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






2. Except for the tail fins - whales greatly resemble fish in outline - but are instead descended from four-legged land ___________.






3. Linnaeus placed all monkeys and apes along with humans into the order _________






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






5. Populations begin to diverge when gene flow between them is restricted. Geographic isolation is often the first step in ____________ speciation.






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






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






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






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






10. 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.






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






12. The __________ kingdom consists of one-celled organisms as well - but differs from the Monera kingdom in that it consists of eukaryotes.






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






14. As the finch population began to flourish in these advantageous conditions - ______________ competition became a factor - and resources on the islands were squeezed and could not sustain the population of the finches for long.






15. 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).






16. If a population began with a few individuals - one or more of whom carried a particular allele - that allele may come to be represented in many of the descendants. This is known as ____________.






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






18. 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.






19. ____________ 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.






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






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






22. 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.






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






24. 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.






25. 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.






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






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






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






29. There are certain animals with intermediate characters between two major groups of animals. They are called ___________ _____.






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






31. The most recent mass extinction - the K-T extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period - is best known for having wiped out the __________ .






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






33. ___________ is a specific explanation of similarity of form seen in the biological world. In genetics - it is used in reference to protein or DNA sequences - meaning that the given sequences share ancestry.






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






35. _________ ______ disease causes anemia - joint pain - a swollen spleen - and frequent - severe infections. It illustrates balanced polymorphism because carriers are resistant to malaria - an infection by the parasite that causes cycles of chills and






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






37. 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.






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






39. The ______-____-______ Hypothesis proposes that some Homo erectus remained in Africa and continued to evolve into Homo sapiens - and left Africa about 100 -000-200 -000 years ago. From a single source - Homo sapiens replaced all populations of Homo e






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






41. As populations diverge - they form similar but related species. When are two populations new species? When populations no longer _____________ they are thought to be separate species.






42. 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 ___________ __________.






43. About 1.8 million years ago - early Homo gave rise to _______ ________ - the species thought to have been ancestral to our own.






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






45. _____________ struggle takes place between the individuals of different species.






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






47. The only kingdom which consists of prokaryotes is the __________ kingdom.






48. In species which reproduce _____________ - extinction of a species is generally inevitable when there is only one individual of that species left - or only individuals of a single sex.






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






50. 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.