AP Bio Evolution Practice Test - St. Johns County School ...

1 AP Bio Evolution Practice Test Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. ____ 1. Catastrophism, meaning the regular occurrence of geological or meteorological disturbances (catastrophes), was Cuvier's attempt to explain the existence of a. Evolution . b. the fossil record. c. uniformitarianism. d. the origin of new species. e. natural selection. ____ 2. Which of the events described below agrees with the idea of catastrophism? a. The gradual uplift of the Himalayas by the collision of the Australian crustal plate with the Eurasian crustal plate b.

2 The formation of the Grand Canyon by the Colorado River over millions of years c. The gradual deposition of sediments many kilometers thick on the floors of seas and oceans d. The sudden demise of the dinosaurs, and various other groups, by the impact of a large extraterrestrial body with Earth e. The development of the Galapagos Islands from underwater seamounts over millions of years ____ 3. What was the prevailing notion prior to the time of Lyell and Darwin? a. Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations are unchanging.

3 B. Earth is a few thousand years old, and populations gradually change. c. Earth is millions of years old, and populations rapidly change. d. Earth is millions of years old, and populations are unchanging. e. Earth is millions of years old, and populations gradually change. ____ 4. During a study session about Evolution , one of your fellow students remarks, "The giraffe stretched its neck while reaching for higher leaves; its offspring inherited longer necks as a result." Which statement is most likely to be helpful in correcting this student's misconception?

4 A. Characteristics acquired during an organism's life are generally not passed on through genes. b. Spontaneous mutations can result in the appearance of new traits. c. Only favorable adaptations have survival value. d. Disuse of an organ may lead to its eventual disappearance. e. Overproduction of offspring leads to a struggle for survival. ____ 5. Which group is composed entirely of individuals who maintained that species are fixed ( , unchanging)? a. Aristotle, Cuvier, and Lamarck b. Linnaeus, Cuvier, and Lamarck c.

5 Lyell, Linnaeus, and Lamarck d. Aristotle, Linnaeus, and Cuvier e. Hutton, Lyell, and Darwin ____ 6. In the mid-1900s, the Soviet geneticist Lysenko believed that his winter wheat plants, exposed to ever-colder temperatures, would eventually give rise to ever more cold-tolerant winter wheat. Lysenko's attempts in this regard were most in agreement with the ideas of a. Cuvier. b. Hutton. c. Lamarck. d. Darwin. e. Plato. The following questions refer to Figure , which shows an outcrop of sedimentary rock whose strata are labeled A-D.

6 Figure ____ 7. Who would have proposed that the boundaries between each stratum mark the occurrence of different localized floods? a. Lyell b. Cuvier c. Hutton d. Darwin e. Lamarck ____ 8. Which pair would have been likely to agree that strata such as those depicted here were deposited gradually over long periods of time by subtle mechanisms that are still at work? a. Cuvier and Aristotle b. Cuvier and Lamarck c. Lyell and Linnaeus d. Aristotle and Hutton e. Hutton and Lyell ____ 9. Darwin's mechanism of natural selection required long time spans in order to modify species.

7 From whom did Darwin get the concept of Earth's ancient age? a. Georges Cuvier b. Charles Lyell c. Alfred Wallace d. Thomas Malthus e. John Henslow ____ 10. As a young biologist, Charles Darwin had expected the living plants of temperate South America would resemble those of temperate Europe, but he was surprised to find that they more closely resembled the plants of tropical South America. The biological explanation for this observation is most properly associated with the field of a. meteorology. b. embryology. c.

8 Vertebrate anatomy. d. bioengineering. e. biogeography. ____ 11. Which of these naturalists synthesized a concept of natural selection independently of Darwin? a. Charles Lyell b. Gregor Mendel c. Alfred Wallace d. John Henslow e. Thomas Malthus ____ 12. Charles Darwin was the first person to propose a. that Evolution occurs. b. a mechanism for how Evolution occurs. c. that the Earth is older than a few thousand years. d. a mechanism for Evolution that was supported by evidence. e. a way to use artificial selection as a means of domesticating plants and animals.

9 ____ 13. In Darwin's thinking, the more closely related two different organisms are, the a. more similar their habitats are. b. less similar their DNA sequences are. c. more recently they shared a common ancestor. d. less likely they are to have the same genes in common. e. more similar they are in size. ____ 14. Which of these conditions should completely prevent the occurrence of natural selection in a population over time? a. All variation between individuals is due only to environmental factors. b. The environment is changing at a relatively slow rate.

10 C. The population size is large. d. The population lives in a habitat where there are no competing species present. ____ 15. Natural selection is based on all of the following except a. genetic variation exists within populations. b. the best-adapted individuals tend to leave the most offspring. c. individuals who survive longer tend to leave more offspring than those who die young. d. populations tend to produce more individuals than the environment can support. e. individuals adapt to their environments and, thereby, evolve.