Evolution

Dogs descend from wolves. Thousands of years ago, humans started to selectively breed wolves based on the traits they found desirable. This process by which people choose and select which animals (or plants) to pass on their genes is called...

• artificial selection

• genetic drift

• transitional forms

• natural selection

Charles Darwin discovered that the struggle to survive and reproduce selects individuals with certain traits over other. Over time, this selection process causes the population to become better adapted to an environment. This process is called...

• natural selection

• artificial selection

• genetic drift

• transitional forms

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Why does genetic diversity increase the odds of survival for a population?

• The more genetic variation there is, the more likely it is that there is an allele present that is best suited for the environment.

• The more genetic variation there is, the less likely it is for mutations to form in the population.

• The more genetic variation there is, the slower the rate of adaptation.

• The more genetic variation there is, the larger and stronger the individuals that make up that population.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Which of the following is the most reasonable explanation as to why ostriches can no longer fly?

• The ancestors of ostriches fed on ground plants and roots. Larger bodies digest plants more effectively. As they became larger and better adapted to eating plants and roots, the ability to fly was no longer beneficial and lost.

• The percentage of atmospheric oxygen has decreased making it impossible for large birds like ostriches to fly.

• The ancestors of modern ostriches lost the use of their flight muscles in an environmental disaster. Their offspring inherited this characteristic acquired from the disaster.

• Ostriches can still fly. They only fly during the most extreme of emergencies.

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Storms can accidently transport insects to isolated ocean islands. These insects can then begin new populations on these islands. When comparing different insect populations, which characteristic would make a population more likely to survive in a new habitat?

• Having the most genetic variation

• Having the largest wings

• Having the smallest body mass

• Having the least genetic variation

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There are a wide variety of ducks around the world. Some are colorful, some are plain, some are large, some are small, some have large wide beaks, and others have small pointy beaks. Why is there so much variety between different types of ducks?

• Different characteristics evolved in different species of ducks to best adapt them to the different environments they live in.

• Ducks do not descend from a common ancestor.

• All of the observed features of ducks are the result of genetic drift - a constant series of accidents and disasters have caused them to look different from each other over time.

• Humans have selectively bred all the duck populations of the world, forming a diverse range of duck breeds.

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The wings of a bat and the arms of a human are...

• homologous

• vestigial

• analogous

• transitional

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The wings of a butterfly and the wings of a bat are...

• analogous

• homologous

• vestigial

• transitional

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If two organisms share a homologous structure, then....

• they inherited that structure from a common ancestor.

• they did not inherit that structure from a common ancestor.

• it is a remarkable coincidence.

• they must be the same species.

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Fossils that show an organism in between an ancestral forms and its modern forms, like fossils of prehistoric whales with long legs or dinosaurs with feathers, are examples of...

• transitional forms

• homologous structures

• analogous structures

• vestigial traits

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