BIO 345 Final Exam | Questions and Answers (Complete Solutions)

BIO 345 Final Exam | Questions and Answers (Complete Solutions) Which pattern best characterizes the history of extinctions on Earth? A. An increasing per capita background extinction rate B. Five major mass extinctio ...

BIO 345 Final Exam | Questions and Answers (Complete Solutions) Which pattern best characterizes the history of extinctions on Earth? A. An increasing per capita background extinction rate B. Five major mass extinctions and several lesser episodes of heightened extinction rates C. Three major mass extinctions and several lesser episodes of heightened extinction rates D. Three major mass extinctions and a low background extinction rate E. An increase in the number of mass extinctions over time Based on the video on Evolutionary Medicine, which of the following choices is an incorrect pairing of disease and ethnic background? A. High HIV resistance in Europeans B. Low Alzheimer’s rates in Caucasians C. High sickle-cell rates in Africans D. Low Asthma rates in Asians Which of the following species interactions is most likely to accompany the existence of zombies? A. Predator-Prey B. Herbivory C. Parasite-Host D. mutualism Which mode of speciation involves intermediate levels of gene flow? A. Allopatric speciation B. Sympatric speciation C. Parapatric speciation D. Founder effect speciation E. Cytological divergence How do evolutionary biologists view the notion of biological "progress"? A. Evolution proceeds toward a goal (teleology). B. Lasting evolutionary progress does not occur because of cyclical phenomena, such as iterative mass extinctions. C. Progress can be measured by levels of hierarchical organization among individuals of the same species. D. Objective definitions of progress are fraught with difficulty, as the processes that drive evolution have no mechanism for foresight. E. Progress can be measured by how much a given species resembles Homo sapiens. Which term suggests that we often confuse what is with what one ought to do? For example, stealing resources from other members of the same species is common. It is natural but not condonable. A. Kin Selection B. Dual-inheritance Theory C. Gene-Culture Coevolution D. Naturalistic Fallacy Which of the following is most likely to favor the evolution of highly virulent parasites? A. Transmission between unrelated members of the population B. Transmission from parent to offspring C. Multilevel selection (both within and among populations, occupying different hosts) D. Strong effects on a subset of a population with a specific susceptible genotype E. Mutualism between hosts and parasites In North America, hawthorn trees were the ancestral hosts of the apple maggot fly ( Rhagoletis pomonella). In the last 150 years, however, cultivated apples have become a host for some populations of R. pomonella. What factor may have allowed the colonization of apples as a new host plant, and thus subsequent disruptive selection based on resource use? A. Apples and hawthorns are commonly cultivated together in New England. B. Intense pesticide use in some hawthorn-producing regions forced the flies to seek new hosts. C. Apple trees and hawthorns are sister species and thus produce fruit with similar characteristics. D. The timing of reproduction in Mexican hawthorn feeding populations overlaps with apple fruiting in the Northeast. E. In the Southeast, a blight killed hawthorn populations, and small populations of flies were able to adapt to apple use. Refer to the figure showing the phylogeny of some of the living apes. According to the figure, which organism is the closest living relative to humans? A. bonobo B. gorilla C. bonobos and chimpanzees, equally D. gorillas and bonobos equally E. chimpanzees Based on what we know about the version of the EPAS1 gene that most Tibetans possess, what can we likely infer about the ancient Denisovan hominins? A. They had light skin B. They had dark skin C. They lived at low altitudes, likely close to sea level D. They lived at high altitudes Which of the following is not one of the three types of the "extended phenotype" presented by Richard Dawkins? A. The aspect of the phenotype that improves through the process of an evolutionary arms race B. The ability of an animal to construct architectural forms from its environment C. Parasites can manipulate the behaviors of their hosts to create a distinct advantage D. The behavioral phenotype of the host can be manipulated by the parasite even if it is associated with the host The biological species concept has been widely adopted, but it also has some practical difficulties. Which of the following is not one of these difficulties? A. The concept is poorly defined. B. The concept cannot be applied to extinct species. C. Many populations are allopatric. D. The concept does not apply to clonal organisms. E. Testing reproductive isolation in the lab is not always feasible. The Red Queen hypothesis proposes the following relationship between taxon age and extinction: A. Lineages become more resistant to extinction the longer they have been present. B. Rates of extinction vary substantially between different groups of organisms. C. Immediately after speciation, risk of extinction is very high, but it eventually levels out. D. Rate of extinction of taxa is fairly constant over time. E. Rates of extinction vary substantially between different groups of organisms, and lineages become more resistant to extinction the longer they have been present. Why do scientists reject the use of evolution and genetics to support racists' ideologies? A. The concept of race is largely useless in a biological context and is really a social myth. B. It is factually incorrect to claim that some populations are "higher," "superior," or "more evolved" than others. C. Studies of human genetics show that the majority of genetic variation is within populations, not among populations. D. Scientific racism is a pseudoscience that begins with a conclusion and misuses data to support it. E. All of the above Which observation would be evidence for allopatric speciation among finch species of the Galápagos Islands? A. The birds are closely related to birds found on the mainland. B. No pairs of sister species formed on the same island. C. Pairs of sister species can be found on adjacent islands. D. Specific beak sizes are adaptations to the seeds of different species. E. Many different species have been found on the islands. Which idea is central to the biological species concept? A. Vicariance B. Sexual selection C. divergent phenotypes D. reproductive isolation E. distinct lineages The field of evolutionary psychology seeks to understand... A. the history of psychology and how it evolved from earlier attempts to understand the mind. B. how behaviors function as adaptive modules in humans. C. how people adapt to novel challenges in their personal life. D. how exposure to evolutionary theory affects the social development of religious and nonreligious students. E. how human ability to perceive their environment varies between cultures. Which of the following ethnic groups does NOT have Neanderthal DNA in their genome? A. Western Europeans B. Australians C. Tibetans D. Africans How are real examples of zombies different from those seen in movies/tv? A. Real zombies do not have any mind control exerted over them B. Real zombies cannot die from the interaction with another species C. Real zombies don't have an infection D. Real zombies are not coming back from the dead Cope's rule, that animals tend to increase in size over evolutionary time, is a(n) A. driven trend, because natural selection always favors larger animals. B. active trend, because there is a persistent bias against smaller animals. C. passive trend, because there is a minimum size under which animals cannot function, but increased variance in size moves the mean and maximum upward. D. case of saltation, because increases in size occur by great jumps. E. example of phylogenetic niche conservatism, because ecological niches favor the large. Refer to the figure. The organisms shown here are all "archosaurs". The first six are dinosaurs but crocodiles are not. The note that represents the most recent common ancestor of all archosaurs is ....... and the node that represents the most common ancestor of all dinosaurs is ...... A. E;A B. E;B C. C;B D. D;C E. E;D What class of barrier to gene flow would we be observing if we noted that the offspring of a lion and a tiger (two different species) are awkward, gangly beasts that have poor survival in the wild? A. Premating barrier B. Geographic isolation C. Prezygotic barrier D. Temporal isolation E. Postzygotic barrier Scientists experimented with fungal (Ophiocordyceps) infections of Camponotus leonardi ants and the influence on their behavior. They hypothesized that the parasitic fungi manipulate ant behavior to complete their own reproductive cycle. Which of the following was a result of the experiment when comparing infected ants to non-inflected ants? A. Infected ants and non-infected showed similar behavior indicating a different pathogen B. Infected ants have repeated convulsions and end their life with a death grip C. Infected ants go rogue and kill other ants using a death grip D. Infected ants lost the ability to track pheromones from other ants and wander away from the colony Which genera is likely the most recent ancestor of the genus Homo? A. Ardipithecus B. Pan C. Sahelanthropus D. Paranthropus E. Australopithecus Sixty years of data from the Framingham Heart Study showed that people with low cholesterol had 50% more offspring, on average, than those with high cholesterol. Since it is known that cholesterol level is highly heritable, what can be concluded from this specific observation? A. High cholesterol reduces an individual's fertility. B. The frequency of people with low cholesterol should increase in the U.S. population. C. Cholesterol level has a major effect on survival. D. Natural selection is largely nullified as an important evolutionary mechanism in modern human populations. E. Ethnic groups that traditionally have more children have a greater frequency of genes for low cholesterol. Which infectious disease is transmitted vertically? A. Human rhinoviruses, a cold, from someone sneezing in your face B. Gonorrhea, a disease transmitted between sexual partners C. Zika, spread by mosquitoes D. Mesothelioma, lung cancer caused by asbestos E. HIV, spread from mother to child during gestation or breast feeding Which statement is not a good explanation for the relatively low genetic variability among modern human populations? A. There is greater variability within populations than among them. B. Human population size has increased drastically in a short period of time. C. Ancestral human population sizes were very small. D. Humans have a global geographic distribution. E. The level of inbreeding within human populations has been high at times. Most examples of polyploidy speciation involve A. plants. B. mammals. C. arthropods. D. prokaryotes. E. fungi. Mammals, like humans and apes, have five digits on their fore and hind limbs. Modern horses have one. How might you reconstruct the ancestral state of mammal toe number? A. Investigate the number of toes on all extant horses and apes. B. Investigate the number of toes for other mammals and use parsimony to deduce the ancestral state. C. Investigate the number of toes for an outgroup that is closely related to mammals, for example reptiles or amphibians. D. Either b or c E. All of the above Which of the following is NOT a symptom of Sleeping Sickness caused by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei transmitted via the tsetse fly in Africa? A. Victims sleep for 20 hours a day and have limited appetite B. Victims find it hard to concentrate C. Victims are unable to sleep during the night D. Victims become irritable and their speech is slurred Which of the following statements about the cancer-causing BRCA1 allele is FALSE? A. It has evolved under strong negative selection in humans B. Possession of the allele results in a greater than 50% chance of developing breast cancer C. The dN/dS >1 D. One likely hypothesis for its presence is that also is important in combating viral infections Many people think long-term evolution of a species must follow the rule "adapt or die." Which of the following will not help organisms overcome an environmental change that threatens extinction? A. The will to survive B. High levels of genetic variation C. A large population size D. Phenotypic plasticity that buffers environmental change E. A high rate of beneficial mutations Which observation does not provide evidence that birds are theropod dinosaurs? A. There are many fossil therapods that have been found with feathers. B. Birds and theropods are both missing the fifth toe, and the first toe is rotated backward. C. Both fossil theropods and modern birds have a wishbone. D. Birds and theropods have three-digits on their forelimbs. E. Answer Both pterosaurs and birds evolved flight. According to the biological species concept, speciation consists of the evolution of biological barriers to gene flow. The most important distinction is between _______ and _______ barriers. A. male; female B. sexual selection; natural selection C. temporal; spatial D. ecological; evolutionary E. prezygotic; postzygotic According to the social brain hypothesis, we should expect primates living in larger social groups to have A. larger brains, specifically, a neocortex of relatively larger size. B. larger incisors and canines, to defend against more social competitors. C. brains that are more metabolically efficient, to account for less food per group member. D. smaller brains, because many individuals can work together to solve problems. E. great variation in brain and neocortex size, with the dominant individuals having the largest. In the study of cultural evolution, what is a "meme"? A. A unit of cultural inheritance B. A humorous piece of media that is rapidly spread on the internet C. Early attempts at music and art by human ancestors D. Information spread as a disease rather than as inheritance of a gene E. Genetic memory that we have inherited from our ancestors and use without realizing it You collect individuals from different allopatric populations of a leaf-eating beetle. In the laboratory, you conduct mate-choice experiments to assess levels of reproductive isolation among beetles from different populations. Assuming that ecological speciation occurred in the wild, which pattern should you expect? A. No reproductive isolation B. Reproductive isolation that is independent of habitat type C. More reproductive isolation among populations that share similar habitats D. Less reproductive isolation among populations that share similar habitats E. Complete reproductive isolation among all populations Which of the following is NOT considered one of the major events in the Evolutionary history of memes? A. The invention of the first cell phone B. The invention of the radio C. The invention of woodblock printing D. The invention of the internet Evolutionary biologists and geologists recognize the "big five" mass extinctions and are actively studying a potential sixth. Which of these describes that potential sixth mass extinction? A. The extinction that included the dinosaurs B. The great flood of Noah C. The current extinctions, caused primarily by human activities D. The mass extinction that occurred in the Proterozoic, before animal life E. The end-Carboniferous mass extinction, which affected plants, not animals In 2017, Holen and colleagues announced the discovery of a 130,000-year-old site in California that they claimed contained a mastodon that had been butchered by humans (genus Homo). Why did some in the scientific community express skepticism and caution in accepting the findings? A. Humans are not thought to have mastered sophisticated tool use by 130,000 years ago. B. Mastodons are thought to have gone extinct long before that. C. The level of cooperative hunting needed to take down a mastodon did not appear until much more recently. D. It is widely believed that Homo sapiens are the only humans to have occupied North America and they did not arrive until 20,000 years ago. E. Homo neanderthalensis, the dominant hominin of the time, was vegetarian. Which statement best explains why modern Europeans, Asians, or Africans lack Denisovan DNA in their genome? A. Denisovans never interbred with any population of Homo sapiens. B. Denisovans DNA was eliminated from those populations by strong purifying selection. C. Denisovans interbred only with the population whose ancestors are Melanesians. D. Neanderthal genes and Denisovan genes are incompatible, so modern populations have one or the other. E. Denisovans are an offshoot of hominins that are unrelated to modern humans. What would be the best clue that a fossil skull was left behind by an ape that walked more or less upright? A. The foramen magnum has a position relatively far forward. B. The mass of the brain is extremely large, relative to other mammals. C. Incisors and canine teeth are reduced compared to most primates. D. It has a flat, not-projecting face compared to most apes. E. The surface upon which jaw muscles anchor is relatively small. Why does reinforcement involve a strengthening of prezygotic, rather than postzygotic, isolation? A. The rewards of postzygotic isolation are always much smaller than those of prezygotic isolation. B. Reinforcement occurs only rarely. C. Postzygotic isolation has only a minimal evolutionary impact. D. Alleles that prevent interbreeding are more likely to be inherited by viable, nonhybrid offspring than alleles that permit random mating. E. Assortative mating is uncommon. You extract DNA from human bones in an ancient village buried by volcanic ash. You discover that there is an extremely high frequency of the LCT allele for lactase persistence. What might you conclude about the population? A. This population is likely the source of the high frequency of the LCT gene in Northern Europe. B. The village could not be more than 4,500 years old. C. The members of this population likely used domesticated livestock for their milk. D. The villagers had a diet rich in wheat or another domesticated crop. E. The population could not have been under strong selection because the gene was not fixed. Most models of sympatric speciation postulate the existence of A. extinction and recolonization of local populations. B. geographical barriers between populations. C. disruptive selection based on resource use. D. high levels of recombination between loci. E. unequal numbers of males and females. Why do populations farther from Africa have more deleterious mutations in their genome? A. Repeated bottlenecks and founder effects made genetic drift more intense more often. B. Populations farther from Africa have been exposed to more mutagens in the environment. C. Those populations have experienced more intense natural selection, so more deleterious alleles increased in frequency by genetic hitchhiking. D. As people migrated over the globe they interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans. E. The populations are younger, so purifying selection has not had time to purge deleterious mutations from the populations. Which of the following hominin species was the first to leave Africa, it's fossils date from 1.9 to 0.2 mya, and it had a similar anatomy to our species?