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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. 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.






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






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






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






5. Darwin's Finches illustrated ___________ ____________. This is where species all deriving from a common ancestor have over time successfully adapted to their environment via natural selection.






6. 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.






7. 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.






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






9. 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






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






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






12. According to Darwin - in spite of the high reproductive potential - the number of individuals in a species remains relatively constant - suggesting _____________ for existence.






13. 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.






14. 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.






15. _____________ 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.






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






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






19. 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).






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






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






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






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






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






26. 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.






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






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






29. 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 ____________.






30. Differential reproduction allows one species to gradually evolve into a new species. This is the process of ____________.






31. 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...






32. Biodiversity crashes during ________ extinctions. This has been a powerful force in evolution - wiping the slate clean of up to 96% of all species - and providing the survivors with a world full of opportunities into which they can diversify.






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






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






35. 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.






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






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






38. The Linnaean system uses two Latin name categories - ________ and species - to designate each type of organism.






39. ____________ 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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