Exam 22: Evolution and the Origins of Life

In the scientific process, the word ________ is reserved for those few major concepts that offer the best explanation to fit a broad range of established facts.

The process of ________ has had a major impact on species distributions worldwide.

In each local environment, living organisms have evolved to possess the traits necessary to survive and reproduce. This concept is called

Comparative biochemistry is the science that examines similarities between molecules; the greater the difference between molecules that have the same function in two different species, the later the two species most likely diverged from a common ancestor.

The first self-replicating molecule hypothesized to have formed on Earth was ________.

Dinosaurs and modern humans coexisted for about a million years.

In the 1940s, the population of whooping cranes in North America neared extinction, with fewer than 30 birds. It has since expanded to several hundred birds today. It is likely that these birds will exhibit very little genetic diversity. This is an example of

According to the current evidence, modern humans first appeared between 100,000 and 140,000 years ago.

When naming a life-form, which of the following two taxonomic categories is used?

The process by which organisms use the energy from sunlight to produce complex carbon-containing molecules from carbon dioxide and water is called ________.

The structure of human cytochrome c is the same as that of chimpanzees, but it differs from the structure of cytochrome c in chickens by 16 amino acids and in yeast by more than 50 amino acids. From these data, one could hypothesize that humans are most closely related evolutionarily to

The ability to extract oxygen from the environment and use it to make energy is called

The exact path that led to the evolution of modern cells and the organic molecules contained in these cells to support life is not known. The best guess is that some sort of self-replicating organic molecule formed along mudflats and most likely resembled

In the classification of organisms, a phylum is subdivided into

Because the fossil record is now complete, it provides compelling evidence to support the theory of evolution.

Homo neaderthalensis is believed to be a direct ancestor of Homo sapiens.

The wings of birds and insects share similar functions but evolved from different structures; therefore, these wings are said to be

In 2004, archaeologists unearthed a female skeleton on the Indonesian island of Flores that led to its classification as a member of the genus Homo instead of Australopithecus because of