Chapter 2 Quiz

. Refer to the figure showing the phylogenetic tree from Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

Based on the figure, which statement is false?

Darwin recognized that lineages may go extinct.

Darwin recognized hybridization as an important means of genetic change.

Darwin recognized that not all descendents of an organism's ancestors still exist.

Darwin thought that evolution might take thousands of generations.

Darwin recognized that rates of evolutionary change may vary among lineages.

. Which of the following is not a benefit of Linnaeus's classification system?

It provides biologists with a common set of names for different organisms.

It provides names for species according to an ordered scheme.

It is hierarchal.

It is well suited for describing patterns of relatedness among different taxa.

It makes use of colloquial (common) species names.

. Which of the following is an accepted rule of species nomenclature?

Names do not need to have a particular meaning.

The genus and species epithet do not need to agree in gender.

The name of a species is always printed in boldface type.

Taxonomic names cannot be revised.

No two species of animals or plants can bear the same name.

. A monophyletic group (also called a clade) is defined as

having shared ancestral character states.

a branch point in a phylogenetic tree.

having shared derived character states.

the set of species derived from one common ancestor.

having an ancestral characteristic.

. Which of the following is an example of homologous characters?

Crocodiles and humans both have forelimbs with five digits.

The aquatic larval stage was lost in a lineage of salamanders but was later regained.

Snails and turtles both have strong, hard shells for protection.

Parrotfish and parrots (the birds) both have beaklike mouths.

Some flies have bright yellow coloring like that of wasps, which provides a false warning.

. Which of the following is most likely the result of horizontal gene transfer?

The sharing of mitochondrial genes between Homo sapiens and the fungus Macrolepiota procera

The sharing of antibiotic resistance among multiple bacteria species

Self-incompatibility genes found in a single plant species

β-globin genes shared by members of a taxonomic family

Herbicide resistance that is unique to a single strain of weed

. Gene genealogies can vary for different loci. What does this imply for species trees?

Accurately estimated gene trees will always give the correct species phylogeny.

Species trees require apomorphies in order to be successfully resolved.

Adaptive radiations do not occur.

Species trees should be constructed using multiple loci (both nuclear and mtDNA).

All genes in the genome are subject to similar selective pressures.

. Once the historical relationships among different variant DNA sequences are inferred, it is possible to

construct a morphological phylogeny.

perform bootstrap analysis.

determine the holotype of a species.

construct gene trees (gene genealogies).

determine the location of introns in a gene.

. Which of these are paralogous genes?

The result of a gene duplication within a species; for example, a copy of the original hemoglobin gene has become adapted for slightly different functions within a mammal species as hemoglobin α and β

The result of a speciation event; each derived species has evolved a different version of the gene, like the difference between hemoglobin α in humans and chimps

Genes located on the same chromosome and that are genetically linked, like freckles and hair color in humans

Genes that have independently evolved the same function in distantly related organisms, like the hearing gene, Prestin, which allows echolocation in both dolphins and bats

Genes that have changed within a species as a result of adaptive evolution, such as improvements in the defensins proteins of the human immune system over time

. Which of the following is the most important assumption when estimating the time of divergence between two lineages using a molecular clock?

The lineages are each other's closest living relatives.

The rate of molecular change is exactly the same for all lineages.

The same codon may code for different amino acids in different organisms.

The number of nucleotide substitutions observed is actually the number that has occurred.

Nucleotide substitutions are equally likely at all positions in the codon.

. The human coccyx (tail bone) served a function in our ancestors but is no longer useful. This is an example of a(n)

evolutionary reversal.

key innovation.

vestigial character.

homoplasy.

homologous character.

. Which of the following would not cause complications in inferring a phylogeny?

Homoplasy

Presence of synapomorphies (shared derived characteristics)

Variation in rates of evolution for different taxa

Convergent evolution

Absence of DNA sequence information for many extinct taxa

. Which observation (evidence) casts doubt on the validity of Dollo's law?

Many insect lineages have lost their wings over the course of evolution.

Tooth primordia develop in chicken embryos with certain genetic mutations.

Humans are unable to smell as well as our ancestors because we have lost some olfactory receptors.

The wings of birds and bats evolved independently.

Penguins use their wings to swim rather than to fly.

. Convergent evolution is a form of

natural selection.

homeopathy.

homology.

homoplasy.

homozygosity.

. An important principle in evolution states that a species does not evolve as a whole, but that many of its features evolve quasi-independently. This principle is best supported by the observation of

conservative characters.

mosaic evolution.

phenotypic integration.

convergence.

evolutionary reversal.

. The two major branches of mammals—the placentals and the marsupials—followed independent evolutionary pathways after the breakup of the land mass Gondwanaland 100 million years ago. While some forms of each group are unique to each environment, surprisingly similar forms in each of the groups have often emerged in two or three of the separated continents. This is an example of

convergence.

homology.

gene duplication.

polyploidy.

parallel evolution.

. A situation in which lineages diverge too rapidly for a phylogeny to be constructed is called

synapomorphy.

homoplasy.

haplotype divergence.

DNA sequence polymorphism.

evolutionary radiation.

. Which statement about evolutionary radiation is false?

Species arise in a relatively short time.

Evolution shows a directional trend.

It is likely the most common pattern of long-term evolution.

It encompasses divergent evolution of numerous related lineages.

It is often thought to be adaptive.

Chapter 2 Quiz

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