The following are a few practice questions to illustrate the style of my exam questions The mid term exam itself will have 33 such questions spanning lectures 1 12 Good luck Craig 1 On which of the following points was Darwin incorrect A Sexual selection often operates through female choice B Relationships among taxa can be estimated from shared derived traits C Ecologically diverse but related species on island archipelagos often represent adaptive radiation from a common ancestor derived from adjacent continents D Missing transitional forms in the fossil record will be discovered with further collecting and analysis E Inheritance works through blending of heritable factors 2 Descent with modification as illustrated in the Origin of the species refers to A A phylogeny estimated using morphological characters in the fossil record B Speciation without extinction C Effects of directional selection within a single lineage D Diversification of phenotypically distinct forms via natural selection and from a common ancestor E Effects of environmental variation during development on adult phenotype 3 Which of the following best defines a monophyletic group A A taxonomic group that contains the descendants of an ancestor but not the ancestor itself B A taxonomic group that contains the ancestor and some of its descendants C A taxonomic group that contains the ancestor and all of its descendants D A taxonomic group characterized by numerous shared derived characters E A taxonomic group that contains the ancestor but none of its descendants 4 A formerly large random mating population switches to a high rate of inbreeding As a consequence A The frequency of disadvantageous recessive alleles will increase B Migration rates will decrease C Genetic drift will be stronger D Recessive deleterious traits are more evident in the population E Dominant traits will be selected against 5 What sequence of events led to the neo Darwinian synthesis A Mendel s principles of inheritance and ii discovery of the structure of DNA B Development of the concept of descent with modification through natural selection and ii Mendel s principles of inheritance C Discovery of the structure of DNA and ii sequencing of the human genome D Mendel s principles of inheritance and ii sequencing of the human genome E Development of the concept of descent with modification through natural selection and ii discovery of the structure of DNA 6 Directional selection differs from stabilizing selection in that A Directional selection operates only in small populations whereas stabilizing selection is effective in both small and large populations B Directional selection favors intermediate over extreme phenotypes whereas stabilizing selection favors one end of the phenotype distribution C Directional selection favors one end of the phenotype distribution whereas stabilizing selection favors intermediate over extreme phenotypes D Directional selection requires new mutations whereas stabilizing selection operates on existing variation E Directional selection operates on existing variation whereas stabilizing selection operates on existing variation 7 Antagonistic co evolution A Applies when kin selection does not favor altruistic behaviors B Occurs if one species affects the evolution of another but not vice versa C Can result in increased fitness as a phenotype involved in species interactions becomes rare D Is the direct result of conflict among males for access to females E Is responsible for melanism of mice living on dark lava flows 8 Relative to asexual eg parthenogenetic or apomictic reproduction sexual reproduction increases genetic diversity within populations by A Increasing mutation rate B Promoting sexual selection C Increasing mutation rate and recombination D Independent assortment and recombination E Sexual selection and recombination 9 In the marsupial mouse Antechinus multiply mated females tend to have a higher proportion of surviving offspring that those that mate just once This illustrates A Sperm competition and indirect benefits of female choice B The principle of natural selection C Reduced fecundity ova in females that mate just once D Limitations on fertilization success E Good luck 10 The diversity of species concepts arises because A Botanists favor the Biological species concept BSC whereas Zoologists are focused on the Phylogenetic species concept PSC B Prezygotic isolation BSC evolves before the evolution of distinct character states PSC C Distinct character states PSC evolve before prezygotic isolation BSC D Of inherent difficulty in unambiguously recognizing distinct evolutionary lineages during early stages of divergence E Evolutionary biologists are clueless 11 As seen in the Ensatina salamanders secondary contact between previously isolated lineages can result in a stable hybrid zone This reflects A Complete speciation B Reinforcement C Hybrid speciation D Fusion of previously separated lineages E A balance between immigration from parental populations and selection against hybrids 12 Which of the following best describes the unique importance of the fossil record A It provides the only source of information on relationships among living taxa B It provides the only source of information on divergence times of living taxa C It provides the only source of information on phenotypes of extinct taxa D It provides the only source of information on evolutionary trends over time E It provides the only source of information on population sizes over time 13 The hominin lineage A Includes modern humans and our descendants after the split with the chimpanzee lineage and diversified rapidly in Africa between 2 and 4 million years ago B Includes modern humans and our descendants after the split with the chimpanzee lineage and diversified rapidly in Africa about 100 000 years ago C Includes humans chimpanzees and gorillas and their descendents from a common ancestor D Is paraphyletic in relation to chimpanzees and gorillas E Excludes modern humans Answer key to practice questions 1 E 2 D 3 C 4 D 5 B 6 C 7 C 8 D 9 A 10 D 11 E 12 C 13 A
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