Biol 1108 Exam Study Guide Questions
with Correct Answers 2026
Fossils - CORRECT ANSWER -
The preserved remains or traces of organisms that once lived on Earth.
Evolution - CORRECT ANSWER -
Descent with modification; the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species
that were different from the present-
day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the genetic composition of a popul
ation from generation to generation.
Stratum - CORRECT ANSWER -
A rock layer formed when new layers of sediment cover older ones and compress them.
Adaptations - CORRECT ANSWER -
Inherited characteristics of organisms that enhance survival and reproduction in specific env
ironments.
Natural selection - CORRECT ANSWER -
A process by which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reprod
uce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.
Homology - CORRECT ANSWER -
Similarity in structures and characteristics resulting from common ancestry.
Vestigial structures - CORRECT ANSWER -
a feature of an organism that is a historical remnant of a structure that served a function i
n the organism's ancestors
, Convergent Evolution - CORRECT ANSWER -
the evolution of similar features in independent evolutionary lineages
Biogeography - CORRECT ANSWER -
the scientific study of the past and present geographic distributions of species
Endemic - CORRECT ANSWER -
referring to a species that is confined to a specific geographic area
Analogous structures - CORRECT ANSWER -
Having characteristics that are similar because of convergent evolution, not homology.
Direct Observation - CORRECT ANSWER -
Biologists have documented evolutionary changes from one generation to the next in thous
ands of scientific studies.
The fossil record - CORRECT ANSWER -
Show the patterns of evolution in various groups of organisms. Shows how past organisms
differed from present-day and documents step-by-step changes.
Hutton and Lyell - CORRECT ANSWER -Geologists who described uniformitarianism.
Linnaeus - CORRECT ANSWER -
Developed taxonomic classification of living organisms based upon shared characters.
Lamarck - CORRECT ANSWER -Proposed use-and-disuse theory and inheritance of traits.
Wallace and Darwin - CORRECT ANSWER -
Both independently arrived at a theory of how species can change through time.
with Correct Answers 2026
Fossils - CORRECT ANSWER -
The preserved remains or traces of organisms that once lived on Earth.
Evolution - CORRECT ANSWER -
Descent with modification; the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species
that were different from the present-
day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the genetic composition of a popul
ation from generation to generation.
Stratum - CORRECT ANSWER -
A rock layer formed when new layers of sediment cover older ones and compress them.
Adaptations - CORRECT ANSWER -
Inherited characteristics of organisms that enhance survival and reproduction in specific env
ironments.
Natural selection - CORRECT ANSWER -
A process by which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reprod
uce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.
Homology - CORRECT ANSWER -
Similarity in structures and characteristics resulting from common ancestry.
Vestigial structures - CORRECT ANSWER -
a feature of an organism that is a historical remnant of a structure that served a function i
n the organism's ancestors
, Convergent Evolution - CORRECT ANSWER -
the evolution of similar features in independent evolutionary lineages
Biogeography - CORRECT ANSWER -
the scientific study of the past and present geographic distributions of species
Endemic - CORRECT ANSWER -
referring to a species that is confined to a specific geographic area
Analogous structures - CORRECT ANSWER -
Having characteristics that are similar because of convergent evolution, not homology.
Direct Observation - CORRECT ANSWER -
Biologists have documented evolutionary changes from one generation to the next in thous
ands of scientific studies.
The fossil record - CORRECT ANSWER -
Show the patterns of evolution in various groups of organisms. Shows how past organisms
differed from present-day and documents step-by-step changes.
Hutton and Lyell - CORRECT ANSWER -Geologists who described uniformitarianism.
Linnaeus - CORRECT ANSWER -
Developed taxonomic classification of living organisms based upon shared characters.
Lamarck - CORRECT ANSWER -Proposed use-and-disuse theory and inheritance of traits.
Wallace and Darwin - CORRECT ANSWER -
Both independently arrived at a theory of how species can change through time.
