Question 8
For natural selection to occur, organisms must ____.
all of the listed choices
produce more offspring than can survive
be able to pass on adaptive traits to their offspring
have a variety of traits that affect their success in surviving and reproducing
Question 9
Change in organisms’ characteristics over time is termed biological _____.
homeostasis
evolution
sedimentation
biogeography
Question 10
A group of individuals that possess similar characteristics and can interbreed and produce fertile offspring is called a _____.
species
genome
community
population
Question 11
When we examine the differences in amino acids found in human hemoglobin and the hemoglobin of other vertebrate species, we find ____.
no differences at all; all hemoglobin is identical
the fewest differences in species such as apes and monkeys, more differences in non-mammalian groups like birds, and the most differences in the simplest forms like lampreys
a random distribution; every species seems different but there is no discernible pattern
Question 12
Religion-based alternative ideas for the origin of species cannot be taught in science classes because ____.
scientists are close-minded atheistic fanatics who want to destroy the moral values of our nation
religion-based explanations are not testable, because spiritual experiences are subjective rather than objective
Question 13
In a careful study of beak size and shape in Galapagos finches done in the 1970’s, researchers found _____.
no evidence of population traits changing over time
the average beak depth in chicks changed from one year to the next in response to environmental changes
Question 14
An organism’s niche is best described as its _____.
ecological role
genomic makeup
tendency to undergo mutation
habitat type
Question 15
Charles Darwin’s ideas about how the forces of nature create changes in living organisms were rooted in 30 years of observation, including his service as a naturalist on the HMS Beagle, which spent _____ exploring and mapping the coastline of South America and circumnavigating the globe.
several months
twenty years
five years
one year
Question 16
The ancestor of the modern whale seems to have been a four-limbed hooved animal, somewhat piglike (see p. 251). The modern whale has totally lost its hind-legs, but it still retains bones of the pelvis, although the pelvis serves no apparent purpose any more. In this case, the whale’s pelvis is considered a ____.
result of sexual selection
homozygous structure
vestigial structure
analogous structure
Question 17
The wings of birds and bees are built from completely different tissue origins, although both types of organisms use their wings for the same purpose: flying. In this case, wings would be described as _____.
devolved
an analagous structure
a homologous structure
vestigial organs