Evolution Review

On the Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin observed 

• completely unrelated species on each of the islands

• species exactly like those found in South America

• species similar to mainland South American species

• species completely unrelated to those found in South America

James Hutton's and Charles Lyell's work suggest that 

• Earth is several million years old

• Earth is several thousand years old

• all fossils were formed in the last 100 years

• all rocks on Earth contain fossils

In an experiment suppose that the wings of fruit flies were clipped short for fifty generations. The fifty-first generation emerged with normal-length wings. This observation would tend to disprove the idea that evolution is based on

• inheritance of natural variations

• inheritance of acquired characteristics

• natural selection

• survival of the fittest

The economist Thomas Malthus suggested that 

• in the human population, people die faster than babies are born

• without certain checks on population size, there would soon be insufficient food for the growing human population

• in the 1700s, England needed more housing

• the majority of a species' offspring die

When a farmer breeds only his or her best livestock, the process involved is 

• natural selection

• artificial selection

• artificial variation

• survival of the fittest

According to Darwin's theory of natural selection, individuals who survive are the ones best adapted for their environment. Their survival is due to the 

• possession of adaptations developed through use.

• possession of inherited adaptations that maximize fitness

• lack of competition within the species

• choices made by plant and animal breeders

Charles Darwin called the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its specific environment

• diversity

• fitness

• adaptation

• evolution

In studying Galapagos finches, the Grants found that ___________ can take place frequently and over relatively short periods of time. 

Biogeography is the study of 

• where species and their ancestors live

• how extinct species can be related to living species

• how different species can interbreed

• how animals that live in the same area are closely related

The wings of a butterfly and the wings of a bat are vestigial structures

• True

• False