Evolution and genetics questions
2. In crossing a homozygous recessive with a heterozygote, what is the chance of getting an offspring with the homozygous recessive phenotype?
a. 0%
b. 25%
c. 50%
d. 75%
e. 100%
3. Black fur in mice (B) is dominant to brown fur (b). Short tails (T) is dominant to long tails (t). What fraction of the progeny of the cross BbTt þ BBtt will have black fur and long tails?
a. 3/16
b. 1/16
c. 3/8
d. 1/2
e. 9/16
4. Beak size in finches is a continuous quantitative trait. Consider a population of finches that have a mean beak size of 5 mm. Suppose a disease wiped out a lot of the finches and the surviving population had a mean beak size of 3mm. What is the selection differential?
a. -2mm
b. +2mm
c. -3mm
d. +3mm
e. +5mm
5. If only the surviving finches reproduced and the mean beak size of the offspring generation was 4mm, what is the heritability for this trait?
a. 0.0
b. 0.5
c. 1.0
d. 1.5
e. There is not enough information to answer the question.
6. The biological species concept is inadequate for grouping
a. sympatric populations.
b. asexual organisms.
c. parasites.
d. large populations.
e. plants.
7. In a cross between parents who both exhibit the dominant curly (C) and dark (D) haired traits, one child has straight, light-colored hair. What are the hair genotypes of the parents?
a. CCDD þ CcDd
b. CcDd þ CcDd
c. CcDd þ ccdd
d. Ccdd þ CcDd
e. CCdd þ ccDd
8. In a cross AaBbCc þ AaBbCc, what is the probability of producing the genotype AABBCC?
a. 1/64
b. 1/4
c. 1/32
d. 1/16
e. 1/8
9. The fact that all seven of the garden pea traits studied by Mendel obeyed the principle of independent assortment means that the
a. seven pairs of alleles determining these traits are on the same pair of homologous chromosomes.
b. diploid number of garden peas is 7.
c. haploid number of garden peas is 7.
d. formation of gametes in plants is by mitosis only.
e. seven pairs of alleles determining these traits behave as if they are on different chromosomes.
10. A defining characteristic of allopatric speciation is
a. artificial selection.
b. geographic isolation.
c. asexually reproducing populations.
d. the appearance of new species in the midst of old ones.
e. large populations.
11. A woman has six sons. The chance that her next child will be a daughter is
a. 1/6.
b. 0.
c. 1.
d. 1/2.
e. 5/6.
Use the following options to answer the following questions. For each description of reproductive isolation, select the option that best describes it. Options may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
A. gametic
B. temporal
C. behavioral
D. habitat
E. mechanical
12. The scarlet oak is adapted to moist bottomland, whereas the black oak is adapted to dry upland soils.
13. Mating fruit flies recognize the appearance, odor, tapping motions, and sounds of members of their own species, but not of other species.
14. A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years. Over that time, the population was never fewer than 30 squirrels and never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the squirrels born did not survive to reproduce, because of competition for food and predation. Suddenly, the population increased to 80. In a single generation, 90% of the squirrels that were born lived to reproduce. What inferences might you make about that population?
a. The number of predators probably decreased.
b. The young squirrels in the next generation will show greater levels of
variation than in the previous generations because squirrels that would not have survived in the past are now surviving.
c. The amount of available food probably increased.
d. All three of these are reasonable inferences.
e. Only B and C are reasonable inferences.
15. Insects with mutations that prevent flight (e.g., the "vestigial wing"
mutation in fruit flies) usually can't survive long in nature. But in four of the
following environments, flightlessness could be selected for. Which environmentshould favor the survival of fruit flies that can fly?
a. a forest full of bats that catch and eat insects while in flight
b. a cage with slippery walls that insects can't climb and an electrified screen on top that kills insects that touch it
c. a cage in which food cannot be reached by using only the legs
d. a swamp full of frogs that can see and catch flying insects better than crawling insects
e. an island where stiff winds blow some flying insects out to sea where they drown
16. Three babies were recently mixed up in a hospital. After consideration of thedata below, which of the following represent the correct baby/parent combinations?
Couple # I II III
Blood groups A and A A and B B and O
Baby # I II III
Blood groups B O AB
a. I-3, II-2, III-1
b. I-3, II-1, III-2
c. I-2, II-3, III-1
d. I-1, II-3, III-2
e. I-2, II-1, III-3
17. Natural selection is based on all of the following except
a. variation exists within populations.
b. acquired characteristics during one generation get inherited in the next generation.
c. there is differential reproductive success within populations.
d. populations tend to produce more individuals than the environment can support.
e. the fittest individuals leave the most offspring.
18. Which of the following represents an idea Darwin took from the writings of Thomas Malthus?
a. The environment is responsible for natural selection.
b. Populations tend to increase at a faster rate than their food supply increases.
c. All species are fixed in the form in which they are created.
d. The Earth is more than 10,000 years old.
e. The Earth changed over the years through a series of catastrophic upheavals.
19. A rapid method of speciation that has been important in the history of
flowering plants is
a. genetic drift.
b. paedomorphosis.
c. a mutation in the gene controlling the timing of flowering.
d. polyploidy.
e. behavioral isolation.
20. Of the following anatomical structures, which is homologous to the wing of a bat? The
a. tail fin of a fish
b. dorsal fin of a shark
c. wing of a butterfly
d. arm of a human
e. tail of a kangaroo
21. Which of the following pieces of evidence most strongly supports the
common origin of all life on Earth? All organisms
a. use essentially the same genetic code.
b. have undergone evolution.
c. show heritable variation.
d. require energy.
e. reproduce.
Use the following information to answer the questions below. A large population of laboratory animals has been allowed to breed randomly for a number of generations. After several generations, 49 percent of the animals display a recessive trait (aa), the same percentage as at the beginning of the breeding program. The rest of the animals show the dominant phenotype, with heterozygotes indistinguishable from the homozygous dominants.
22. What proportion of the population is probably heterozygous (Aa) for this
trait?
a. 0.21
b. 0.51
c. 0.09
d. 0.07
e. 0.42
23. What is the estimated frequency of allele a in the gene pool?
a. 0.07
b. 0.70
c. 0.49
d. 0.51
e. 0.30
Complete the blanks in the following sentence using the options below.
24. Interbreeding between two species _________ the rate of evolution, while inbreeding __________ the rate of evolution (hint: think about the amount of
resulting genetic variation for these two processes).
a. decreases, increases
b. increases, decreases
c. increases, doesn't change
d. doesn't change, increases
e. decreases, doesn't change
25. In the article "Darwin's Avian Muses Continue to Evolve," the Grants
observed interbreeding between two species of finches on the Galapagos Islands.The offspring of these species are viable, but are not considered a "new" species. The offspring are not considered a new species because
a. they can only mate with each other.
b. they are increasing the genetic variation of the population.
c. they are able to successfully mate with at least one of the parental species.
d. they are able to adapt to a changing food supply.
e. all of the above are reasons why they are not considered a "new" species.
Choose among the following options to answer the following questions. Each option may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
A. random selection
B. directional selection
C. stabilizing selection
D. diversifying selection
E. sexual selection
26. Most Swiss starlings produce 4 to 5 eggs in each clutch.
27. An African butterfly species exists in two strikingly different color patterns.
28. Pathogenic bacteria found in many hospitals are antibiotic resistant.
The following questions utilize the following information: You are studying three populations of birds. Population 1 has ten birds, of which one is brown (a recessive trait) rather than red. Population 2 has 100 birds. In that population, ten of the birds are brown. Population 3 has 30 birds, and three of them are brown. Use the following optionsto answer the questions:
A. Population 1
B. Population 2
C. Population 3
D. They are all the same.
E. It is impossible to tell from the information given.
29. In which population would it be least likely that an accident would significantly alter the frequency of the brown allele?
30. In which population is the estimated frequency of the allele for brown feathers highest?
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