Chapter 23 Flashcards
(24 cards)
The fossil record contains our best evidence of which of the following?
A. genetic drift
B. microevolution
C. speciation
D. macroevolution
E. continental drift
D. macroevolution
When did the first prokaryotes arise, according to the fossil record?
A. 2.5 billion years ago
B. 4 million years ago
C. 3.5 billion years ago
D. 2,000 years ago
E. 4.5 billion years ago
C. 3.5 billion years ago
Which of the following is a rich source for the earliest prokaryote fossils?
A. sedimentary rock
B. metamorphic rock
C. coral reefs
D. stromatolites
E. Pangaea
D. stromatolites
Radiometric dating ____________.
A. can be used to directly date fossils in sedimentary rock
B. relies on the fact that the daughter isotope decays to the parent isotope at a constant rate
C. allows us to indirectly date fossils up to billions of years old based on minerals in surrounding volcanic strata
D. works only on rocks younger than 75,000 years
E. allows us to determine an absolute, errorless date
C. allows us to indirectly date fossils up to billions of years old based on minerals in surrounding volcanic strata
Potassium-40 is a commonly used isotope for radiometric dating. It decays to argon-40, with a half-life of 1.3 billion years. A volcanic rock is found to have 1/8 as much potassium-40 as liquid lava. How old is the rock?
A. 162 million years
B. 1.3 billion years
C. 2.6 billion years
D. 3.9 billion years
E. 10.4 billion years
D. 3.9 billion years
Which of the following places geologic Eons in their proper order from oldest to most recent?
A. Archaean, Hadean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
B. Hadean, Archaean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
C. Hadean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic, Archaean
D. Proterozoic, Hadean, Archaean, Phanerozoic
E. Phanerozoic, Proterozoic, Archaean, Hadean
B. Hadean, Archaean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
Which of the following places the Phanerozoic Eras into their proper order from oldest to youngest?
A. Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic
B. Cenozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic
C. Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
D. Paleozoic, Cenozoic, Mesozoic
E. Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Cenozoic
C. Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
Neogene belongs to which Era?
A. Paleozoic
B. Mesozoic
C. Cenozoic
C. Cenozoic
Triassic belongs to which Era?
A. Paleozoic
B. Mesozoic
C. Cenozoic
B. Mesozoic
Devonian belongs to which Era?
A. Paleozoic
B. Mesozoic
C. Cenozoic
A. Paleozoic
The Cambrian explosion marks the relatively “sudden” appearance of many animal phyla approximately 542 million
years ago. Approximately what percentage of Earth’s history has
occurred since the appearance of animals?
A. 1%
B. 13%
C. 50%
D. 87%
B. 13%
The supercontinent Pangaea dates to approximately what time period?
A. 25 million years ago
B. 65 million years ago
C. 250 million years ago
D. 550 million years ago
E. 2.5 billion years ago
C. 250 million years ago
Continental drift has played a major role in which of the following evolutionary events?
A. heterochrony
B. allopolyploidy
C. genetic drift
D. allopatric speciation
E. sympatric speciation
D. allopatric speciation
Which of the following is a reasonable prediction concerning plate tectonics and continental drift?
A. Continents should slowly stabilize their current positions.
B. Continents will stabilize their positions once they are as far apart as possible.
C. Continents should eventually re-aggregate into a supercontinent before breaking up again.
D. No new mountain ranges should form.
E. Oceans will continue to rise.
C. Continents should eventually re-aggregate into a supercontinent before breaking up again.
A basic tenet of evolution by natural selection is that species should continually become more fit for their environment. What, then, can account for extinction?
A. Natural selection temporarily stops working.
B. New mutations decrease fitness.
C. The environment changes more rapidly than species can adapt.
D. Species have fixed life spans
C. The environment changes more rapidly than species can adapt.
When was the largest known mass extinction in the history of our planet?
A. 542 million years ago
B. 252 million years ago
C. 65 million years ago
D. currently ongoing
B. 252 million years ago
Which of the following is not thought to be a cause of mass extinctions on Earth?
A. volcanism
B. extraterrestrial impact
C. human activity
D. mutation
D. mutation
Human activity is the leading cause of which major extinction wave?
A. 2nd
B. 4th
C. 6th
D. 8th
E. 10th
C. 6th
The Galàpagos finches are descended from one species of finch that colonized the islands and, over a relatively short period of time, speciated into several different finch species. This is an
example of _________.
A. adaptive radiation
B. sympatric speciation
C. allopatric speciation
D. symbiosis
A. adaptive radiation
The hundreds of varied fruit fly species on the Hawaiian Islands arose through adaptive radiation. Which piece of evidence would best support this claim?
A. The Hawaiian fruit fly species all physically resemble one another more than they do non-Hawaiian fruit flies.
B. The Hawaiian fruit fly species are more closely related to one another genetically than they are to non-Hawaiian fruit flies.
C. The Hawaiian fruit fly species all occupy similar ecological niches.
D. The Hawaiian fruit fly species are radioactive.
B. The Hawaiian fruit fly species are more closely related to one another genetically than they are to non-Hawaiian fruit flies.
Which statement concerning evolutionary novelties has the least evidence to support it?
A. New evolutionary structures require new genes.
B. New evolutionary structures can arise from changes in the expression of existing genes.
C. Complex structures can evolve in stepwise fashion.
D. Structures evolved in one context can be co-opted for another function.
A. New evolutionary structures require new genes.
Giraffe necks have the same number of vertebrae as most other mammals—7. The reason their necks are so long is that the growth period of their neck bones during embryonic stages has been extended. This is an example of _________.
A. adaptive radiation
B. paedomorphosis
C. heterochrony
D. Hox genes
E. speciation
C. heterochrony
Which of the following evolutionary novelties is least consistent with being facilitated by a Hox gene?
A. crustacean feeding appendages
B. paedomorphosis in salamanders
C. loss of limbs in snakes
D. wing number in insects
B. paedomorphosis in salamanders
The gene Pax6 is expressed and required in the developing eyes of both molluscs and vertebrates. What is the simplest explanation for this?
A. Pax6 is a homeotic gene.
B. Pax6 was independently co-opted into the developing eyes of both molluscs and vertebrates.
C. Mollusc eyes and vertebrate eyes both evolved from simple photoreceptors present in a common ancestor that used the Pax6 gene.
D. Mollusc eyes and vertebrate eyes have very similar structure that requires the Pax6 gene.
C. Mollusc eyes and vertebrate eyes both evolved from simple photoreceptors present in a common ancestor that used the Pax6 gene.
