Earth's History & Evolution

A population of birds eats green beetles that live in a forest. Occasionally the green beetles will have brown offspring. The brown beetles are more easily seen and are usually eaten sooner.

The fact that the population of beetles includes beetles of different colors is an example of

• natural selection

• variation

• competition

• classification

A population of birds eats green beetles that live in a forest. Occasionally the green beetles will have brown offspring. The brown beetles are more easily seen and are usually eaten sooner.

The fact that the green beetles are harder to see so they are more likely to survive and reproduce is known as

• variation

• speciation

• natural selection

• overproduction

A population of birds eats green beetles that live in a forest. Occasionally the green beetles will have brown offspring. The brown beetles are more easily seen and are usually eaten sooner.

Imagine that a dust storm caused the trees to be heavily covered in brown dust. What is most likely to happen?

• The green beetles would survive and would be covered in brown particles.

• The green beetles would decide to have brown offspring in order to survive.

• Brown dust would have no effect, and the green beetles would still be the majority population.

• The brown beetles would be more likely to camouflage and survive. Over time the beetle population would have more brown beetles.

Of the following animals, which would have an anatomical structure that is analogous to the wing of a butterfly?

• a human

• a kangaroo

• a bat

• a shark

In the phrase "survival of the fittest" to what does the term fittest refer?

• the best-adapted organisms

• the smartest organisms

• the slowest organisms

• the strongest organisms

In natural selection, how would the evolution of long-necked tortoises be best explained?

• Short-necked tortoises were eaten by the long-necked tortoises.

• Long-necked tortoises did stretching to increase neck length

• Long-necked tortoises were able to eat the taller plants on the island, and were better suited to their environment.

• Short-necked tortoises were able to hide from predators so long-necked tortoises learned how to fight.

Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to survive antibiotic treatment that previously would kill the bacteria. The development of this resistance is an example of which of these?

• ineffective antibiotics

• competition

• natural selection

• embryology

How do scientists determine the actual age of fossils?

• relative dating

• radioactive dating

• Law of Superposition

• molds and casts

Index fossils help scientists estimate the age of a rock because index fossils are easily recognized and widespread, and they existed for a short period of time. What happened to the species that are now used as index fossils?

• They became extinct.

• They migrated to new environments.

• They were buried in lava.

• They bred with other species and survived.

The red-bellied woodpecker has a long, sharp beak to get bugs from inside of trees. What factor might lead to the extinction of this type of woodpecker?

• an increase in the insect population

• an increase in trees

• a cold winter

• the use of bug-killing chemicals in its habitat