Ch. 22 Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life Dynamic Study Module

An important challenge to traditional (pre-1860) ideas about species was the observation that seemingly dissimilar organisms such as hummingbirds, humans, and whales have similar skeletal structures.

This most directly suggested to biologists that __________.

dissimilar organisms might have evolved from a distant, common ancestor

Homologies that appear to have marginal, if any, importance to an organism are called __________.

vestigial structures

At the time Darwin voyaged on the HMS Beagle, the popularly accepted theory in Western culture that explained the origin of Earth's plants and animals held that the various species __________.

had been created by divine intervention a few thousand years before

On an evolutionary tree, __________.

homologous characteristics form a nested pattern

All known organisms transcribe genetic information to protein molecules via the same genetic code. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that __________.

all organisms are descended from a single common ancestor

Which of the following is not an observation or inference on which natural selection is based?

Poorly adapted individuals never produce offspring.

An important challenge to traditional (pre-1860) ideas about species was the observation that seemingly dissimilar organisms such as hummingbirds, humans, and whales have similar skeletal structures.

 

This most directly suggested to biologists that __________.

dissimilar organisms might have evolved from a distant, common ancestor

What does each branch point on an evolutionary tree represent?

The common ancestor of the lineages beginning there and to the right of it

The upper forelimbs of humans and bats have fairly similar skeletal structures, whereas the corresponding bones in whales have very different shapes and proportions. However, genetic data suggest that all three kinds of organisms diverged from a common ancestor at about the same time.

 

Which of the following is the most likely explanation for these data?

Natural selection in an aquatic environment resulted in significant changes to whale forelimb anatomy.

Carolus Linnaeus is considered to be the founder of __________, and he __________.

the binomial classification system; thought that resemblances among different species reflected the pattern of their creation

The bacteria Staphylococcus aureus has developed resistance to some antibiotic drugs. How did this resistance come about?

During periods of rapid environmental change, what may happen to a species that was well-suited to the former environment?

• Individuals with particular traits that provide an advantage in the new environment will have higher reproductive success.

• Traits that were favorable in the original environment may be detrimental in the new environment.

• The population may change so much in adapting to the new environment that it is considered a new species.

How did Hutton and Lyell’s ideas influence Charles Darwin’s thinking?

Darwin reasoned that the Earth must be very old and that slow, subtle processes could produce substantial biological changes.

Adaptations are defined as __________.

inherited characteristics of organisms that enhance their survival and reproduction in specific environments

Which of the following is correct regarding natural selection?

A(n) __________ is the smallest unit that can evolve.

population

A population of zooplankton is exposed to a small number of predatory fish that feed on the larger-sized (adult) zooplankton. Which of the following predictions would most likely occur based on the principles of natural selection?

• Adult zooplankton will start to reach sexual maturity when they are still relatively small

The modern idea of extinction as a common occurrence in Earth's history was first proposed in the early 19th century writings of __________.

Georges Cuvier

Even though rodents known as sugar gliders and flying squirrels are members of distinctly different groups of organisms and live on different continents, they possess similar characteristics.

 

This is an example of __________.

convergent evolution