Evolution by Natural Selection Unit 7

Darwin conducted much of his research on

• the Samoan islands

• Manhattan island

• the Hawaiian islands

• the Galapagos islands

Natural selection is the process by which

• the age of selected fossils is calculated.

• organisms with traits well suited to their environment survive and reproduce at a greater rate than less well-adapted organisms in the same environment.

• acquired traits are passed on from on generation to the next.

• all of the answers

Natural selection could not occur without

• genetic variation in species

• environmental changes

• competition for unlimited resources

• gradual warming of the Earth

The struggle for existence against other members of an organisms species is

• competition

• adaptation

• genetic drift

• natural slection

According to Darwin, evolution occurs

• by chance

• during half life periods of 5,730 years

• because of natural selection

• rapidly

Organisms that are well suited to their environment

• reproduce at a greater rate than those less suited to the same environment.

• are always larger than organisms less suited to that environment.

• always live longer than organisms less suited to that environment.

• need less food than organisms less suited to that environment.

Refer to the illustration. The similarity of these structures suggest that the organisms

• have a common ancestor

• evolved slowly

• all grow at different rates

• live for a long time

Refer to the illustration. The bones that are green are know as

• vestigial structures

• homologous structures

• sequential structures

• fossil structures

Homologous structures in organisms suggests that the organisms

• have a common ancestor

• have a skeletal structure

• must have lived at different times

• are now extinct

In experiments with peppered moths, Kettlewell found that

• the color of moths was not important

• birds preferred the flavor of light colored moths.

• moths whose color matched that of the tree trunks were more likely to survive.

• coloration was an inherited trait.