Evolution, Quiz No - 9

1. Australia has unusual organisms because their evolution for the past 38 million years has been

• Rapid

• Slow

• Isolated from other organisms

• Punctuated

The first vertebrates to colonize land were

• Birds

• Mammals

• Amphibians

• Reptiles

If the Neanderthals are not the direct ancestors of humans, is it still possible for humans and Neanderthals to be related?

• Yes, because we share a common ancestor

• Yes, but only if humans and Neanderthals could have interbred

• No, because the human evolutionary tree is strictly linear and without branches

• No, because this means that Neanderthals evolved from an entirely different branch of organisms than humans did

Which word does not describe humans?

• Ape

• Mammals

• Amphibian

• Primate

Biogenetic law as given by Haeckel states that

• ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

• phylogeny recapitulates ontogeny

• ontogeny and phylogeny go together

• there is no relationship between phylogeny and ontogeny.

What was the most significant trend in the evolution of modern man (Homo sapiens) from his ancestors ?

• Shortening of jaws

• Binocular vision

• Increasing cranial capacity

• Upright posture

Which statement best illustrates a rapid biological adaptation that has actually occurred?

• Pesticide-resistant insects have developed in certain environments.

• Scientific evidence indicates that dinosaurs once lived on land.

• Paving large areas of land has decreased habitats for certain organisms.

• The characteristics of sharks have remained unchanged over a long period of time.

According to Darwin, the organic evolution is due to

• Interspecific competition.

• Competition within closely related species.

• Reduced feeding efficiency in one species due to the presence of interfering species.

• Intraspecific competition.

The neanderthals can be attributed with all of the following characteristics, except

• Cranial capacity almost equivalent to modern man

• Burial customs

• Cave-painting

• use of spears as weapon

Which of the following is not an example of molecular evidence in favour of evolution?

• Human DNA differs in only 1.8% of its base pairs from chimpanzee DNA indicating phylogenetic relationship.

• Amino acid sequence for protein cytochrome C has no difference in human and chimpanzee

• A common genetic code is overwhelming evidence that all organisms are related

• All embryos of vertebrates develop a row of vestigial gill slits just behind the head