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






2. In general if two genes have an almost identical DNA sequence - it is likely that they are ____________.






3. 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.






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






5. 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.






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






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






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






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






10. ____________ 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.






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






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






13. _________ ______ 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






14. 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 ____________.






15. Speciation by ____________ Equilibrium involves a group of creatures which gets isolated from the rest of their species.






16. 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.






17. A comparative study of physiology and biochemistry also supports the common origin for different organisms. The _____________ of all organisms cells is more or less same in composition.






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






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






20. Despite their image as brutish simpletons - _____________were the first humans to bury their dead with artifacts - indicating abstract thought - perhaps a belief in an after-life.






21. Primates evolved about approximately 30 million years ago in ___________. One branch of primates evolved into the Old and New World Monkeys - the other into the hominoids (the line of descent common to both apes and man).






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






31. Insect ____________ is also an example of convergent evolution - as for example when an edible (palatable) butterfly develops a color pattern similar to a relatively unrelated inedible (unpalatable) butterfly - and by so doing escapes being eaten.






32. About 2 million years ago - two groups developed: the australopithecines - generally smaller brained and not users of tools; and the line that led to genus _________ - larger brained and makers and users of tools.






33. Organisms struggle for existence. Organisms with advantageous characters survive - while those which lack such variations perish. The advantageous characters are passed on to the offsprings generation after generation and the organisms become better






34. 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.






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






36. 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.






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






38. 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.






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






40. 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.






41. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






48. 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...






49. 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.






50. 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.