SC 139 - First Exam 1997

Answer Key

MULTIPLE CHOICE. On the line to the left, place the letter of the choice that best answers the question.

Three Points Each. NOTE: "e" answers are never the correct answer.

                    1. Early attempts at classifying living things led to which logical connections?
_______                 a. Living things must have been around a very long time
                               b. Related but different groups might have ancestors in common
                               c. Scientists could decide where dinosaurs came from
                               d. Fossils could be natural rock formations
                               e. Giving yourself a fancy Latin name still won't get you a date

                        2. Similarities between species are preserved in embryos more than adults
                                            because changes there
_______                 a. Are never good                         b. Make for bigger overall changes
                               c. Never happen                           d. Are better detected by biologists
                                               e. Do things to a baby's cuteness quotient

                        3. Which is true about classification levels?
_______                 a. Families are in orders which are in classes
                               b. Phyla are in orders which are in a genus
                               c. Species are in classes which are in families
                               d. Orders are in classes which are in families
                               e. It's unusual for a tree to pull rank on a flower

                        4. Technically, a gene codes for
_______                 a. A trait                 b. An offspring                 c. DNA
                               d. A protein                     e. Your long-distance carrier

                        5. All the finches on the Galapagos Islands are
_______                 a. Completely unrelated             b. Descended from a common ancestor
                               c. Now in competition with each other because they all feed on seeds
                               d. Both a and c                          e. a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y

                        6. Darwin's famous book was called
_______                 a. On the Origin of Species
                               b. A Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
                               c. Survival of the Fittest
                               d. The Voyage of the Beagle
                               e. I'm a Chimp, You're a Chimp

                        7. A small starting group has only those alleles present to pass on to their
                                        descendants. This is
_______                 a. Genetic drift             b. Founder effect             c. Mutation
                               d. Habitat isolation                     e. Tough luck

                        8. A group of organisms called the Ediacarans existed long ago, then 
                                        disappeared from the fossil record. They may have died out, or
                                        they may have not fossilized anymore. If the last idea is true,
                                        how might that have happened?
_______                 a. They lived only at the bottom of the ocean
                               b. They were soft-bodied organisms
                               c. There were very many of them
                               d. None of these would explain it
                               e. They stopped accumulating frequent-fossilizer mileage

                        9. An evolutionary pace of short, dramatic bursts with long stable periods between:
_______                 a. Geologic                 b. Catastrophic                 c. Staccato stasis
                               d. Punctuated equilibrium             e. Hurry up and wait

                        10. Darwin developed a theory of evolution by natural selection, but a process
                                        that he grew up knowing about was
_______                 a. Artificial selection                 b. Genetics                 c. Mutations
                               d. Sexual selection                     e. Inheritance of parental expectations

                        11. The science of classifying organisms is known as
_______                 a. Organization                 b. Speciation                 c. Taxonomy 
                               d. Hierarchy                         e. An evolutionary dead-end job

                        12. The white-tailed deer occupies a niche here almost identical to the niche
                                        filled by kangaroos in Australia; these two groups are
_______                 a. Subspecies                 b. Ecospecies                 c. Niche relatives
                               d. Habitat sharers                     e. Too nichin' cool

                        13. The current basic definition of a species is based upon
_______                 a. Physical resemblance                 b. Genetic resemblance
                               c. Reproductive behavior               d. Offspring fertility
                               e. Whichever of the twelve possibilities the dart hit today

                        14. When a population is small, there's a greater chance of
_______                 a. Gene flow             b. Genetic drift             c. Natural selection
                               d. Mutations occurring                 e. Boredom

                        15. One way of figuring out the age of a layer of fossil-containing rock is to
_______                 a. "Zap" it with radiation 
                               b. Match up layers from different places
                               c. Determine its sand content 
                               d. Count how many fossils it has
                               e. Wait for its birthday and count the candles on the cake

SHORT ANSWER.  

Answer any eight of the following questions for 4 Points Each.
Note: if you answer more than eight, only the first eight will be corrected.

You can get partial credit on these answers.

1. Name two sources of variation in a population of sexually reproducing diploid organisms.

2. What is hybrid vigor?

3. Briefly describe two different ways that organisms might get fossilized.

4. What do homeogenes do?

5. What widely-accepted view of the world's past was put in trouble by the discovery of remains of extinct animals?

6. Name two different types of chemicals that can be used in comparative biochemistry.

7. Many human genetic diseases may not be bad in every circumstance. Name two examples of diseases that may sometimes produce good effects.

8. What would be the "ticks" of a DNA molecular "clock?"

9. What are the two not-so-great ideas about evolution that Lamarck is remembered for?

10. What is the basic statement made by the Hardy-Weinberg Law?

11. Mass extinctions may have several different causes. Name two different possibilities.

12. What are two ways that Malthus saw populations could be controlled?

13. What is a niche?

14. Gene redundancy can be a very important facet of evolution. Briefly explain how.

15. Briefly explain: what is one way that biogeography can provide evidence for the process of evolution?

16. There are generally three possible results from a mutation in the DNA molecule. What are two of them?

LONG ANSWER. 

Answer any three of the following questions for Eight Points Each.
Note: if you answer more than three, only the first three will be corrected.

You can get partial credit on these answers.

2. There were three "given" statements to set up Darwin's theory on evolution by natural selection. What were they?

3. After the three givens, Darwin's theory on evolution by natural selection was stated as three follow-up results. What were they?

4. Charles Darwin's life went through several major steps between his schooling and his becoming famous for his theory of evolution. Briefly describe four of those major steps, placing them in chronological order. Skipping steps is okay, as long as you get four down and they're in the order they happened.

5. Name and describe four different types of isolation that can lead to production of a new species.

6. Asexual Reproduction Definition:
Advantage:
Disadvantage:
Sexual Reproduction Definition:
Advantage:
Disadvantage:

7. The Hardy-Weinberg Law only works if five situations are true - what are four of them?

BONUS QUESTIONS ON BACK.

BONUS QUESTIONS. Answer as many as you are able. Wrong answers will not result in points being lost from the main exam. You can get partial credit on these answers.

What was the actual task that Darwin was hired on to the Beagle to perform? Describe it, rather than just giving it a name. Three Points.

Where in the world was Alfred Russel Wallace stationed? Three Points.

What major continental-drift development occurred, changed ocean currents, then climate, to possibly set up the evolution of humans from jungle-living ancestors? Four Points.

Explain what is meant by "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." Three Points.

Explain how the schizophrenia allele might have a positive affect. Four Points.

What particular feature about the history of the world itself would support both theories about the pace of evolution? Four Points.

What discovery from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico was announced last weekend? Three Points.