Unit 9 - Evidence of Evolution

Based on the adaptations Charles Darwin observed in finches and tortoises in the Galapagos, he wondered

• If species living on different Islands hd originated from the same ancestral species.

• If finches and tortoises had originated from the same ancestral species.

• If all birds on the different islands were finches.

• why all tortoises on the different islands were identical.

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.

Charles Darwin's observations that finches of different species on the Galapagos Islands have many similar physical characteristics supports the hypothesis that these finches

• have the ability to interbreed

• acquired traits through use and disuse.

• all eat the same type of food.

• descended from the same ancestor

Darwin noticed that many organisms seemed will suited to

• being preserved as fossils

• providing humans with food

• surviving in the environment in which they lived

• swimming from South America to the Galapagos Islands.

Darwin's concept of natural selection was NOT influenced by

• the work of Charles Lyell

• Knowledge of the structure of DNA

• his collection of specimens

• his trip on the HMS Beagle

People of Charles Darwin's time understood that fossils were

• preserved remains of ancient organisms

• available for every organism that ever lived

• unrelated to living species

• evidence for the evolution of life on Earth

James Hutton and Charles Lyell's work was important to Charles Darwin because these scientists

• explained volcanoes and earthquakes

• explained all geologic events on Earth

• suggested that Earth was old enough for evolution to have occured

• refuted the work of Lamarck, which was based on misunderstandings

Lamarck's ideas about evolution include the concept that differences among the traits of organisms arise as a result of

• continual increases in population sizes

• the actions of organisms as they use or fail to use body structures

• an unchanging local environment

• the natural variations already present within the population of organisms

In an experiment, suppose that the wings of a fruit fly were clipped short at birth for 50 generations, on the 51st generation fruit flies emerged with normal-length wings. This observation would tend to disprove that evolution is based on

• inheritance of natural variations

• inheritance of acquired characteristics

• natural selection

• survival of the fittest

In the 1800s, Charles lyell emphasized that

• the human population will outgrow the available food supply

• all populations evolve through natural selection

• Earth is a few thousand years old

• past geological events must be explained in terms of process observable today.