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CLEP Biology: Principles Of Evolution

Subjects : clep, science, biology
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. ____________ organs are formed on the same basic plan though they may be modified variously to perform different functions. They must have a common ancestral structure which gave rise to different modifications.






2. Members of the phylum _____________ have soft - unsegmented bodies that are usually - but not always - enclosed in hard shells.






3. Charles Darwin published a book The Origin of Species in the year 1859. He proposed that the new species came about by a process called ___________ __________.






4. The early stages of development of the ___________ of fish - salamander - tortoise - hen and man show remarkable similarity.






5. ____________ reproduction - whether reproduction proceeds with lesser or greater success - is central to the process of natural selection; it determines whether a given mutation becomes established in the general population.






6. ___________ evolution is an evolutionary process in which organisms not closely related independently acquire some characteristic or characteristics in common.






7. ______________ struggle is the struggle of organisms against the physical environment.






8. At some time in their life cycle - chordates have a pair of lateral gill slits or pouches used to obtain __________ in a liquid environment.






9. _____________ struggle takes place between the individuals of the same species.






10. Mammals developed from primitive mammal-like reptiles during the __________ Period - some 200-245 million years ago.






11. The mutation may be harmful (resulting in a reduced probability of survival for the organism involved) - ____________ (it might also do its intended job better) or merely neutral (no effect at all).






12. ___________ speciation happens when members of a population develop some genetic difference that prevents them from reproducing with the parent type.






13. Homo erectus was the first hominid to use ___________ - and have social structures for food gathering.






14. A ___________ can be defined as one or more populations of interbreeding organisms that are reproductively isolated in nature from all other organisms.






15. Darwin reported that all organisms tend to _____________ in a geometric ratio provided there are no environmental checks. Even slow breeding animals like the elephant may theoretically give rise to 19 million descendants in a period of 750 years.






16. An allele may increase - or decrease - in frequency simply through ___________. Not every member of the population will become a parent and not every set of parents will produce the same number of offspring.






17. Humans who have produced offspring that successfully live in a ________ environment tend to be broader and smaller in stature while hotter environments are occupied by thinner taller humans.






18. Heritable variations are called _____________ variations. Such variations arising from changes in DNA are passed on within families and to the offspring from the parents.






19. Immediately below kingdom is the _________ level of classification. At this level - animals are grouped together based on similarities in basic body plan or organization.






20. Scientific classification sorts living organisms by _________ levels of classification - kingdom; phylum; class; order; family; genus; and species.






21. Prior to the scientific discoveries of the past 200 years - _____________ from the Book Of Genesis described how living things came into being.






22. In a genetic drift the entire population may become homozygous for the allele or - equally likely - the allele may disappear. Before either of these fates occurs - the allele represents a Polymorphism. This is a case of polymorphism through...






23. Such a dual level designation is referred to as a _________ nomenclature.






24. Because organisms are continually tested by their changing ______________ - their forms change to suit new conditions.






25. Extinctions - mostly at the level of species - have been occurring constantly at a low 'background rate' - usually matched by the rate at which new species appear - with the result that ____________ is constantly increasing.






26. A Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium provides a ___________ by which to judge whether evolution has occurred.






27. _____________ can occur randomly - from radiation damage (impact with high energy g-rays or cosmic rays) - from exposure to chemical agents called mutagens - or simply by error in the DNA replication process.






28. When Charles Darwin was in the Galapagos islands - one of the first things he noticed is the variety of ___________ that existed on each of the islands.






29. For humans - the complete classification is: Kingdom (Animalia); Phylum (__________); Class (Mammalia); Order (Primates); Family (Hominidae); Genus (Homo); Species (Sapiens).






30. Most anthropologists agree that the ______ _______ was populated by a series of three migrations over the temporary land connection between Asia and North America.






31. __________ are the remains of organisms that lived in the past.






32. Homology is also seen in the structure of eye - brain - joint appendages of arthropods - etc. It is thus evidence for ____________.






33. The highest category in the Linnaean system of classification is the __________. At this level - organisms are distinguished on the basis of cellular organization and methods of nutrition.






34. All organisms are placed into one of five kingdoms: Monera - Protista - ________ - Plantae - Animalia.






35. _______________ is that branch of biology dealing with the identification and naming of organisms.






36. At the molecular level - life's ability to reproduce begins with the replication of ____________ - during which two new spirals are created that are exact replicas of the original molecule.






37. The ____________ mammals occupy Australia - and differ from placental mammals because they bear their young inside a pouch (instead of a placenta).






38. There are at least ___________ of animals. Humans are members of the phylum Chordata.






39. Some important structural changes during the evolution of horse are: Increase in size from 11' (Eohippus) to about 60' (Equus) - and ___________ of the head and neck so as that it can reach the ground.






40. _________ evidence shows that the horse has undergone considerable evolutionary change over a period of 60 million years.






41. Homology was defined by Darwin as similarity of structure and position - and distinguished from 'analogy -' which was defined as similarity of _____________ but not necessarily of structure and position.






42. _____________ is the accumulation of small changes in a gene pool over a relatively short period.






43. _____________ is the end of a particular evolutionary line - the end of a species - a family - or a larger group of organisms.






44. Homology has to be distinguished from ___________; for instance - the wings of insects and the wings of birds are analogous but not homologous.






45. The Regional ___________ Hypothesis suggests that regional populations of H. erectus evolved into H. sapiens through interbreeding between the various populations.






46. When carriers have advantages that allow a detrimental allele to persist in a population - ______________ polymorphism is at work.






47. The Neolithic transition - about 10 -000 years ago - involved the change from __________-__________ societies to agricultural ones based on cultivation of plants and domesticated animals.






48. The _______-_________ Law states that an equilibrium of allele frequencies in a gene pool remains in effect in each succeeding generation of a sexually reproducing population if five conditions are met.






49. The study of ____________ ____________ supports the claim of a common origin of organisms.






50. Any change of _________ frequencies in a gene pool indicates that evolution has occurred. The Hardy-Weinberg law proposes that those factors that violate the conditions listed - cause evolution.