1510 BIOL S12 Quiz 1
Version 1 and 2
Student Name ______________________________
Instructions: Record the best answer for each question. You will submit your answers using two
methods:
On the exam paper, write the correct answer in a BLOCK CAPITAL letter in ink next to
the question number. You must use pen. Indicate your answer clearly. (This is your back-up
copy in case there is any difficulty with the clicker system.)
On your clicker, go to Channel 7. Once your instructor says begin:
o Enter your Test Version, 1 or 2 from the header above, and press the silver select
button. Click OK.
o Enter an answer for each question. You can skip around using the up arrow and the
left-right arrows. Use the down arrow to select or change your answer for each
question. Answered questions will have a darkened circle around their number. Raise
your hand if you have a clicker issue and the proctors will try to help you resolve it.
o When done, the clicker will tell you Complete! Send? Select OK. Are you
sure? Select OK. You should see the message Grades soon on T-square when
youve successfully submitted your answers. (Note that your answers are received in
real time, so final send is not strictly necessary.)
Grades will be posted by Friday. This quiz is worth 7 participation points. Good luck!
1. Which of the following, if discovered, could refute our current understanding of the theory
of evolution?
A) no fossils of soft-bodied animals
B) fossils of animals that arose in the Cambrian in Precambrian rock strata
C) a modern bird having reptile-like scales on its legs
D) radioactive dating of rocks close to the Earth's surface as younger than lower rock strata
2. The upper forelimbs of humans and bats have fairly similar skeletal structures, whereas the
corresponding bones in whales have very different shapes and proportions. However,
genetic data suggest that all three kinds of organisms diverged from a common ancestor at
about the same time. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for these data?
A) Forelimb evolution was adaptive in people and bats, not but in whales.
B) Natural selection in an aquatic environment resulted in significant changes to whale
forelimb anatomy.
C) Genes mutate faster in whales than in humans or bats.
D) Humans and bats evolved by natural selection, and whales evolved by Lamarckian
mechanisms.
E) Whales are not properly classified as mammals.
3. A student posts to Piazza: "The giraffe stretched its neck while reaching for higher leaves; its
offspring inherited longer necks as a result." Which statement would be most helpful to
correct this student's misconception?
A) Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of new traits.
B) Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance.
C) Overproduction of offspring leads to a struggle for survival.
D) Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on through
genes.
E) Only favorable adaptations have survival value.
4. Which of the following is not true about evidence for evolution?
a) Unconformities can mask patterns in the fossil record.
b) Species are immutable.
c) Related species have homologous bone structures, often with modified functions.
d) The majority of Americans reject the evidence for evolution.
e) Similar species often share common ancestry.
5. On an evolutionary tree, any group that includes a common ancestor and all of its
descendants is called monophyletic ("one-tribe"). Recall the current evolutionary tree for
Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. According to this tree, are all organisms alive today
monophyletic?
A) yes
B) no
6. How many half lives have decayed in a fossil that has a 14C/12C ratio of ~ 1/16 of a present
day organism?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
e) 5
7. In Millers experiment that simulated possible atmospheric conditions on early earth, his
hypothesis was
a) Inorganic molecules can form in a highly reducing atmosphere.
b) Early earth had a highly reducing atmosphere.
c) Organic molecules can form in an oxidizing atmosphere.
d) Organic molecules can form in a highly reducing atmosphere.
e) Redox reactions did not occur on early earth.
]