Exam 17: How Evolution Works

The fact that small, nonfunctioning hind legs are found in the skeletons of many snakes suggests that snakes

The number of different types of organisms found on Earth is a result of

Darwin's ideas on natural selection were accepted immediately, thus showing that correct ideas are recognized and accepted as soon as they are presented.

Certain weeds have become resistant to the pesticides that were used to kill them. Which of the following statements is the best explanation for this phenomenon?

Evolutionary changes occur when _____ acts upon populations containing individuals with genetic differences.

____________________ are the preserved remains of formerly living organisms.

Some finches on the Galápagos Islands eat insects, an unusual food for finches to eat. These finches

For a population to evolve, there must be genetic differences between organisms in that population. These differences arise by

A population of mice lives along a river. Some mice cross the river to establish a new population. Eventually, due to genetic changes, these two groups of mice can no longer interbreed. This is an example of

Which of the following is not likely to contribute to evolution within a population?

Biological evolution can be defined as

A species of cave beetle that lives in total darkness is blind but has remnants of what looks like eyes. These "eyes" are

According to the evolutionary tree below, the most closely related ancestor of modern dogs is the coyote.

Which of the following is not homologous to any of the others?

In the figure below, the region indicated by the arrow is the only modern-day location of the freshwater lungfish. Fossils of the ancestors of the lungfish, however, have been found all over the world (dots throughout map). What does the distribution of these fossils indicate?

Pangaea is

Nonheritable genetic changes can cause evolution within a population.

A(n)____________________ is a characteristic of an organism that improves the performance of that organism in its environment, thus improving its reproductive success.

The result of ____________________ over evolutionary time spans is that alleles that allow organisms to survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals become more common in the population.

Evolution can be described as