Multiple Choice Questions

A swim bladder is a gas-filled sac that helps fish maintain buoyancy. The evolution of the swim bladder from lungs of an ancestral fish is an example of
  • True
  • False
  • exaptation
  • genetic drift
The earliest organisms were most likely
  • are found in the deepest strata(Younger sediments are deposited over older sediments; thus, relatively older fossils are found in deeper strata than relatively younger fossils.)
  • prokaryotic(Prokaryotes originated a few hundred million years after Earth's crust cooled and solidified.)
  • Mammals and reptiles in the post-dinosaur age.(Mammals and reptiles are not descended from a single lineage.)
  • Trunk/ground.(These ecomorphs need long legs to jump from one broad perch to another.)
Adaptive radiations can be a direct consequence of four of the following five factors. Select the exception.
  • genetic drift
  • 1. It occurred in a similar DNA region in freshwater stickleback populations all over the world.2. It is found in a regulatory region (a "switch") upstream of the coding region of the Pitx1 gene.(Many mutations of evolutionary importance are found in regulatory regions. The gene remains intact, but the location of its expression changes—conveying a new phenotype without losing existing capabilities.)
  • exaptation
  • Specific ecological niches.(Different species evolved in response to the selective pressures created by specific ecological niches on the islands.)
Evolution works by
  • The phylogeny of ecomorphs on a given island reveals that adaptive radiation has taken place.(This statement is true; the historical evidence of adaptive radiation on an island is recorded in the evolutionary history of the ecomorphs currently living on the island.)
  • are found in the deepest strata(Younger sediments are deposited over older sediments; thus, relatively older fossils are found in deeper strata than relatively younger fossils.)
  • 1. In lakes with dragonfly larvae, pelvic spines can be disadvantageous, allowing the predatory larvae to grab the fish.2. In lakes where there are no large predatory fish, there is no advantage to having pelvic spines.(Different environments can provide different selective pressures on an organism's morphology. In the threespine stickleback, pelvic spines provide a selective advantage in environments with large predatory fish but are a liability in environments with dragonfly larvae.)
  • "tinkering" with existing structures(Evolution, and in particular natural selection, can only select for the best available traits. Modifications to those traits are usually made in small, incremental steps, and new inventions are rare.)
Which Anolis lizard ecomorph has long legs?
  • prokaryotic(Prokaryotes originated a few hundred million years after Earth's crust cooled and solidified.)
  • Adaptive radiation occurs within a single lineage.(Adaptive radiation occurs when a single lineage produces many descendant species.)
  • Trunk/ground.(These ecomorphs need long legs to jump from one broad perch to another.)
  • Mammals and reptiles in the post-dinosaur age.(Mammals and reptiles are not descended from a single lineage.)
The oldest fossils usually
  • used water as an electron source for photosynthesis(Oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere due to the action of photosynthetic cyanobacteria.)
  • prokaryotic(Prokaryotes originated a few hundred million years after Earth's crust cooled and solidified.)
  • are found in the deepest strata(Younger sediments are deposited over older sediments; thus, relatively older fossils are found in deeper strata than relatively younger fossils.)
  • "tinkering" with existing structures(Evolution, and in particular natural selection, can only select for the best available traits. Modifications to those traits are usually made in small, incremental steps, and new inventions are rare.)
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?
  • To find the location of the gene(s) causing the difference between stickleback populations with and without spines.(Geneticists use crosses to map the location of genes.)
  • they provide positional information in the embryo(Changes in Hox genes can have large effects on body plans in different organisms.)
  • Some stickleback populations became trapped in lakes that formed at the end of the last ice age.(Freshwater stickleback populations were established when marine populations became trapped in the freshwater lakes where they migrate to spawn annually. At the end of the last ice age, these lakes, formerly connected to the ocean, were cut off by retreating ice fields.)
  • the evolution of cellular respiration, which used oxygen to help harvest energy from organic molecules
Which of the following statements about adaptive radiation is correct?
  • Adaptive radiation occurs within a single lineage.(Adaptive radiation occurs when a single lineage produces many descendant species.)
  • The phylogeny of ecomorphs on a given island reveals that adaptive radiation has taken place.(This statement is true; the historical evidence of adaptive radiation on an island is recorded in the evolutionary history of the ecomorphs currently living on the island.)
  • Mammals and reptiles in the post-dinosaur age.(Mammals and reptiles are not descended from a single lineage.)
  • Specific ecological niches.(Different species evolved in response to the selective pressures created by specific ecological niches on the islands.)
Bell and collaborators painstakingly documented a population of fossil sticklebacks from an ancient freshwater lake over a 20,000-year period. The prevalence of sticklebacks with full and reduced pelvises changed over time. Which is true?
  • 1. It occurred in a similar DNA region in freshwater stickleback populations all over the world.2. It is found in a regulatory region (a "switch") upstream of the coding region of the Pitx1 gene.(Many mutations of evolutionary importance are found in regulatory regions. The gene remains intact, but the location of its expression changes—conveying a new phenotype without losing existing capabilities.)
  • The phylogeny of ecomorphs on a given island reveals that adaptive radiation has taken place.(This statement is true; the historical evidence of adaptive radiation on an island is recorded in the evolutionary history of the ecomorphs currently living on the island.)
  • The population of fish with pelvic spines that arrived in the lake at time B evolved a reduced pelvis over time (beginning at time C).(Having a reduced pelvis must have been advantageous for this ancient stickleback population, just as it is for many current freshwater stickleback populations.)
  • Yes, if the photoreceptor cells and simple eyes that preceded it were useful to the animals in which they arose.(In fact, such photoreceptors and simple eyes can be seen in many living animals. Read about the evolution of a complex eye.)
Hox genes are thought to play an important role in the development of different morphologies because
  • Specific ecological niches.(Different species evolved in response to the selective pressures created by specific ecological niches on the islands.)
  • The phylogeny of ecomorphs on a given island reveals that adaptive radiation has taken place.(This statement is true; the historical evidence of adaptive radiation on an island is recorded in the evolutionary history of the ecomorphs currently living on the island.)
  • they provide positional information in the embryo(Changes in Hox genes can have large effects on body plans in different organisms.)
  • used water as an electron source for photosynthesis(Oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere due to the action of photosynthetic cyanobacteria.)
What was the main selective pressure behind the evolution of different Anolis lizard species in the Caribbean?
  • Adaptive radiation occurs within a single lineage.(Adaptive radiation occurs when a single lineage produces many descendant species.)
  • used water as an electron source for photosynthesis(Oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere due to the action of photosynthetic cyanobacteria.)
  • The phylogeny of ecomorphs on a given island reveals that adaptive radiation has taken place.(This statement is true; the historical evidence of adaptive radiation on an island is recorded in the evolutionary history of the ecomorphs currently living on the island.)
  • Specific ecological niches.(Different species evolved in response to the selective pressures created by specific ecological niches on the islands.)
How did some stickleback populations come to live exclusively in fresh water?
  • Some stickleback populations became trapped in lakes that formed at the end of the last ice age.(Freshwater stickleback populations were established when marine populations became trapped in the freshwater lakes where they migrate to spawn annually. At the end of the last ice age, these lakes, formerly connected to the ocean, were cut off by retreating ice fields.)
  • 1. It occurred in a similar DNA region in freshwater stickleback populations all over the world.2. It is found in a regulatory region (a "switch") upstream of the coding region of the Pitx1 gene.(Many mutations of evolutionary importance are found in regulatory regions. The gene remains intact, but the location of its expression changes—conveying a new phenotype without losing existing capabilities.)
  • the evolution of cellular respiration, which used oxygen to help harvest energy from organic molecules
  • To find the location of the gene(s) causing the difference between stickleback populations with and without spines.(Geneticists use crosses to map the location of genes.)
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 change in a developmental gene or in its regulation that altered the spatial organization of body parts.
  • Adaptive radiation occurs within a single lineage.(Adaptive radiation occurs when a single lineage produces many descendant species.)
  • Mammals and reptiles in the post-dinosaur age.(Mammals and reptiles are not descended from a single lineage.)
  • they provide positional information in the embryo(Changes in Hox genes can have large effects on body plans in different organisms.)
What did researchers discover about the genetic mutation causing the loss of pelvic spines?
  • 1. It occurred in a similar DNA region in freshwater stickleback populations all over the world.2. It is found in a regulatory region (a "switch") upstream of the coding region of the Pitx1 gene.(Many mutations of evolutionary importance are found in regulatory regions. The gene remains intact, but the location of its expression changes—conveying a new phenotype without losing existing capabilities.)
  • 1. In lakes with dragonfly larvae, pelvic spines can be disadvantageous, allowing the predatory larvae to grab the fish.2. In lakes where there are no large predatory fish, there is no advantage to having pelvic spines.(Different environments can provide different selective pressures on an organism's morphology. In the threespine stickleback, pelvic spines provide a selective advantage in environments with large predatory fish but are a liability in environments with dragonfly larvae.)
  • 1. It causes climate change, which puts selective pressure on organisms.2. It causes changes in habitats, such as when large amounts of shallow marine habitat were lost in the formation of Pangaea.3. It may cause an increase or decrease in competition among different species.(Continental drift affects organisms by changing the current environment in all of these ways. Organisms may have to adapt, move, or go extinct.)
  • Specific ecological niches.(Different species evolved in response to the selective pressures created by specific ecological niches on the islands.)
The atmosphere of early Earth probably contained no O2 until the emergence of organisms that
  • Adaptive radiation occurs within a single lineage.(Adaptive radiation occurs when a single lineage produces many descendant species.)
  • used water as an electron source for photosynthesis(Oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere due to the action of photosynthetic cyanobacteria.)
  • Specific ecological niches.(Different species evolved in response to the selective pressures created by specific ecological niches on the islands.)
  • they provide positional information in the embryo(Changes in Hox genes can have large effects on body plans in different organisms.)
Which organisms are not examples of an adaptive radiation?
  • Trunk/ground.(These ecomorphs need long legs to jump from one broad perch to another.)
  • Adaptive radiation occurs within a single lineage.(Adaptive radiation occurs when a single lineage produces many descendant species.)
  • Mammals and reptiles in the post-dinosaur age.(Mammals and reptiles are not descended from a single lineage.)
  • India was a separate continent until 45 million years ago.
Which of the following statements about the evolution of Anolis lizards in the Caribbean islands is true?
  • The phylogeny of ecomorphs on a given island reveals that adaptive radiation has taken place.(This statement is true; the historical evidence of adaptive radiation on an island is recorded in the evolutionary history of the ecomorphs currently living on the island.)
  • Adaptive radiation occurs within a single lineage.(Adaptive radiation occurs when a single lineage produces many descendant species.)
  • Specific ecological niches.(Different species evolved in response to the selective pressures created by specific ecological niches on the islands.)
  • they provide positional information in the embryo(Changes in Hox genes can have large effects on body plans in different organisms.)
How does continental drift affect living organisms?
  • 1. It causes climate change, which puts selective pressure on organisms.2. It causes changes in habitats, such as when large amounts of shallow marine habitat were lost in the formation of Pangaea.3. It may cause an increase or decrease in competition among different species.(Continental drift affects organisms by changing the current environment in all of these ways. Organisms may have to adapt, move, or go extinct.)
  • 1. In lakes with dragonfly larvae, pelvic spines can be disadvantageous, allowing the predatory larvae to grab the fish.2. In lakes where there are no large predatory fish, there is no advantage to having pelvic spines.(Different environments can provide different selective pressures on an organism's morphology. In the threespine stickleback, pelvic spines provide a selective advantage in environments with large predatory fish but are a liability in environments with dragonfly larvae.)
  • 1. It occurred in a similar DNA region in freshwater stickleback populations all over the world.2. It is found in a regulatory region (a "switch") upstream of the coding region of the Pitx1 gene.(Many mutations of evolutionary importance are found in regulatory regions. The gene remains intact, but the location of its expression changes—conveying a new phenotype without losing existing capabilities.)
  • 1. The fossil data show a pattern of evolution over long stretches of time.2. If the same morphological changes occur in the fossil record as in living populations, we might deduce that the genetic mechanism discovered in the living populations might be responsible for the changes observed in fossils.3. Genetic evidence reveals the precise molecular mechanism responsible for the change in pelvic structures in stickleback populations.4. Data obtained by analyzing living fish in lakes show the selective pressures present in different environments.(Evolution repeats itself. The film uses three complimentary lines of evidence from field studies, molecular genetics, and fossil populations to show evolution of the same trait over and over again, across hundreds of thousands of years.)
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Multiple Choice Questions
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