BIOL 2400 Chapter All: Textbook Questions Answer Key
BIOL2400 PRACTICE QUESTION ANSWER KEY
CHAPTER 2 – A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1) Which of these statements is a concept found in George Buffon’s ideas about evolution but
not the way we understand evolution now?
a) Populations can change over time
b) Life can be divided into a number of distinct types that are not related to each other
c) Living things are made up of the same particles found in rocks and water
d) Life took more than a few thousand years to evolve
2) What would Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin have agreed on?
a) One generation can pass on its traits to the next
b) Individual animals and plants can adapt to their environment
c) Life is driven from simplicity to complexity
d) Both a and b
3) What is the correct definition of homology?
a) Common traits due to shared inheritance from a common ancestor
b) Common function of traits due to similar usage
c) Structure of limbs that are common among all mammals
d) Traits in separate lineages that converged on a similar shape
4) What set Darwin and Wallace’s concept of natural selection apart from earlier ideas of
evolution?
a) Their concept explained why organisms were related to each other
b) Their concept depended on a process that is observable
c) Their concept depended on the inheritance of characteristics from one generation to the
next
d) Their concept suggested that the change was very gradual
5) Darwin is generally given more credit than Wallace for discovering natural selection as a
mechanism of evolution because
a) Wallace already knew of Darwin’s work, so he didn’t arrive at the idea independently
b) Darwin was part of the academic establishment (a fellow of the Royal Society), whereas
Wallace was not
c) Darwin’s paper explained natural selection more effectively than Wallace’s
d) Darwin’s journals established that he had arrived at the idea many years earlier than
Wallace
6) Which of the following is not a reason Darwin’s concept of descent with modification fits so
well with Linnaeus’s system of taxonomy classification?
a) Linnaeus formulated his classification system to account for species changing gradually
over time
b) Linnaeus’s taxonomic groups (genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom) next within
each other in much the same way that branches converge on bigger branches and then
trunks on Darwin’s “tree of life”
c) Linnaeus’s groups are defined based on shared characteristics, which fits well with Darwin’s
idea that descendent species inherit homologous traits from their most recent common
ancestor
d) Descent with modification can explain the patterns Linnaeus observed and their
hierarchical classification system formulated to describe them
7) Lamarck’s idea that organisms inherit their parents’ acquired characteristics has experienced
a recent resurgence in popularity because
a) modern genomic studies cast doubt on traditional concepts of gene function and
inheritance
b) phenotypic plasticity – changes in traits acquired during the lifetime of an organism in
response to environmental conditions – is now a thriving field of research in biology
c) it has become clear that some acquired traits, such as physiological responses to stress,
can be transmitted epigenetically to offspring (at least for a generation or two)
d) phenotypic plasticity is now considered a form of biological evolution
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8) Why is Linnaeus considered the founder of modern taxonomy?
a) Because his system of grouping organisms into a nested hierarchy is still in use today
b) Because the groupings of organisms within his original hierarchy are still supported today
c) Because he was the first to use stratigraphy as a method for reconstructing the past
d) Because he proposed that the mechanical complexity of animal systems was evidence of
a Divine Creator
9) Homologous characteristics are those that
a) are similar characteristics shared by individuals of the same species
b) are similar in two or more species because they are inherited from a common ancestor
c) serve similar functions but are dissimilar
d) All of the above
10) Why is embryology important in determining evolutionary relationships among species?
a) Embryos give insight into analogous structures
b) Humans and fishes share characteristics that are first evident in embryos
c) Some homologies are evident only when animals are embryos
d) The inheritance of features from common ancestors is only evident in embryos
INTERPRET THE DATA
11) Modern taxonomy closely resembles the original scheme developed by Linnaeus. One
aspect that is characteristic of both
Linnaeus’s and modern taxonomic
classification is the hierarchal grouping
of taxonomic categories (e.g. genera
are nested within families, and families
are nested within orders). Taxonomic
groups are defined by features shared
by included species. Chordates, for
example, all have a hollow nerve cord
called the notochord and a circulatory
system that uses vessels to transport
blood. Mammals all share the
capacity to produce milk (mammary
glands). Mammals also have hair and
a particular combination of three inner
ear bones. Using the figure as a guide,
which of the following statements is false?
a) The three inner ear bones in humans are homologous with the inner ear bones of bats
b) Snakes should have a notochord and circulatory system but not three inner ear bones or
mammary glands
c) Orangutans should have mammary glands and hair but not a notochord
d) Both gorillas and cats should have mammary glands, hair, and circulatory system
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
12) Which of Carolus Linnaeus’s many contributions to biology are most valuable to scientists
studying evolution? Which of Linnaeus’s concepts have been shown to be incorrect?
→ The most valuable contribution made by Carolus Linnaeus was the idea that all life could
be organized in a single hierarchy, but he did not think that all organisms were directly
related through common descent
→ Although he did believe that species could sometimes change or bring about new hybrid
species, he thought that most species were created in their present form and did not
undergo evolution
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13) How did the researcher Georges Cuvier combine the geological discoveries and theories of
James Hutton and William Smith and his own observations to decide that geological
formations from very different geographic locations were from the same time period?
→ James Hutton’s view of a world slowly changing over vast periods of time led to William
Smith’s observation that layers of rock could be identified by the kind of fossils that were
found in them
→ Georges Cuvier studied these fossils to identify the age of the rocks found in different
locations and to demonstrate that these geographically different rock layers were
deposited at the same time
14) Define stratigraphy and explain how this field of study helped scientists understand evolution.
→ Stratigraphy is the study of layering in rocks (from old to young) as a way to understand
the geological history of Earth
→ Recognizing that the planet keeps a sequential record of its own history allowed early
biologists to understand that the plant – and the life that has occupied certain regions of
it – has changed over time
→ Later, stratigraphy developed further as a way to date the fossilized remains of life tucked
within the planet’s strata
15) How did the work of Thomas Malthus influence Darwin and Wallace in creating their theories
of natural selection?
→ Thomas Malthus was referring to human populations in his writings, but they showed Darwin
and Wallace that the number of organisms that could be produced generation after
generation would quickly surpass the amount of resources that would be needed for all of
them to survive
→ This idea, that reproduction would outstrip availability of resources and lead to competition,
provided the key for both Darwin and Wallace in understanding the differential survival of
varying forms of organisms and the selection of better-performing variants
16) How did pigeon breeding influence Darwin’s conception of natural selection?
→ Darwin noticed that breeders, by choosing which members of their flocks reproduced,
could encourage the occurrence of traits they desired in the next generation of offspring
→ This artificial selection was analogous to Darwin’s natural selection
→ Yet instead of a breeder’s eye judging who would be allowed to reproduce, it would be
the adaptations and traits of the organisms themselves that would “choose” who would
survive to breed
→ Thus, the traits passed on wouldn’t be for aesthetics of a pigeon breed but rather for the
reproductive success of individuals in their environment
17) Why was Lamarck’s view of inheritance seemingly intuitive? What observations would be
needed to support his theory?
→ Changes to humans within their lifetime were readily observable (e.g. as the blacksmith
example)
→ To show that these characteristics were heritable, one piece of necessary evidence would
be to show that all of a blacksmith’s sons and daughters were strong simply because the
blacksmith needed to be strong and not because the children performed work similar to
their father’s work as they grew up
→ Lamarck would have needed to show that the sons and daughters would be strong even
if thy became scholars and spent most of their time reading
CHAPTER 4
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1) Two species that branch off from the node of a phylogenetic tree are analogous to
a) siblings on a family tree
b) cousins on a family tree
c) cousins on a family tree
d) grandparents on a family tree
