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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. 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.






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






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






4. 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.






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






6. 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.






7. ____________ 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.






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






9. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






15. 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...






16. 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.






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






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






19. 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.






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






21. 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






22. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






30. 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.






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






32. ____________ 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.






33. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






40. 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.






41. _____________ 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.






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






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






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






45. 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.






46. 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






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






48. 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 ____________.






49. 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.






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