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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. 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.






2. 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.






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






4. 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






5. 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.






6. ____________ 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.






7. 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).






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






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






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






11. A ____________ tree is a graphical means to depict the evolutionary relationships of a group of organisms.






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






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






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






15. Jean Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) developed one of the first theories on how species changed. Lamarck - in 1809 - concluded that organisms of higher complexity had __________ from preexisting - less complex organisms.






16. 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.






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






18. 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 ___________ __________.






19. 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.






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






21. 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 ____________.






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






23. 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.






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






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






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






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






28. 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.






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






30. 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.






31. _____________ 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.






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






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






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






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






36. 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.






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






38. 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).






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






40. 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.






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






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






43. ___________ 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.






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






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






46. 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.






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. 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.






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






50. 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.