Chapter 3 Quiz

. Which of the following is the best example of the evolution of an adaptation?

Non-random survival and reproduction favors finches with broader beaks, increasing the bill size in the next generation.

A predator eats snails with a striped shell at a higher rate than other snails. By chance the pink snails in the population have a low rate of striping. In the next generation, more pink-shelled snails are present.

A population of sticklebacks in a lake have low levels of armor. Migrants from the ocean introduce genes for increased armor to the population.

Female bowerbirds choose to mate with males that have the bowers most elaborately decorated with blue objects. Overtime the bowers become increasingly complex.

All of the above are examples of adaptive evolution.

. Which trait cannot describe an adaptation?

A trait that appears to have been designed following engineering principles, like the extendable jaws of a snake

A trait that promotes reproduction but does not affect survival, like floral scents

A heritable behavioral trait that does not involve physical morphology, like cooperation

A trait that results in death of the individual exhibiting it but increases that individual's total number of offspring, like the suicidal behavior of male redback spiders after mating

A trait that does not change the probability of survival or reproduction, like the color of cave-dwelling fish

. Which of the following is not a well-documented example of adaptive evolution in response to human activities?

The evolution of resistance to the antibiotic penicillin by pathogenic bacteria

Earlier maturation or maturation at a smaller size by commercially harvested fish

Changes in the ranges of European songbirds because of human-caused climate change

Reduced genetic diversity in elephant seal populations because of overhunting in the 1890s

Decreasing antler size in deer because of hunters' preference for deer with larger racks

. The fitness of a biological entity is

the variation in the number of offspring produced as a consequence of competition for mates.

any consistent difference in reproductive success among phenotypically different classes of organisms.

its survival rate.

its average per capita rate of increase in numbers.

its physiological condition.

. Which term is defined as any consistent difference in fitness among phenotypically different classes of biological entities as a consequence of competition for mates?

Reproductive success

Natural selection

Sexual selection

Individual selection

Meiotic drive

. Creationists criticize the idea of natural selection as a circular argument, or tautology, claiming "The fittest are those that survive, and survival is how fitness is defined." Why is our definition of natural selection not tautological?

Fitness also includes a reproduction component.

Natural selection is measured by contribution to the next generation, not simply survival of an individual organism.

Creationists use religious definitions of these terms, not scientific ones.

Creationists do not realize that evolutionary biologists recognize other mechanisms of evolution, including genetic drift.

This is a legitimate criticism of natural selection and even Darwin acknowledges it in On the Origin of Species.

. Meiotic drive, or segregation distortion, is an example of

gametic selection.

kin selection.

group selection.

sexual selection.

inclusive fitness.

. A feature that reduces the fitness of an individual but benefits the population or species

cannot evolve by individual selection.

can evolve by group selection.

will decline in frequency among other nonaltruistic phenotypes.

All of the above

None of the above

. Which condition would most likely lead to an increase in the frequency of an altruistic behavior in a population?

Groups that differ in terms of altruistic and selfish genotypes have differential reproduction or survival.

The altruistic behavior benefits the population.

The rate of extinction of the selfish genotype is high.

There is a gene flow among populations.

The beneficiaries of the behavior are related to the individual performing it.

. Alarm calls by ground squirrels alert other ground squirrels to danger, but they also draw attention to the caller and expose it to increased risk of predation. Such altruistic behavior is best explained by the phenomenon of

selfish genes.

group selection.

individual selection.

kin selection.

exaptation.

. An experiment shows (1) that the size of a population may decline as a result of natural selection, even as individual organisms become fitter, and (2) that selection for larger groups opposes the consequences of individual selection. These observations provide evidence for the

influence of altruistic traits.

process of group selection.

effects of individual selection.

Both b and c

All of the above

. Species selection occurs when there is a correlation between some trait and the rates of two processes: _______ and _______.

survival; reproduction

geological duration; geographic range

speciation; extinction

fitness; heritability

sexual reproduction; asexual reproduction

. The wings of auks (alcidae), used for swimming, are called an exaptation because

in the ancestor, wings were used for flight, but they also function well in water.

they are useful, but don't affect fitness.

female auks are more attracted to swimming males than flying males.

they have a de novo form that was not present in ancestors.

individuals that do not use their wings for swimming have lower fitness.

. Which trait can be thought of as a preadaptation for the corresponding function?

Snake skull bones → swallowing prey

Kea's beak → piercing skin

Orchid flower form → pollination

Spider sexual suicide → fertilization success

Ant cooperative behavior → queen reproductive success

. Not all traits are adaptations. Which statement may also explain the evolution of a particular trait?

It may be a necessary consequence of physics or chemistry.

It may have evolved by genetic drift, rather than by natural selection.

It may have evolved because it was correlated with another trait that conferred an adaptive advantage.

It may be a consequence of phylogenetic history.

All of the above

. Which method would be the best way to test whether larger body size in amphipods is an adaptation to risk of predation?

Correlate body size with predation risk across a number of closely related species, independent of phylogenetic relationships.

Correlate body size with predation risk across a number of closely related species, taking into account phylogenetic relationships.

Expose two species that differ in body size to predators, and compare their survivorship.

Expose all of the closely related species to predators and compare their survivorship.

Correlate body size with other possible antipredator traits, such as armor or swimming speed.

. Which of these is an example of an evolutionary trade-off?

An oak tree must make decisions about whether to invest energy in growth or reproduction.

A giraffe has seven neck vertebrae, just like almost all other tetrapods.

Blue whales lack the genetic variation necessary to adapt to other food sources.

Genetic correlations make it difficult for natural selection to disentangle development of anterior and posterior eyespots on butterfly wings.

Changing ocean temperatures select for fish with expanded thermal tolerance, compared to their ancestors.

. Which scenario depicts adaptations incorrectly?

A modified trait in an organism helps it leave behind more descendants.

A trait in an organism increases in frequency because of non-random differences in survival and reproduction.

A trait evolves that serves a valuable purpose in the environment of those that possess it.

As a trait became modified, its function was also altered.

A trait evolves in anticipation of a future environmental change.

. Which condition cannot cause the evolution of an adaptation?

Environmental change that does not threaten extinction

The superiority of new mutations to any preexisting genetic variations in an unchanging environment

Future extinction of a population

Environmental change that reduces population size

None of the above can cause the evolution of an adaptation.

Chapter 3 Quiz

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