Evolution and Diversity, Biol 1010 Section C, Final Exam
Fall 2009, Steven M. Thompson
1. Organisms that obtain energy by eating nutrients that make up other organisms are called:
A. Autotrophs
B. Heterotrophs
C. Chemolithotrophs
D. Producers
E. Photosynthetic
2. Which of the following is not true about a hypothesis?
A. It can be proven to be false
B. It can be proven to be true
C. It is a tentative explanation
D. It is based on previous knowledge
E. It must be testable to be useful
3. A theory differs from a hypothesis in that a theory:
A. Has less supportive evidence than a hypothesis
B. Is narrower in scope than a hypothesis
C. Ties together many existing observations
D. Has no predictive power
E. Is just an educated guess
4. The entire collection of genes and all their alleles is an entire population is its:
A. Genotype
B. Gene pool
C. Phenotype
D. Dominant traits
E. Recessive traits
5. An organism's phenotype:
A. Is the organism’s observable properties
B. Is impossible to ascertain without genetic testing
C. Is the organism’s place and role in its environment
D. Is never influenced by the organism’s environment
E. Is completely independent of the organism’s genotype
6. Natural selection where one extreme phenotype is fittest and the environment selects against the others is called:
A. Directive (a type of positive) selection
B. Disruptive (a.k.a. diversifying, also a type of positive) selection
C. Stabilizing (a.k.a. normalizing or purifying, and a type of negative) selection
D. Artificial selection
E. Convergent evolution
7. "Balanced polymorphism," also known as "heterozygote advantage" means that:
A. Multiple alleles of a gene persist indefinitely in a population due to some selective advantage
B. Many genes that affect the same trait persist indefinitely in a population due to some selective advantage
C. Only the dominant allele exists for each trait in a population due to some selective advantage
D. Only the recessive allele exists for each trait in a population due to some selective advantage
E. Many traits persist in a population that are controlled by only a single allele
8. Alleles conferring red plumage to male cardinal birds are common because of:
A. Sexual selection – red plumage is preferred by female cardinals in regards to choosing a mate
B. Predation pressure – red plumage makes males less susceptible to predation
C. Chance – it’s just the ‘luck of the draw’ and has nothing to do with selection
D. What the male cardinal eats
E. Human preference
9. The process by which new species originate:
A. Is extinction
B. Occurred only once in Earth's history
C. Is germination
D. Is speciation
E. Occurred for millions of years but is no longer occurring
10. The type of reproductive isolation in which two populations live in the same habitat but remain isolated from one another due to one being active only during the daytime and the other only being active during the night is:
A. Mechanical isolation
B. Temporal isolation
C. Gametic isolation
D. Solitary confinement
E. Post-zygotic isolation
11. Polyploidy, having three or more sets of chromosomes, is:
A. Common in both plant and animal species
B. Common in animal species
C. Common in plant species
D. Common in Bacteria
E. Common in Archaea
12. The idea that evolution proceeds as long periods of stasis with relatively brief bursts of fast evolutionary change is:
A. Uniformatarianism
B. Punctuated equilibrium
C. Catastrophism
D. Gradualism
E. Temporal equilibrium
13. The impact of a large meteorite, comet, or asteroid with Earth can cause mass extinctions by:
A. Creating huge clouds of dust that block sunlight for many months, ala nuclear winter, killing much plant life
B. Causing a great prolonged rise in the earth's temperature, ala extreme, long-term global warming
C. Boiling the oceans, thereby cooking all the organisms in them
D. Opening up vast new habitats for adaptive radiation to occur
E. Never happening — this is an extremely unlikely situation
14. If similarities between two structures or sequences in different organisms reflect common ancestry, these structures or sequences are:
A. Vestigeal
B. Analogous
C. Homologous
D. Homeotic
E. Systematic
15. If similarities between two structures or sequences in different organisms reflect independent, convergent evolution, these structures or sequences are:
A. Vestigeal
B. Analogous
C. Homologous
D. Homeotic
E. Systematic
16. A group consisting of a common ancestor and all of its descendants is a:
A. Species
B. Genus
C. Clade
D. Phylum
E. Order
17. Human cytochrome c and the cytochrome c of some other organisms were aligned. An evolutionary model was used to determine the following evolutionary distances, from human to: Rhesus monkey - 1%; Pigeon - 12%; Fruit fly - 24%; Yeast - 42%. Using this information, which of the following in not true:
A. Humans are more closely related to Rhesus monkeys than to any of the other organisms compared
B. Humans are more closely related to yeast than to fruit flies
C. Humans are more closely related to pigeons than to yeast
D. Humans are more closely related to pigeons than to fruit flies
E. Humans are most distantly related to yeasts of all the organisms compared
18. On average most mutations in an organism's DNA neither help nor hurt the organism, nor it's ability to reproduce. This is known as:
A. Positive natural selection
B. Negative natural selection
C. Artificial selection
D. Neutral evolution
E. Convergent evolution
19. A phylogenetic inference method that determines the optimal tree based on optimizing the minimum number of changes along all of its branches is called:
A. Parsimony
B. Distance (phenetics)
C. Maximum Likelihood
D. Bayesian inference
E. A guess
20. A phylogenetic tree with only four tips (species, genes, etc), can have how many possible bifurcating, unrooted arrangements?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four
E. Five
21. Stanley Miller's first prebiotic simulation experiment showed that under the right conditions, Oparin's ancient reducing, ammonia and methane-rich atmosphere could allow for the formation of:
A. Living cells
B. Viruses
C. DNA molecules
D. Amino acids
E. Lipids
22. Carl Woese named an ancient, self-replicating entity, perhaps the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all life (LUCA) or its ancestor, composed of RNA (and perhaps DNA), proteins and lipids a:
A. Cell
B. Molecule
C. Progenote
D. Archeon
E. Domain
23. The "Cambrian explosion" refers to:
A. The huge impact event that caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous
B. The bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II
C. The relatively fast appearance of all the major phyla of animals during the Cambrian
D. The origination of life during the precambrian
E. A human caused global warming
24. The three groups in the primate lineage are:
A. Prosimians (e.g lemurs), simians (monkeys), and hominoids (apes)
B. Prosimians (e.g lemurs), simians (monkeys), and gibbons
C. Simians (monkeys), gibbons, and orangutans
D. Gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees
E. Chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans
25. Hominids (the Great Apes) in the human family tree do not include:
A. The Australopithecus fossil group
B. The Homo fossil group
C. Gorillas
D. Chimpanzees
E. Baboons
26. Biofilms are organized communities of Bacteria and/or Archaea that:
A. Protect each other and communicate through chemical signals with one another
B. Are seldom found in nature
C. Are easily killed with antibiotics
D. Have no environmental or industrial relevance
E. Are never medically relevant
27. Bacteria and/or Archaea can not live in:
A. Ice
B. High in the atmosphere in clouds
C. Thermal vents at the bottom of the ocean
D. Animal intestines
E. They can live in all these places
28. A type of horizontal gene transfer in Bacteria and/or Archaea in which a cell receives genetic material, usually in the form of a plasmid, from another cell through sex pili is:
A. Conjugation
B. Duplication
C. Replication
D. Translation
E. Fixation
29. Bacteria and Archaea are:
A. All in the same kingdom of life, the Prokaryotes, sometimes called the Monera
B. All basically the same, with little variety of metabolism or lifestyle
C. A single phylogenetically cohesive group
D. Multicellular organisms with nuclei
E. Unicellular organisms without nuclei
30. Bacterial genomes consist of:
A. Several discrete linear DNA chromosomes
B. A single circular DNA chromosome and, perhaps, one or more smaller plasmids
C. Several discrete linear RNA chromosomes
D. A single circular RNA chromosome and, perhaps, one or more smaller plasmids
E. Bacteria do not have a genome
31. The original organisms on earth capable of producing oxygen through photosynthesis were:
A. Primitive moss and fern-like plants
B. Cyanobacteria-like Bacteria
C. Methane-producing Archaea
D. Phytoplankton algae
E. Viruses
32. The Endosymbiotic Theory asserts that mitochondria were originally:
A. Archaeal thermophilic cells
B. Eukaryotic protist cells
C. Aerobic Proteobacterial cells
D. Anaerobic Firmicutes Bacterial cells
E. Photosynthetic Cyanobacterial cells
33. The Endosymbiotic Theory asserts that chloroplasts were originally:
A. Archaeal thermophilic cells
B. Eukaryotic protist cells
C. Aerobic Proteobacterial cells
D. Anaerobic Firmicutes Bacterial cells
E. Photosynthetic Cyanobacterial cells
34. All Bacteria and Archaea:
A. Lack a cell membrane
B. Lack membrane-bound organelles
C. Lack ribosomes
D. Have nuclei
E. Have identical metabolisms
35. Modern Bacterial and Archaeal taxonomic methodology greatly relies on:
A. The molecular methods of sequence analysis, including ribosomal RNA and complete genomes
B. The microscopic appearance of the organism
C. The metabolic requirements of the organism
D. The symptoms of the disease caused by the organism
E. The inaccuracy of the methodology
36. Carl Woese:
A. Was the first person to realize that Archaea were not Bacteria
B. Used complete genomes in his original analysis
C. Had his conclusions immediately accepted
D. Never received any awards for his work
E. Realized that ribosomal RNA was worthless for phylogenetics
37. Bacteria and/or Archaea in the human large intestine:
A. Always cause disease
B. Constitute an insignificant portion of our fecal material
C. Constitute around half the weight of our fecal material
D. Are only a few species
E. Encourage the growth of more harmful species
38. Bacterial and Archaeal 16S ribosomal RNA molecules are:
A. Worthless as a phylogenetic marker
B. The original molecule Carl Woese used in his ground-breaking research
C. A linear molecule used to transfer genetic information to the ribosome
D. A circular molecule that often carries sex and antibiotic-resistance genes
E. Entirely unique to Bacteria and Archaea and have no Eukaryotic homologue
39. According to most molecular phylogenetic studies, which of the following is not true:
A. All Bacteria are a single clade, the Bacteria domain
B. All Archaea are a single clade, the Archaea domain
C. All Eukaryota are a single clade, the Eukaryota domain
D. Bacteria are more closely related to Eukaryotes than Archaea are
E. Archaea are more closely related to Eukaryotes than Bacteria are
40. An aquatic microbial mat:
A. Has the same organismal composition throughout
B. Has the same oxygen levels throughout
C. Usually contains Cyanobacteria
D. Is inconsequential to the environment
E. Is a very rare occurence
41. All Archaea are:
A. Extremophiles
B. Methanogens
C. Found in animal intestines
D. Found in hydrothermal vents
E. United by similar ribosomal RNA sequences and cellular biochemistry
42. Most of the Bacterial phyla (could be considered kingdoms) closest to the root of the “Tree of Life”:
A. Live in very hot conditions
B. Live in temperate conditions
C. Live in very cold conditions
D. Live in ultra salty conditions
E. Have no temperature or salinity preference
43. The original source of the heat stable DNA polymerase (Taq) required for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was:
A. An Asciomycetes Fungi named Penicillium
B. A thermophilic Bacteria named Thermus aquaticus
C. An Apicomplexan protist named Plasmodium
D. A carnivorous plant named Pitcher Plant
E. A Monotreme mammal named Echidna
44. Enteric Bacteria:
A. All cause disease
B. Are all aerobic
C. Are all anaerobic
D. Can never swap genes
E. Live in animals’ large intestine
45. The very first cellular organism that evolved on the Earth must have been a(n):
A. Eukaryote
B. Bacteria or Archaea
C. Protist
D. Slime mold
E. Virus
46. The exchange of genetic material between bacteria:
A. Only occurs between the same species
B. Always requires sex pili
C. Is used in the laboratory for ‘genetic engineering’
D. Has never naturally occurred between Bacteria and Eukaryotes
E. Involves fertilization
47. By far most Bacteria:
A. Cause disease in humans
B. Are essential to life on earth
C. Are too small to see with anything but an electron microscope
D. Live all by themselves rather than as a community with other types of life
E. Came from outer space
48. The evolution of antibiotic resistance in Bacteria can occur if:
A. You do not complete your entire antibiotic prescription regime
B. Supplementing animal feeds with antibiotics is discontinued
C. Viral infections are not treated with antibiotics
D. All bacteria in your body are killed by antibiotics
E. The natural genetic variability of Bacteria is eliminated
49. Nitrogen fixation by Rhizobium:
A. Converts ammonia to nitrogen gas
B. Occurs in legume plant root nodules
C. Occurs in ruminant herbivores’ guts
D. Has no effect on the environment
E. Is an example of parasitism
50. Symbiotic Bacteria and Archaea in your body:
A. Suppress pathogenic bacteria by competing for limited resources
B. Have nothing to do with food digestion
C. Have nothing to do with the production of vitamins
D. Have nothing to do with the formation of blood vessels
E. Always cause disease
51. Eukaryotes are organisms that:
A. All have their primary genome contained within a membrane-bound nucleus
B. Are all heterotropohic
C. Are always multicellular
D. Are all visible with the ‘naked’ eye.
E. Can only reproduce within a host species
52. Protists (according to my working definition given in lecture):
A. Are a monophyletic ‘kingdom’ of life
B. Are primarily unicellular (though sometimes colonial) eukaryotes
C. Do not have a nucleus
D. Do not have membrane-bounded organelles
E. Are all parasitic
53. The microscopic photosynthetic food that supports the base of the ocean's vast food webs is:
A. Pytoplankton
B. Coral
C. Jellyfish
D. Organic compounds released by thermal vents in the ocean floor
E. Only composed of Archaea and Bacteria
54. Ornate silica cell walls are characteristic of a protist group called the:
A. Euglenoids
B. Dinoflagellates
C. Ciliates
D. Diatoms
E. Slime molds
55. The engulfment of food particles by a cell is:
A. Phagocytosis
B. Chemotaxis
C. Organotaxis
D. Pseudopodia
E. Cytokinesis
56. The malaria Apicomplexan protist, Plasmodium, is transmitted by:
A. The bite of a mosquito
B. The bite of a bat
C. The bite of a dog
D. The bite of a kissing bug
E. Ingesting contaminated food or water
57. The organelle that contains chlorophyll and carries out photosynthesis in plants is the:
A. Mitochondria
B. Chloroplast
C. Central vacuole
D. Cell membrane
E. Golgi body
58. The main groups of land plants (the Embryophytes) do not include the:
A. Bryophytes
B. Seedless vascular plants including the ferns
C. Gymnosperms
D. Angiosperms
E. Green algae
59. Which of the following is not a characteristic of the conifers?
A. Needlelike leaves
B. Cones
C. Flowers
D. Scale-like leaves
E. Most are referred to as "evergreens"