactive dating? - Answers - is a technique used to date materials such as
rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated
when they formed.
What types of information can be used to construct phylogenetic trees? - Answers -
RNA, DNA, amino acids, proteins, physical observations
ANSWERS
What is the scientific method?
What are the steps? - Answers - A deliberate way of asking and answering questions
about the natural world. The steps: 1. Make observations 2. Make a hypothesis 3. make
predictions 4. experiments or new observations 5. theory
What are the characteristics of living things? - Answers - Livings things: evolve,
reproduce, and adapt.
Are viruses living things? Why or why not? - Answers - No. They cannot harness
energy.
What is the fundamental unit of life? What is the difference between a prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cell? - Answers - Cell, prokaryotic are old, single celled, and have no
nucleus; eukaryotes are multicellular and have a nucleus
What is metabolism? What is a plasma membrane? - Answers - The breaking down of
molecules to convert energy; phospholipid bilayer separating living and nonliving things
in a cell.
What is a phenotype? - Answers - observable traits of an organism
What is a genotype? - Answers - set of alleles possessed by an individual
What is responsible for the visible differences between individuals of species? -
Answers - Phenotypes
What is a mutation? - Answers - heritable change in the genetic material
What is the difference between a somatic and germ cell mutation? - Answers - Somatic
cell mutation occurs in tissues and germ cell mutation occurs in the reproductive system
and is passed on
What are alleles? How are new alleles created? - Answers - One of two or more
alternative forms of a gene; germ line mutations
What is an allele frequency? What do population geneticists study? - Answers - How
often an allele is shown in a species; population geneticists study populations of
organisms including their movements and adaptations
,What are the five assumptions of the hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? - Answers - 1. There
can be no differences in the survival and reproductive successes of individuals
2. Populations must not be added to or subtracted from by migration
3. There can be no mutation
4. The population must be sufficiently large to prevent sampling errors
5. Individuals must rate at random
What causes allele frequencies to change? - Answers - Genetic drift, gene flow,
mutations, non random mating
Who developed the theory of evolution? - Answers - Charles Darwin
What is natural selection? - Answers - Survival of the fittest
Describe the difference between stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection? -
Answers - Stabilizing: maintains the status quo and acts against extremes
Directional: selects against one of two extremes; leads to a change in a trait over time
Disruptive: selects against the mean
What are gene flow and genetic drift? How do these affect allele frequency? - Answers -
Gene flow
Genetic Drift
These affect allele frequency because
What is the definition of species? - Answers - Interbreeding group of organisms that
produce fertile offspring
How does the biological species concept define a species? What are the limitations? -
Answers - Can mate with each other and produce fertile offspring; doesn't apply to
asexual organisms and extinct organisms
How does the morphological species concept define a species? What are the
limitations? - Answers - Organisms look alike, they are apart of the same species; those
who don't look alike can be the same and vice verse
Define reproductive isolation? - Answers - are a collection of mechanisms, behaviors
and physiological processes that prevent the members of two different species that
cross or mate from producing offspring, or which ensure that any offspring that may be
produced are sterile.
What is a ring species? - Answers - Reproductively isolated but can still exchange
genetic material
What are the ecological and evolution species concept? - Answers - Ecological: species
live in niches that separate them
Evolution: share a common ancestry
, Explain the difference between pre zygotic and post zygotic barriers and give examples
of each. Which type of barriers does natural selection for? - Answers - Pre-Zygotic:
prevents mating
Post-Zygotic: no fertile offspring
What is speciation? - Answers - the process that produces new and distinct organisms
forms of life
Explain the processes of allopatric selection? - Answers - populations are separating
from one another geographically
Define peripatric speciation and adaptive radiation? - Answers - Peripatric: some
individuals colonize elsewhere (peripatric speciation)
Adaptive Radiation: rapid evolution due to natural selection
Explain the processes of sympatric speciation? - Answers - no physical barrier but still
can't mate
What information do phylogenetic trees give us? What does the order of branches on
the tree indicate? - Answers - Evolutionary history of species; they indicate more
specificity such as kingdom, phylum, subphylum
How can you identify a sister group on phylogenetic tree? - Answers - Closest related
groups
monophyletic - Answers - includes ancestor and all descendants
What is the difference between homologous and analogous traits? What is a
synapomorphy? - Answers - homologous: same traits as ancestor
analogous: does not share traits w/ ancestor
Synapomorphy: things that evolved in a group that make them differ
What is a fossil? what information do fossils give us about organisms? - Answers - They
tell us about the organisms that lived on Earth from the time of the oldest fossils, about
3.8 billion years ago, to the present. By studying fossils we can learn not only about the
creatures and plants of the distant past, but how they grew, what they ate, how they
interacted, and many aspects of their behavior.
What is radioactive dating? - Answers - is a technique used to date materials such as
rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated
when they formed.
What types of information can be used to construct phylogenetic trees? - Answers -
RNA, DNA, amino acids, proteins, physical observations
