BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3 Questions and 100% Correct Answers 2026/27
Latest - UH
EXAM 1
1. Which of the following is a component of the modern theory of evolution?
a. All organisms alive today descend from a single primitive species
b. Animals, plants, and fungi do not share a common ancestor
c. Life appeared on Earth a few thousand years ago
d. Most evolution involves large, radical changes from generation to generation
e. No species has ever gone extinct
2. Darwin and Lamarck had radically different views of the history of life, illustrated in the following figure.
Which of the following statements best summarizes these views?
a. Darwin’s view is summarized on the left, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of life.
Lamarck’s view is summarized on the right, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel
b. Darwin’s view is summarized on the left, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel.
Lamarck’s view is summarized on the right, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of
life
c. Lamarck’s view is summarized on the left, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of life.
Darwin’s view is summarized on the right, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel
d. Lamarck's view is summarized on the left, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel.
Darwin’s view is summarized on the right, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of life
3. Which of the following statements about life on Earth is true?
a. All organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material. This is evidence
that all organisms alive today descend from a single ancestral organism
b. All organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material. This is evidence
that all organisms alive today descend from multiple distinct ancestral organisms
c. Many organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material, but some use
completely different polymers with similar properties to nucleic acids. This is evidence that all organisms
alive today descend from a single ancestral organism
d. Many organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material, but some use
completely different polymers with similar properties to nucleic acids. This is evidence that all organisms
alive today descend from multiple distinct ancestral organisms
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
, 4. You are studying the fauna of an oceanic island of volcanic origin in the Pacific Ocean. The island is
approximately 500 miles away from the nearest mainland.
Which of the following patterns of (native) species composition (A-E) would you expect to find on the island?
(Note: the entries in the tables indicate how many species of each taxon are found under each pattern)
Taxon A B C D
Amphibians 0 0 2 2
Bats 0 2 0 11
Lagomorphs 2 0 0 3
Land birds 0 11 11 0
Pinnipeds 11 3 0 0
Rodents 3 0 3 0
Notes:
● Amphibians include frogs, toads, salamanders
● Lagomorphs include hares, rabbits
● Pinnipeds include seals, sea lions
● Rodents include mice, rats, squirrels
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
e. All patterns are equally likely to occur
5. Consider the following hypothesis about shorebirds:
“One may perceive that the bird of the shore, which does not at all like to swim, and which, however, needs to draw near
to the water to find its prey, will be continually exposed to sinking in the mud. Desiring to avoid immersing its body in the
liquid, the bird acquires the habit of stretching and elongating its legs. The result of this is that for the generations of these
birds that continue to live in this manner is that the individuals will find themselves elevated as on stilts, on naked long
legs.”
Which statement best summarizes this hypothesis?
a. Individual organisms can acquire traits during the course of their lives that make them better adapted to
their habitat and then pass these traits to their offspring. This process causes the population to evolve.
b. Individual organisms can acquire traits during the course of their lives that make them better adapted to
their habitat and then pass these traits to their offspring. This process does not cause the population to
evolve.
c. Some individual organisms present in the population possess traits that make them better able to survive
in their habitat and they pass these traits to their offspring. This process causes the population to evolve
d. Some individual organisms present in the population possess traits that make them better able to survive
in their habitat and they pass these traits to their offspring. This process does not cause the population to
evolve
e. Organisms are far too complex and well suited to their habitats to have evolved
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
, 6. Natural populations of the mustard plant Brassica Rapa experienced extreme drought conditions in Southern
California in 2000-2004. As a consequence, growing seasons were shorter in this period.
The following graph shows the time to first flowering in days in three groups of B. Rapa plants:
● Ancestral plants grew from seeds derived from a population from before the drought
● Descendant plants grew from seeds derived from a population from after the drought
● Hybrid plants grew from seeds derived from crosses between the two populations
All plants were reared at the same time and under similar environmental conditions
The black horizontal line in each box represents median flowering time, and the shaded areas denote the 25th to
75th percentiles. The short vertical lines indicate the 10th and 90th percentiles, and the dots the 5th and 9th
percentiles
Shorter growing seasons are expected to select for plants that flower earlier. One of the conditions necessary for
the operation of natural selection is inheritance. Which of the following observations confirms that flowering
time is heritable?
a. Descendant plants flowered earlier than ancestral plants
b. Flowering time in hybrid plants was intermediate between the values for the ancestral and descendant
populations
c. Plants that flower earlier produce fewer seeds than plants that flower later
d. 80% of plants in the ancestral population first flowered between 42 and 73 days after germination
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
, 7. The following plot shows the reaction norms of several genotypes of the weedy annual plant Persicaria maculosa.
Each line shows the average number of leaves of a genotype when it is grown at each of the three different light
intensity environments. Periscara plants with the most leaves have the highest fitness in the population.
What can you conclude based on this data?
a. Natural selection cannot act on this population because there is no variation in the number of leaves
b. Natural selection cannot act on this population because the number of leaves is determined by the light
intensity environment
c. Natural selection will favor different genotypes at light intensities of 37% and 100% of available sunlight
d. Natural selection will favor the same genotypes at light intensities of 37% and 100% of available sunlight
8. Modern birds are descendants of dinosaurs. Before the evolution of flight, many species of dinosaurs had feathers.
It is believed that when dinosaurs evolved feathers, they were used to control body temperature. Modern birds
also use feathers to control body temperature, but feather structure has diversified, and feathers are now essential
for flight.
Which of the following statements is most accurate?
a. In birds, feathers used as a means to control body temperature are an exaptation
b. In birds, feathers used for flight are an adaptation
c. In birds, feathers used for flight are an exaptation
d. In dinosaurs, feathers used as a means to control body temperature were an exaptation
9. Belyaev and colleagues have allowed a population of foxes to evolve in the laboratory for over 50 generations.
Only the individuals most docile towards humans were allowed to breed every generation. What is this an
example of?
a. Artificial selection because the researchers are picking individuals to survive and reproduce based on
their traits
b. Artificial selection because the researchers are not picking individuals to survive and reproduce based
on their traits; rather, researchers are simply allowing natural selection to operate in the laboratory
c. Experimental evolution because the researchers are picking individuals to survive and reproduce based
on their traits
d. Experimental evolution because the researchers are not picking individuals to survive and reproduce
based on their traits; rather, researchers are simply allowing natural selection to operate in the laboratory
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
Latest - UH
EXAM 1
1. Which of the following is a component of the modern theory of evolution?
a. All organisms alive today descend from a single primitive species
b. Animals, plants, and fungi do not share a common ancestor
c. Life appeared on Earth a few thousand years ago
d. Most evolution involves large, radical changes from generation to generation
e. No species has ever gone extinct
2. Darwin and Lamarck had radically different views of the history of life, illustrated in the following figure.
Which of the following statements best summarizes these views?
a. Darwin’s view is summarized on the left, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of life.
Lamarck’s view is summarized on the right, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel
b. Darwin’s view is summarized on the left, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel.
Lamarck’s view is summarized on the right, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of
life
c. Lamarck’s view is summarized on the left, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of life.
Darwin’s view is summarized on the right, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel
d. Lamarck's view is summarized on the left, and was that species evolve independently and in parallel.
Darwin’s view is summarized on the right, and was that evolution has resulted in a branching tree of life
3. Which of the following statements about life on Earth is true?
a. All organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material. This is evidence
that all organisms alive today descend from a single ancestral organism
b. All organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material. This is evidence
that all organisms alive today descend from multiple distinct ancestral organisms
c. Many organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material, but some use
completely different polymers with similar properties to nucleic acids. This is evidence that all organisms
alive today descend from a single ancestral organism
d. Many organisms alive today use nucleic acids (I.e., DNA or RNA) as their genetic material, but some use
completely different polymers with similar properties to nucleic acids. This is evidence that all organisms
alive today descend from multiple distinct ancestral organisms
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
, 4. You are studying the fauna of an oceanic island of volcanic origin in the Pacific Ocean. The island is
approximately 500 miles away from the nearest mainland.
Which of the following patterns of (native) species composition (A-E) would you expect to find on the island?
(Note: the entries in the tables indicate how many species of each taxon are found under each pattern)
Taxon A B C D
Amphibians 0 0 2 2
Bats 0 2 0 11
Lagomorphs 2 0 0 3
Land birds 0 11 11 0
Pinnipeds 11 3 0 0
Rodents 3 0 3 0
Notes:
● Amphibians include frogs, toads, salamanders
● Lagomorphs include hares, rabbits
● Pinnipeds include seals, sea lions
● Rodents include mice, rats, squirrels
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
e. All patterns are equally likely to occur
5. Consider the following hypothesis about shorebirds:
“One may perceive that the bird of the shore, which does not at all like to swim, and which, however, needs to draw near
to the water to find its prey, will be continually exposed to sinking in the mud. Desiring to avoid immersing its body in the
liquid, the bird acquires the habit of stretching and elongating its legs. The result of this is that for the generations of these
birds that continue to live in this manner is that the individuals will find themselves elevated as on stilts, on naked long
legs.”
Which statement best summarizes this hypothesis?
a. Individual organisms can acquire traits during the course of their lives that make them better adapted to
their habitat and then pass these traits to their offspring. This process causes the population to evolve.
b. Individual organisms can acquire traits during the course of their lives that make them better adapted to
their habitat and then pass these traits to their offspring. This process does not cause the population to
evolve.
c. Some individual organisms present in the population possess traits that make them better able to survive
in their habitat and they pass these traits to their offspring. This process causes the population to evolve
d. Some individual organisms present in the population possess traits that make them better able to survive
in their habitat and they pass these traits to their offspring. This process does not cause the population to
evolve
e. Organisms are far too complex and well suited to their habitats to have evolved
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
, 6. Natural populations of the mustard plant Brassica Rapa experienced extreme drought conditions in Southern
California in 2000-2004. As a consequence, growing seasons were shorter in this period.
The following graph shows the time to first flowering in days in three groups of B. Rapa plants:
● Ancestral plants grew from seeds derived from a population from before the drought
● Descendant plants grew from seeds derived from a population from after the drought
● Hybrid plants grew from seeds derived from crosses between the two populations
All plants were reared at the same time and under similar environmental conditions
The black horizontal line in each box represents median flowering time, and the shaded areas denote the 25th to
75th percentiles. The short vertical lines indicate the 10th and 90th percentiles, and the dots the 5th and 9th
percentiles
Shorter growing seasons are expected to select for plants that flower earlier. One of the conditions necessary for
the operation of natural selection is inheritance. Which of the following observations confirms that flowering
time is heritable?
a. Descendant plants flowered earlier than ancestral plants
b. Flowering time in hybrid plants was intermediate between the values for the ancestral and descendant
populations
c. Plants that flower earlier produce fewer seeds than plants that flower later
d. 80% of plants in the ancestral population first flowered between 42 and 73 days after germination
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
, 7. The following plot shows the reaction norms of several genotypes of the weedy annual plant Persicaria maculosa.
Each line shows the average number of leaves of a genotype when it is grown at each of the three different light
intensity environments. Periscara plants with the most leaves have the highest fitness in the population.
What can you conclude based on this data?
a. Natural selection cannot act on this population because there is no variation in the number of leaves
b. Natural selection cannot act on this population because the number of leaves is determined by the light
intensity environment
c. Natural selection will favor different genotypes at light intensities of 37% and 100% of available sunlight
d. Natural selection will favor the same genotypes at light intensities of 37% and 100% of available sunlight
8. Modern birds are descendants of dinosaurs. Before the evolution of flight, many species of dinosaurs had feathers.
It is believed that when dinosaurs evolved feathers, they were used to control body temperature. Modern birds
also use feathers to control body temperature, but feather structure has diversified, and feathers are now essential
for flight.
Which of the following statements is most accurate?
a. In birds, feathers used as a means to control body temperature are an exaptation
b. In birds, feathers used for flight are an adaptation
c. In birds, feathers used for flight are an exaptation
d. In dinosaurs, feathers used as a means to control body temperature were an exaptation
9. Belyaev and colleagues have allowed a population of foxes to evolve in the laboratory for over 50 generations.
Only the individuals most docile towards humans were allowed to breed every generation. What is this an
example of?
a. Artificial selection because the researchers are picking individuals to survive and reproduce based on
their traits
b. Artificial selection because the researchers are not picking individuals to survive and reproduce based
on their traits; rather, researchers are simply allowing natural selection to operate in the laboratory
c. Experimental evolution because the researchers are picking individuals to survive and reproduce based
on their traits
d. Experimental evolution because the researchers are not picking individuals to survive and reproduce
based on their traits; rather, researchers are simply allowing natural selection to operate in the laboratory
BIOL 3306 Exam 1, 2 & 3
