Deck 25: Macroevolution

Question 1

Which of the following pieces of evidence provides the best support for the claim that natural selection affected the evolution of ribozymes?

A) Single-stranded RNA can have many shapes.
B) Replication of RNA is flawless.
C) Some strands of RNA replicate more often than others.
D) Some strands of RNA are extremely chemically stable.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following did all protocells have in common?

A) the ability to synthesize enzymes
B) a surrounding membrane or membrane-like structure
C) RNA genes
D) the ability to replicate RNA

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following statements provides evidence that the atmosphere of the early Earth was neither reducing nor oxidizing?

A) Lightning and UV radiation were abundant in the early Earth atmosphere.
B) Some evidence suggests that the early atmosphere was made up primarily of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
C) Remnants of amino acids were discovered near volcanic eruption sites.
D) Modern experiments show that organic compounds were probably produced in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In 2013, researchers constructed a vesicle that could copy a template strand of RNA. Which of the following best states the significance of this evidence with regard to the abiotic origin of life?

A) On early Earth, such vesicles could increase in abundance more than vesicles that could not copy a template strand of RNA.
B) On early Earth, such vesicles were better able to acquire energy than vesicles that could not copy a template strand of RNA.
C) This experimental achievement demonstrated that RNA is a more chemically stable repository of information than is DNA.
D) This experimental achievement proved that such vesicles could produce daughter protocells.

Question 5

Which of the following methods is the most accurate way to measure the age of a relatively recent fossil?

A) ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12
B) sequences of fossils in rock strata
C) ratio of plutonium-244 to uranium 240
D) ratio of uranium-238 to thorium-234

Question 6

Four sediment cores were removed from the floor of an inland sea. The sea was in existence intermittently throughout the entire time that terrestrial life has existed. Researchers wish to locate and study the terrestrial organisms fossilized in these cores. In the diagram, the cores are illustrated as vertical columns, with the top of the column representing the most recent strata and the bottom representing the time when land was first colonized by life. Which of the following factors would best allow a researcher to assign absolute dates to the fossils in the sediments?

A) knowledge of the order in which the fossils were deposited
B) knowledge that the sediments had not been affected by underwater currents during their deposition
C) presence of volcanic ash layers between the sedimentary strata
D) equal spacing of fossils throughout the columns

Question 7

Which of the following organisms would be most likely to form a fossil?

A) a rare worm
B) a common worm
C) a rare squirrel
D) a common squirrel

Question 8

The atmosphere present in which of the following times would fail to support the life of a modern mammal?

A) Archaean eon
B) Cambrian period
C) Cenozoic era
D) Mesozoic era

Question 9

The temporal fenestra in the skulls in fossils of ancestral mammals changed in shape and size over time. These changes were most likely due to changes in the muscles that closed the jaws. Which of the following research approaches would be most helpful for understanding the evolutionary benefits of these changes?

A) correlating the fenestra size with changes in the shape of the teeth
B) correlating the strength of jaw closure and the size and hardness of potential prey
C) comparing the changes in the fenestra in the fossils leading to mammals with the changes in the fossils leading to modern reptiles
D) comparing changes in the fenestra with changes in the jaw hinge

Question 10

Which of the following statements provides the best evidence that the fossil record is an incomplete record of evolution?

A) The fossil record shows changes in kinds of organisms that lived on earth.
B) The fossil record shows that many animals are extinct.
C) The fossil record is biased for organisms that had hard shells and skeletons.
D) Fossils document how new organisms come from preexisting organisms.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is most accurate about dating a fossil encased in a stratum of sedimentary rock without any strata of volcanic rock (for example, lava or ash) nearby?

A) The absolute age of the fossil will be easy to determine because the radioisotopes in the sediments will not have been "reset" by the heat of the igneous rocks.
B) The absolute age of the fossil will be easy to determine because the igneous rocks will not have physically obstructed the deposition of sediment of a single age next to the fossil.
C) The absolute age of the fossil will be difficult to determine because the "marker fossils" common to igneous rock will be absent.
D) The absolute age of the fossil will be difficult to determine because radiometric dating of sedimentary rock is less accurate than that of igneous rock.

Question 12

Which of the following results, if found on ancient meteorites, would suggest that meteorites were NOT the source of amino acids that contributed to the origin of life on Earth?

A) the absence of amino acids
B) the presence of only D-isomers of amino acids
C) the presence of up to 80 different amino acids
D) the presence of other organic molecules (e.g., lipids, sugars, and nitrogenous bases) in addition to amino acids

Question 13

Which of the following would be LEAST likely to appear in the fossil record?

A) a burrowing species
B) a marine-dwelling species
C) a marsh-dwelling species
D) a desert-dwelling species

Question 14

Which of the following sets represents the most likely sequence of events in the origin of life?

A) formation of protocells; synthesis of organic monomers; synthesis of organic polymers; formation of DNA-based genetic systems
B) formation of protocells; synthesis of organic polymers; synthesis of organic monomers; formation of DNA-based genetic systems
C) synthesis of organic monomers; synthesis of organic polymers; formation of protocells; formation of DNA-based genetic systems
D) synthesis of organic monomers; synthesis of organic polymers; formation of DNA-based genetic systems; formation of protocells

Question 15

Which of the following lists most likely represents the correct sequence, from earliest to most recent, in the origin of cell organelles and cellular organization?

A) photosynthetic prokaryotes, chloroplasts, multicellular eukaryotes, mitochondria
B) mitochondria, multicellular eukaryotes, chloroplasts, photosynthetic prokaryotes
C) photosynthetic prokaryotes, mitochondria, chloroplasts, multicellular eukaryotes
D) chloroplasts, mitochondria, photosynthetic prokaryotes, multicellular eukaryotes

Question 16

Which of the following statements most accurately describes a difference between the current atmosphere and that of early Earth?

A) Compared to today, early Earth had an atmosphere richer in gases released from volcanic eruptions.
B) Compared to today, early Earth had a less oxidizing atmosphere.
C) Compared to today, early Earth experienced less high-energy radiation from the sun.
D) Compared to today, early Earth had an atmosphere with greater quantities of ozone.

Question 17

Which of the following statements best describes the fossil record of mammalian origins?

A) It shows that mammals and birds evolved from the same kind of dinosaur.
B) It includes transitional forms with progressively more specialized teeth.
C) It indicates that mammals and dinosaurs did not overlap in geologic time.
D) It includes a series that shows the gradual change of scales into fur.

Question 18

The half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 years. A fossil that has 1/16 of the normal proportion of carbon-14 to carbon-12 should be about how many years old?

A) 2,800
B) 11,200
C) 16,800
D) 22,900

Question 19

Which of the following molecules was most likely the first genetic material on Earth?

A) DNA produced by reverse transcriptase from abiotically produced RNA
B) DNA molecules whose information was transcribed to RNA and later translated in polypeptides
C) self-replicating RNA molecules with catalytic activity
D) oligopeptides located within protocells

Question 20

Which listing of geological periods is in the correct order, from oldest to most recent?

A) Cambrian, Devonian, Permian, Cretaceous
B) Devonian, Cambrian, Permian, Cretaceous
C) Cambrian, Permian, Devonian, Cretaceous
D) Permian, Cambrian, Cretaceous, Devonian

Question 21

Which of the following statements is most consistent with the information in the figure?

A) Fossils of brachiopods and arthropods first appeared during the Cambrian, but these groups had ancestors that evolved before the Cambrian.
B) Fossils of sponges and cnidarians first appeared during the Cambrian, but these groups had ancestors that evolved before the Cambrian.
C) Chordates evolved from echinoderms.
D) Sponges and cnidarians first evolved during the Cambrian.

Question 22

An early consequence of the release of oxygen gas by plant and bacterial photosynthesis was to?

A) change the atmosphere from oxidizing to reducing
B) make it easier to maintain reduced molecules
C) cause iron in ocean water and terrestrial rocks to rust (oxidize)
D) prevent the formation of an ozone layer

Question 23

Hawaii is the youngest and most southeastern of the seven largest Hawaiian islands the oldest islands lie to the northwest. Kauai is the oldest and most northwestern big island. Hawaii is also closest to, and Kauai furthest from, the seafloor spreading center from which the Pacific plate originates, which lies about 5,600 km southeast of the island of Hawaii. Assuming equal rates of sedimentation from the islands onto the sea floor, which of the following places is the most likely location of the thickest sediment layer and thus the area with the greatest diversity of fossils above the oceanic crust?

A) between the island of Hawaii and the seafloor spreading center
B) around the base of the island of Hawaii
C) around the base of Kauai
D) in the area where the islands are most concentrated (highest number of islands per unit surface area)

Question 24

Bagworm moth caterpillars feed on evergreens and carry a silken case or bag around with them in which they eventually pupate. Adult female bagworm moths are larval in appearance; they lack the wings and other structures of the adult male and instead retain the appearance of a caterpillar even though they are sexually mature and can lay eggs within the bag. Which of the following processes is exemplified by bagworm moths?

A) allometric growth
B) paedomorphosis
C) sympatric speciation
D) adaptive radiation

Question 25

Which factor most likely caused animals and plants in India to differ greatly from species in nearby southeast Asia?

A) The climates of the two regions are similar.
B) India is in the process of separating from the rest of Asia.
C) Life in India was wiped out by ancient volcanic eruptions.
D) India was a separate continent until 45 million years ago.

Question 26

Which of the following statements accurately describes the effect of the Permian and Cretaceous extinctions on the percentage of prey organisms in marine environments?

A) After the Permian and Cretaceous extinctions, the percentages of prey organisms increased.
B) After both the Permian and Cretaceous extinctions, the percentages of prey organisms decreased.
C) After the Permian extinction the percentage of prey organisms decreased, but after the Cretaceous extinction the percentage of prey organisms continuously increased.
D) After the Permian extinction the percentage of prey organisms remained stable, but after the Cretaceous extinction the percentage of prey organisms increased.

Question 27

Natural selection, operating on which of the following genetic changes, most likely resulted in the loss of ventral spines in modern freshwater sticklebacks?

A) duplication of the Pitx1 gene
B) deletion of the Pitx1 gene
C) point mutations in the Pitx1 gene
D) silencing of the Pitx1 gene

Question 28

Which of the following statements is accurate with regard to the Cambrian explosion?

A) There are fossils of animals in geological strata that are older than the Cambrian explosion.
B) Only the fossils of microorganisms occur in geological strata older than the Cambrian explosion.
C) The Cambrian explosion is evidence for the instantaneous creation of life on Earth.
D) The Cambrian explosion marks the appearance of filter-feeding animals in the fossil record.

Question 29

According to the theory of seafloor spreading, oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, form as oceanic crustal plates move over a stationary "hot spot" in the mantle. Currently, the island of Hawaii (the youngest big island) is thought to be over a hot spot, which is why it is the only one of the seven large islands that has active volcanoes. Which of the following statements is also accurate with regard to the island of Hawaii?

A) Scientists in search of ongoing speciation events are less likely to find them on Hawaii than on the other six large islands.
B) Hawaii's species should be more closely related to those of nearer islands than to those of farther islands.
C) Hawaii should have a rich fossil record of terrestrial organisms.
D) Almost all of Hawaii's species do not occur anywhere else on Earth.

Question 30

Which of the following statements best explains how continental drift caused the uniqueness of Australian fauna before Europeans settled on the continent?

A) Marsupials remained on Australia when continental drift connected it to southeast Asia.
B) Eutherians went extinct in Australia after continental drift separated Australia from southeast Asia.
C) Continental drift separated Australia from the other continents after both marsupials and eutherians evolved but these marsupials underwent adaptive radiation and the eutherians went extinct.
D) Continental drift broke the land bridge between Australia and southeast Asia, isolating marsupials on Australia and allowed them to diversify and occupy many ecological niches.

Question 31

Which of the following morphological differences is most likely due to a change in the relative growth rates of morphological structures during embryogenesis?

A) the large jaw of human adults compared to ancestral apes
B) the shortened fingers of bats compared to those of their ancestors
C) the absence of hind limbs in whales compared to their terrestrial ancestors
D) the presence of reproductive organs in the terrestrial form of salamanders

Question 32

Which of the following factors most likely prevented adaptive radiation by mammals before the dinosaurs went extinct?

A) nocturnal vision of the original mammals
B) predation of dinosaur eggs by the original mammals
C) variation in teeth of the original mammals
D) competition for food with the dinosaurs

Question 33

Which of the following factors likely contributed most to the earliest radiation of land plants?

A) weak stems to prop up the plant
B) waxy covering to slow water loss
C) insect feeding on the plants
D) new sources of food for the plants

Question 34

Which of the following statements most accurately applies to volcanic oceanic islands shortly after the land has cooled enough to support life?

A) There are mass extinctions, which lead to multiple bottleneck effects.
B) There are major evolutionary innovations, which lead to rafting to nearby continents.
C) There are a variety of empty ecological niches, which lead to adaptive radiation.
D) There are adaptive radiations, which lead to multiple founder effects.

Question 35

Which of the following characteristics were most likely present in the first animals that colonized land?

A) ability to resist dehydration and presence of a spine
B) ability to resist dehydration and support themselves on four limbs
C) ability to resist dehydration and eat producers
D) ability to eat producers and support themselves on four limbs

Question 36

Which of the following outcomes is the most likely evolutionary effect of duplication of homeotic Hox genes?

A) It permitted the evolution of novel forms.
B) It caused the extinction of major groups.
C) It reduced morphological diversity of simple forms of life.
D) It allowed the reversal of the head-tail orientation of animals.

Question 37

Four sediment cores were removed from the floor of an inland sea. The sea was in existence, off and on, throughout the entire time that terrestrial life has existed. Researchers wish to locate and study the terrestrial organisms fossilized in these cores. In the diagram, the cores are illustrated as vertical columns, with the top of the column representing the most recent strata and the bottom representing the time when land was first colonized by life. If the arrows indicate locations in the column where fossils of a particular type (see key) first appear, then which sediment core provides the best support for the current model of the evolution of terrestrial organisms?

A) core A
B) core B
C) core C
D) core D

Question 38

Which of the following statements provides the best support for the hypothesis that the mitochondria and plastids of modern eukaryotic cells were originally independent, free-living bacteria?

A) The RNA sequence of ribosomes in mitochondria and plastids is similar in sequence to that of the cytoplasmic ribosomes in the eukaryotic cell and both mitochondria and plastids have histone proteins wrapped around the RNA.
B) The RNA of mitochondria and plastids are double stranded and allow these organelles to replicate themselves in a way that is similar to that of modern bacteria.
C) The DNA of mitochondria and plastids are similar to each other and both contain histone proteins wrapped around the DNA.
D) The DNA of mitochondria and plastids is circular and the ribosomes of mitochondria and plastids are more similar to that of bacterial ribosomes than to the ribosomes in the cytoplasm of the eukaryotic cell.

Question 39

Mycorrhizae are symbiotic associations between some fungi and the roots of many plants. Which of the following experiments best would test whether a plant benefits from the presence of the fungus?

A) Grow many individuals of Plant X with two different species of fungi. Then compare the average plant size and average number of seeds produced between the two groups.
B) Grow many individuals of Plant X and Plant Y without any fungus. Then compare the average plant size and average number of seeds produced between the two groups.
C) Grow many individuals of Plant X in shaded and unshaded conditions. Then compare the average plant size and average number of seeds produced between the two groups.
D) Grow many individuals of Plant X with and without its fungus. Then compare the average plant size and average number of seeds produced between the two groups.

Question 40

Which period had the greatest increase in the number of extant marine animal families?

A) Paleozoic
B) Mesozoic
C) Cenozoic
D) Permian

Question 41

Several dozen different proteins comprise the prokaryotic flagellum and its attachment to the prokaryotic cell, producing a highly complex structure. Certain proteins of the complex motor that drives bacterial flagella are modified versions of proteins that had previously belonged to plasma membrane pumps. This evidence best supports which of the following claims?

A) Natural selection produces organs that will be needed in future environments.
B) The motors of bacterial flagella must have originated in other organisms.
C) Natural selection can favor new structures that have been coupled together from parts of other structures.
D) Bacteria that possess flagella must have lost the ability to pump certain chemicals across their plasma membranes.

Question 42

The oxygen revolution changed Earth's environment dramatically. Which of the following took advantage of the presence of free oxygen in the oceans and atmosphere?

A) the evolution of cellular respiration, which used oxygen to help harvest energy from organic molecules
B) the persistence of some animal groups in anaerobic habitats
C) the evolution of photosynthetic pigments that protected early algae from the corrosive effects of oxygen
D) the evolution of chloroplasts after early protists incorporated photosynthetic cyanobacteria

Question 43

If one organ is an exaptation of another organ, then which of the following statements is most accurate?

A) The two organs are homologous.
B) The two organs are undergoing convergent evolution.
C) The two organs occur in the same species.
D) The two organs have the same function.

Question 44

The prokaryotic flagellum is a complex structure consisting of several dozen different proteins. Which of the following statements best describes the origin of flagella in prokaryotes?

A) Natural selection cannot account for the evolution of the prokaryotic flagellum.
B) Ancestral versions of this protein assemblage were either less functional or had different functions than modern prokaryotic flagella.
C) Flagella could not have arisen by evolution because the structure is too complex to have evolved gradually.
D) The need for more complex structure must have driven evolution.

Question 45

Which of the following statements best explains how gene duplication events, such as those seen in the Hox gene complex, may have allowed the evolution of new morphological forms?

A) There are more copies of genes, meaning speciation had occurred by polyploidy.
B) The original gene copy is the outgroup, and the new gene copies are the adaptive radiation.
C) Without duplicated genes, species would be vulnerable to extinction.
D) One copy of a gene can perform the original function, while other copies are available to take on new functions.

Question 46

A female fly, carrying fertilized eggs, is hypothetically swept by high winds to an island far out to sea. She is the first and only fly to arrive on this island. Thousands of years later, her numerous descendents occupy the island and have overlapping geographic ranges. They are separated into several different species with different foods, mouthparts, egg-laying sites, and egg shapes. None of the species can fly and their balancing organs (halteres) are now used in courtship displays. The male members of each species bear modified halteres that are unique in appearance to their species. Females bear vestigial halteres. Which of these fly organs, as they exist in the description, best illustrates an exaptation?

A) the wings in the ancestral species
B) the halteres
C) the mouthparts
D) the eggs

Question 47

A swim bladder is a gas-filled sac that helps fish maintain buoyancy. The evolution of the swim bladder from the air-breathing organ (a simple lung) of an ancestral fish is an example of ________.

A) exaptation
B) changes in Hox gene expression
C) paedomorphosis
D) adaptive radiation

Question 48

Insect wings may have begun to evolve as lateral extensions of the body that dissipated heat for thermoregulation. When they had become sufficiently large, these extensions became useful for gliding through the air. Additional selection resulted in refinement as flight-producing wings. If this hypothesis is correct, modern insect wings would be an example of which of the following?

A) loss of Hox genes in the evolution of new forms
B) mutation
C) exaptation
D) adaptive radiation

Question 49

Which of the following statements best explains the existence of evolutionary trends, such as increasing body sizes among horse species?

A) A larger volume-to-surface area ratio is adaptive in many mammals.
B) Evolution generally progresses toward some goal.
C) Evolution tends toward increased complexity or increased size.
D) In particular environments, similar adaptations can be beneficial to more than one species.

Question 50

Which of the following statements best describes the evolution of complex eyes?

A) Complex eyes evolved through a series of steps that improved the functioning of the eyes.
B) Eyes in mollucs and vertebrates are descended from the same common ancestor.
C) Complex eyes arose fully formed.
D) The evolution of mollusc eyes was dependent on the evolution of vertebrate eyes.

Question 51

Many species of snakes lay eggs. However, in the forests of northern Minnesota, where the growing season is short, only live-bearing snake species are present. Which of the following processes most likely resulted in the differences in snake reproduction?

A) natural selection leading to exaptations
B) sexual selection
C) species selection
D) goal direction in evolution

Question 52

Fossilized stromatolites ________.

A) formed around deep-sea vents
B) resemble structures formed by bacterial communities that are found today in some shallow marine bays
C) provide evidence that plants moved onto land in the company of fungi around 500 million years ago
D) contain the first undisputed fossils of eukaryotes

Question 53

Scientists studying the origin of life have accomplished which of the following steps?

A) abiotic synthesis of protocells with self-replicating, catalytic RNA
B) formation of vesicles that use RNA as a template for DNA synthesis
C) formation of protocells that use DNA to direct the polymerization of amino acids
D) abiotic synthesis of RNA's bases (A, C, G, U)

Question 54

Which factor most likely caused animals and plants in India to differ greatly from species in nearby southeast Asia?

A) The species became separated by convergent evolution.
B) The climates of the two regions are similar.
C) India is in the process of separating from the rest of Asia.
D) India was a separate continent until 45 million years ago.

Question 55

Large-scale, worldwide adaptive radiations have occurred in which of the following situations?

A) when there are no available ecological niches
B) after each of the big five mass extinctions
C) after colonization of an isolated island that contains suitable habitat and few competitor species
D) whenever an evolutionary innovation was needed for organisms to thrive

Question 56

A genetic change that caused a certain Hox gene to be expressed along the tip of a vertebrate limb bud instead of farther back helped make possible the evolution of the tetrapod limb. This type of change is illustrative of ________.

A) the influence of environment on development
B) paedomorphosis
C) a change in a developmental gene or in its regulation that altered the spatial organization of body parts
D) heterochrony

Question 57

A swim bladder is a gas-filled sac that helps fish maintain buoyancy and evolved from the lungs of ancient fish. This evolutionary change is an example of which of the following processes?

A) exaptation
B) changes in Hox gene expression
C) paedomorphosis
D) adaptive radiation

Question 58

Evolutionary biologists claim that the complex eyes in some molluscs (e.g., squids and octopuses) and vertebrates evolved independently. Which of the following observations, if made, would support this claim?

A) The lens structures of mollusc and vertebrate eyes are similar.
B) The light-sensing cells of both molluscs and vertebrates are structurally different.
C) The proteins that absorb light in both molluscs and vertebrates have almost identical amino acid sequences.
D) The bones to which the eyes of molluscs and vertebrates attach are different.