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Speciation Review Questions
1. The wing structures of bats and birds are examples of which of the following?
A. Homology
B. Allopatric speciation
C. Convergent evolution
D. Divergent evolution
E. Genetic drift
2. A physical barrier separates a single species, causing two separate populations to form. Over
time these two populations adapt to their environments. Eventually, these two populations are
no longer able to successfully reproduce with each other. This is known as
A. sympatric speciation
B. peripatric speciation
C. allopatric speciation
D. parapatric speciation
3. Which scenario is an example of allopatric speciation?
A. A river separates members of a squirrel population that used to occupy the same
geographical area.
B. Certain members of a human population have more offspring than others.
C. Hawks with thin, sharp beaks primarily eat fish and small rodents, while hawks with
larger beaks tend to eat reptiles and large birds.
D. A disease ravages a large fox population, killing all members that did not have a
genetic resistance to the disease.
E. Houseflies from a certain region migrate and interbreed with a different housefly
population in a neighboring area.
4. Which of the following reasons could explain why sympatric speciation is more common in
plants than in animals?
A. Animal populations move around too much.
B. Plants are more likely to be able to self-fertilize.
C. Plants can become geographically isolated mire easily.
D. Plants are less prone to chromosomal abnormalities.
5. Which of the following would be considered an example of conditions leading to allopatric
speciation?
A. A differentiation in preferred food source by members of a population within a given
habitat.
B. Combat amongst males to show superiority for mating with females.
C. Separation of a population of lake fish by a drought resulting in a sand bar dividing the
lake.
D. Females selecting mates based on courtship displays.
6. What is required for sympatric speciation to occur?
A. A limited separation of members of a population, followed by reintroduction back into
the parent population.
B. Continuous gene flow between populations.
C. Geographic separation of a population.
D. Emergence of a reproductive barrier.
7. Which of these animals would be least likely to undergo allopatric speciation?
A. Snake
B. prehistoric human
C.E. coli
D. Raccoon
E. Bird
8. One species of organisms living in the same valley begin to diverge from each other over time
and eventually two distinct species emerge that no longer mate with members of the other
group. What type of speciation is this?
A. Allosteric speciation
B. Synthetic speciation
C. Sympatric speciation
D. None of these – this is not an example of speciation
E. Allopatric speciation
9. Which of the following best describes the initial speciation event in allopatric speciation?
A. Geographic isolation
B. Isolated niche population
C. Genetic polymorphism
D. Partially isolated population
10. Which of the following best defines sympatric speciation?
A. A population divided into two adjacent niches with contact and minimal genetic
Exchange.
B. Populations diverge due to geographic location.
C. Isolated peripheral populations cease genetic exchange.
D. Formation of two distinct species within the same geographic location.
11. Which of the following is false of sympatric populations?
A. Sympatric populations diverge due to behavioral isolation.
B. Sympatric populations diverge due to geographic isolation
C. Sympatric populations show differences in body structure.
D. Sympatric populations are geographically overlapping.
E. Sympatric populations may form hybrids.
12. A population of rabbits lives in a forest in the Southeastern United States. A large group of
rabbits is cut off from the population when a six-lane highway is built through the forest.
Over many generations, the large group of rabbits begins to develop darker fur in response to
the dominant foliage on one side of the highway. When rabbits from the two populations are
brought together, they no longer reproduce with each other. What kind of speciation does
this represent?
A. Founder effect
B. Temporal
C. Sympatric
D. Allopatric
13. Which of the following is an example of sympatric speciation?
A. A population of bears prefers red berries. At some point, part of the population
develops a preference for blue berries. Eventually, the two groups no longer interact
to the point that they no longer interbreed.
B. Two populations of mice compete for the same resources in a forest. After several
years, the two populations of mice begin mating with one another.
C. None of these
D. A population of butterflies is split when a housing development is built, splitting their
habitat in two. Butterflies from each group rarely go to the opposite side of the
development so opportunities for breeding between the groups are very limited.
14. Beetle pollinators of a particular plant are attracted to its flowers' bright orange color. The
beetles not only pollinate the flowers, but they mate while inside of the flowers. A mutant
version of the plant with red flowers becomes more common with the passage of time. A
particular variant of the beetle prefers the red flowers to the orange flowers. Over time, these
two beetle variants diverge from each other to such an extent that interbreeding is no longer
possible. What kind of speciation has occurred in this example, and what has driven it?
A. allopatric speciation; ecological isolation
B. sympatric speciation; habitat differentiation
C. allopatric speciation; behavioral isolation
D. sympatric speciation; sexual selection
E. sympatric speciation; polyploidy
15. Trout in stream A and trout in stream B look similar, but not quite identical. Scientists were unsure if
they were two populations of one fish species, or two separate species. To figure this out, they
studied the life cycle, habitat, and reproduction of the trout. In a year with a typical amount of
rainfall, the trout stay within their own stream and mate with individuals that live nearby. However,
in years that include excessive rainfall and flooding, the fish are washed downstream to a larger river,
and must swim back up into either stream A or stream B. They choose which stream to swim up
randomly, often ending up in a different location than where they themselves were born. When a
trout that originated from stream A does breed with a trout from stream B, their offspring are healthy
and show no decrease in fertility. Scientists think that flooding in this watershed is happening more
and more frequently, due to global climate change.
Given this information, predict what is the most likely result for trout A and trout B.
A. they will become reproductive isolated from each other
B. they will become more similar in their gene pools
C. they will go through random changes due to genetic drift
D. they will adapt to different conditions and look more and more different