EEOB 3310 EXAM REVISION QUESTIONS
AND 100% CORRECT ANSWERS!!
During the voyage of the beagle, Darwin visited both the Cape de Verde islands and the
Galapagos island. Why were these visits so important to the development of his theory of
evolution?
The islands had nearly identical habitat and climate, but the species on each island resembled
those on the nearby continents, rather than each other. This provided evidence against special
creation because it did not make sense that a creator would create completely different species in
nearly identical habitats.
Identify the best definition for the term scientific theory
Theories are overarching explanations that make sense of some aspect of nature, are based on
evidence, allow scientists to make valid predictions, and have been tested in many ways
Why did the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus change the prevailing view about our
common ancestor with the chimpanzee lineage?
Prior to this discovery, anthropologists assumed that the common ancestor was more likely to be
ape-like. For example, the common ancestor was not expected to bi bipedal.
When Rich Lenski designed his long term evolution experiment with E. Coli, what would
he have predicted about the evolution of cell size?
Cell size should evolve to be smaller because smaller cells have a higher surface area to volume
ratio, which should be advantageous in a resource limited environment.
the figure shows how beak size changes in Darwins finches as a result of a drought in 1977
that led plants to produce relatively large and hard seeds. by the mid 1980s, conditions on
daphne major became very wet and as a result the plants on the island produces relatively
small and soft seeds. how would you predict that beak sizes in the finches would have
changed in response?
beak sizes would evolve to be smaller so long as there was heritable variation in beak phenotypes
and mortality among finches on the island
, When organismal traits are compared across species to learn about some biological
process, this is an example of?
The comparative method
What describes the wings of a bird, bat, and a pterodactyl?
These structures are not homologus because they are modified versions of different ancestral
anatomical structures that are used in a similar way (wings)
Why should we worry about the antibiotic resistance in medical settings if there are always
pharmaceutical companies that are motivated by profit to produce more different types of
antibiotics?
The slow rate of antibiotic discovery, including no new major types of antibiotics since 1987,
suggest that finding new medicines may not be as effective as preventing antibiotic resistance
from evolving in the first place.
How does the ability of E. coli to survive freezing cause them to be an ideal experimental
subject for research into natural selection?
BC colonies of E. coli can be frozen the lenski lab is able to calculate mean fitness of different
generations of E. coli by directly competing these generations to demonstrate that they are
evolving
The russian geneticist Belyaev started a long term breeding experiment using silver foxes.
what was the initial goal of this experiment?
To prove that artificial selection for traits associated with temperament (docile behavior, etc.)
would also lead to phenotypic changes
How did visits to volcanic islands during the Voyage of the Beagle influence Charles
Darwin as he developed his theory of evolution?
They demonstrated that small changes such as the accumulation of lava acting over long periods
could lead to large geological structures. This supported Lyell's theory of uniformitariasm, which
Darwin the applied to evolutionary theory.
AND 100% CORRECT ANSWERS!!
During the voyage of the beagle, Darwin visited both the Cape de Verde islands and the
Galapagos island. Why were these visits so important to the development of his theory of
evolution?
The islands had nearly identical habitat and climate, but the species on each island resembled
those on the nearby continents, rather than each other. This provided evidence against special
creation because it did not make sense that a creator would create completely different species in
nearly identical habitats.
Identify the best definition for the term scientific theory
Theories are overarching explanations that make sense of some aspect of nature, are based on
evidence, allow scientists to make valid predictions, and have been tested in many ways
Why did the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus change the prevailing view about our
common ancestor with the chimpanzee lineage?
Prior to this discovery, anthropologists assumed that the common ancestor was more likely to be
ape-like. For example, the common ancestor was not expected to bi bipedal.
When Rich Lenski designed his long term evolution experiment with E. Coli, what would
he have predicted about the evolution of cell size?
Cell size should evolve to be smaller because smaller cells have a higher surface area to volume
ratio, which should be advantageous in a resource limited environment.
the figure shows how beak size changes in Darwins finches as a result of a drought in 1977
that led plants to produce relatively large and hard seeds. by the mid 1980s, conditions on
daphne major became very wet and as a result the plants on the island produces relatively
small and soft seeds. how would you predict that beak sizes in the finches would have
changed in response?
beak sizes would evolve to be smaller so long as there was heritable variation in beak phenotypes
and mortality among finches on the island
, When organismal traits are compared across species to learn about some biological
process, this is an example of?
The comparative method
What describes the wings of a bird, bat, and a pterodactyl?
These structures are not homologus because they are modified versions of different ancestral
anatomical structures that are used in a similar way (wings)
Why should we worry about the antibiotic resistance in medical settings if there are always
pharmaceutical companies that are motivated by profit to produce more different types of
antibiotics?
The slow rate of antibiotic discovery, including no new major types of antibiotics since 1987,
suggest that finding new medicines may not be as effective as preventing antibiotic resistance
from evolving in the first place.
How does the ability of E. coli to survive freezing cause them to be an ideal experimental
subject for research into natural selection?
BC colonies of E. coli can be frozen the lenski lab is able to calculate mean fitness of different
generations of E. coli by directly competing these generations to demonstrate that they are
evolving
The russian geneticist Belyaev started a long term breeding experiment using silver foxes.
what was the initial goal of this experiment?
To prove that artificial selection for traits associated with temperament (docile behavior, etc.)
would also lead to phenotypic changes
How did visits to volcanic islands during the Voyage of the Beagle influence Charles
Darwin as he developed his theory of evolution?
They demonstrated that small changes such as the accumulation of lava acting over long periods
could lead to large geological structures. This supported Lyell's theory of uniformitariasm, which
Darwin the applied to evolutionary theory.
