Evolution

Individuals that are better able to cope with the challenges of their environment tend to  

• Decrease in population over time.
• Leave more offspring than those less suited to the environment.
• Leave fewer offspring than those less suited to the environment.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Members of different subspecies

• Are considered to be entirely different species.
• Can no longer interbreed successfully.
• Differ genetically because of adaptations for different living conditions.
• Will never diverge to become different species.

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Starting in 1954, commercial fishers in the northwest Pacific were paid by weight, rather than by the individual fish, for pink salmon. The fishers increased the use of a type of net that selectively catches larger fish.  Which of the following effects did this change in fishing technique most likely have on the salmon population over the next 20 years?

• The average body size of the salmon population decreased significantly.
• The average body size of the salmon population increased significantly.
• The average body size of the males in the salmon population increased, and the females stayed the same.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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European rabbits were introduced to Australia in 1859. The rabbits reproduced rapidly in their new habitat, displaced other animals, and overgrazed vegetation. In an attempt to reduce the rabbit population, a virus was introduced in 1951. This virus is usually deadly to European rabbits. When the virus was first introduced, the rabbits died in large numbers, but the death rate decreased over time. Which of the following best explains the decrease in the rabbit death rate? 

• Young rabbits learned to avoid being infected with the virus.
• The lifespan of the virus was too short to affect rabbits over a long period of time.
• Natural selection favored rabbits that were resistant to the virus. 
• No correct choices.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Some willow trees alter the chemical composition of their leaves when attacked by caterpillars. Compared to normal leaves, the chemically altered leaves are less nutritious and more difficult for caterpillars to digest.
 Which of the following is a likely effect of this ability to alter leaf composition?

• Willow trees with this ability will attract more caterpillars than other willow trees.
• Willow trees with this ability have a survival advantage over other willow trees. 
• More butterflies will lay their eggs on willow trees with this ability than other willow trees. 
• None are correct

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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Structures that share a common ancestry or are similar because they are modified versions of structures from a common ancestor that contain the same basic bone structure are

• Not related.
• Not homologous. 
• Homologous.
• Young in origin.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Structures with no function that are remnants of an organism’s evolutionary past are

• Not visible organisms.
• Vestigial
• Young in origin
• Useful to the organism

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Comparing human hemoglobin of chimpanzees, horses, kangaroos, and chickens, reveal that humans have the fewest amino acid differences with 

• Kangaroos
• Horses
• chickens
• chimpanzees

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

The formation of new species is a process known as ____________________, which is typically the product of divergence. 

• gradualism
• speciation
• reproductive isolation
• subspecies

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

The hypothesis that evolution of a species occurs gradually over time as a slow and constant process is known as

• speciation
• punctuated equilibrium
• gradualism
• microevolution

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NGSS.MS-LS4-1