Deck 18: Macroevolution

Question 1

Fruit fly species all look more or less alike. If you have a male and female fruit fly, what would be the best way to determine that they are the same species?

A) If they can both asexually reproduce and their offspring can also successfully asexually reproduce, then they are all the same species.
B) Examine them closely with a low-power microscope, comparing their physical characteristics to published species key lists of characteristics.
C) Base sequence the DNA of their chromosomes.
D) If they mate successfully and their offspring can also mate successfully, all are the same species.

Answer 1

If they mate successfully and their offspring can also mate successfully, all are the same species.

Question 2

Which of the following "species cannot be tested via the biological species concept to determine whether the mentioned organisms are in fact a single species?

A) different genetic strains of the same presumed fungus species
B) yeast purchased at the grocery store
C) different populations of the same bird species
D) the so-called races of humans

Answer 2

the so-called races of humans

Question 3

Two populations of mountain-dwelling salamanders are separated by an impassable valley. The populations are:

A) allopatric.
B) subspecies.
C) founders.
D) sympatric.

Answer 3

allopatric.

Question 4

-The biological species concept cannot be used for:

A) adaptive radiation.
B) polyploidy.
C) allopatric speciation.
D) fossil organisms.

Question 5

A very large dog and a very small dog might be considered different species based on which of the following isolating mechanisms?

A) geographic
B) gamete
C) mechanical
D) temporal

Question 6

Two species of squirrels live on either side of the Grand Canyon. They are an example of:

A) mechanical isolation.
B) hybrid inviability.
C) temporal isolation.
D) allopatric speciation.

Question 7

A horse has 2n = 64 and a donkey has 2n = 62. The hybrid of these two species, the mule, has 63 chromosomes and is sterile. Why are mules sterile?

A) Their zygotes cannot complete the first mitotic division to form the two-cell stage.
B) They cannot physically mate with each other.
C) They cannot physically mate with horses and donkeys.
D) They lack homologous chromosomes and cannot undergo meiosis.

Question 8

Thinking of the examples in your book of adaptive radiation (Galapagos finches, for one), in which of the following environments might you be most likely to find adaptive radiation?

A) among houseflies living in a garbage dump
B) fruit flies that feed on different yeast strains specific to different species of cacti in the desert
C) in earthworms feeding on detritus
D) among insects that are generalist feeders

Question 9

What factor would make sympatric speciation less likely for a species?

A) competition
B) diverse habitat
C) being a specialist
D) being a generalist

Question 10

"Speciation may occur because of accumulation of many minor genetic changes in a population. This statement is best associated with:

A) natural selection.
B) punctuated equilibrium.
C) polyploidy.
D) gradualism.

Question 11

"Speciation may occur rapidly and is caused by a few genetic changes in important genes. This statement is best associated with

A) gradualism.
B) phyletic speciation.
C) punctuated equilibrium.
D) allopatric speciation.

Question 12

In the fossil record, species suddenly appear, remain more or less unchanged for varying periods of geologic time, and then disappear from the record. This trend best supports the theory of:

A) evolutionary gradualism.
B) punctuated equilibrium.
C) cladistic analysis.
D) phyletic speciation.

Question 13

Gaps in the fossil record are predicted by the theory of :

A) gradualism.
B) punctuated equilibrium.
C) natural selection.
D) plate tectonics and continental drift.

Question 14

Eldredge and Gould are credited with establishing the concept of:

A) fossil species concept.
B) allopatric speciation.
C) gradualism.
D) punctuated equilibrium.

Question 15

When the London underground (subway) system was built in the nineteenth century, mosquitoes moved into the tunnels and became adapted to biting the customers and small animals that inhabit the subway system. Like people, mosquitoes can freely enter and leave through the tunnel entrances. Recently, DNA analysis and attempts to cross-breed above-ground mosquitoes with underground mosquitoes indicate that there are now two different species. The underground insects are visibly larger. Which term best describes what has happened?

A) adaptive radiation
B) behavioral incompatibility
C) temporal isolation
D) population bottleneck

Question 16

When is speciation most likely to occur?

A) during bottleneck events
B) when populations are becoming diverse and specialized
C) when populations are sympatric
D) when the environment is stable

Question 17

Use this information for the question below. Many fossils have been found showing that the horse evolved from a small browsing animal to a large grazing plains dweller (the modern horse), but the fossil record does not show all the intermediate forms.

-The punctuated equilibrium model says that these gaps are due to:

A) geological catastrophes.
B) the improbability of fossilization.
C) climate change.
D) sudden genetic change, so that intermediate forms existed for a short time and thus are unlikely to be found as fossils.

Question 18

The gradualism model of evolution says that gaps in the fossil record are due to:

A) poor research.
B) geological catastrophes.
C) sudden genetic change. Because very few of the intermediate forms existed, it is not unusual to have found none fossilized.
D) the fact that most organisms never become fossilized.

Question 19

If an environmental change happens too suddenly, a population may go extinct because:

A) the mutation rate increases killing off the population.
B) it lacks the genetic variation to evolve.
C) individuals are too confused to mate.
D) resources are overabundant.

Question 20

Who is credited with developing the binomial system of scientific names?

A) Krogh
B) Gould
C) Wallace
D) Linnaeus

Question 21

Which kind of evidence would be of the least use to taxonomists?

A) knowledge that structures are homologous
B) morphology
C) domestication records
D) the fossil record

Question 22

A common means of speciation in plants but not in animals is:

A) mechanical isolation.
B) allopatric speciation.
C) temporal isolation.
D) polyploidy.

Question 23

All members of the golden hamster species known today are descendants of a single litter collected in Syria in 1939. Its diploid chromosome number is 44. Two other species of hamster, each with a diploid number of 22, overlap in Syria. The golden hamster is thought to be a new species that developed following the mating of a male and female of the two other hamster species. What mechanism might explain this recent event of speciation?

A) temporal isolation
B) chromosomal doubling to produce fertile hybrids
C) disruptive selection
D) adaptive radiation

Question 24

Refer to the following scenario and then answer the questions that follow. A European species of marsh grass called Sparitina maritima has 2n = 60. A similar species native to North America, S. alterniflora, has 2n = 62. In 1835, the North American species was found growing near the European species near Southampton, England, having been accidentally imported. Occasional sterile hybrids were noted. In 1895, a new species, S. anglica, was first identified at Southampton and subsequently became very common. The new species has been identified as a fertile hybrid of the original two species.

-What is the 2n chromosome number of the sterile hybrids that form between the original two species, S. maritima and S. alterniflora?

A) 60
B) 122
C) 31
D) 61

Question 25

Refer to the following scenario and then answer the questions that follow. A European species of marsh grass called Sparitina maritima has 2n = 60. A similar species native to North America, S. alterniflora, has 2n = 62. In 1835, the North American species was found growing near the European species near Southampton, England, having been accidentally imported. Occasional sterile hybrids were noted. In 1895, a new species, S. anglica, was first identified at Southampton and subsequently became very common. The new species has been identified as a fertile hybrid of the original two species.

-What is the 2n chromosome number of the new species, S. anglica?

A) 61
B) 122
C) 60
D) 62
E) 31

Question 26

Large anatomical changes can occur without speciation.

Question 27

Polyploid speciation is about as common in plants as it is in animals.

Question 28

The slow evolutionary change in organisms over a long period of time is referred to as ________.

Question 29

The relatively quick appearance of a new species of organism is an example of ________.

Question 30

Label the steps of polyploidy in the figure below.

Question 31

A small population of insects lives in a forest, but they are highly specialized to lay their eggs only on the ripening fruit of one species of fig tree. What are the chances that this species will expand and multiply, or become extinct?