Test your basic knowledge |

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






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






4. Animals and plants show variations in physical structure. Some of these variations are simply caused by external conditions (environmental) - such as accidents - temperature - food abundance - etc.. ___________ variations have no effect on evolution






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






6. 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.






7. 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.






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






9. Almost all _________ organisms are either plants or animals.






10. _____________ 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.






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






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






13. 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...






14. 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.






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






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






17. An important step toward the modern theory of evolution came in the 1760's - when Count George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707-1788) published his Natural History of Animals with the idea that species __________ over time.






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






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






20. In the 1680s Ariaantje and Gerrit Jansz emigrated from Holland to South Africa - one of them bringing along an allele for the mild metabolic disease porphyria. Today more than 30000 South Africans carry this allele and - in every case examined - can






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






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






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






25. ____________ 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.






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






27. Almost all living organisms use the same basic biochemical molecules - including DNA - ATP - and many identical or nearly identical enzymes. Organisms utilize the same DNA triplet base _________ and the same 20 amino acids in their proteins






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






29. Humans are ____________ - meaning we walk on two of our limbs. The amount of melanin in our skin is representative of the environment we live in - i.e. dark skinned people occupy hotter climates.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






37. 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.






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






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






40. 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.






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






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






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






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






45. 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 ____________.






46. 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.






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






48. 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.






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






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