Mastering Biology Chapter 22

The role that humans play in artificial selection is to

Of the following anatomical structures, which is homologous to the bones in the wing of a bird?

If two modern organisms are distantly related in an evolutionary sense, then one should expect that

Structures as different as human arms, bat wings, and dolphin flippers contain many of the same bones, these bones having developed from very similar embryonic tissues. How do biologists interpret these similarities?

Which of the following pieces of evidence most strongly supports the common origin of all life on Earth?

Both ancestral birds and ancestral mammals shared a common ancestor that was terrestrial. Today, penguins (which are birds) and seals (which are mammals) have forelimbs adapted for swimming. What term best describes the relationship of the bones in the forelimbs of penguins and seals, and what term best describes the flippers of penguins and seals?

Ichthyosaurs were extinct aquatic reptiles distantly related to living lizards. Fossils show us that they had dorsal fins and tails, as do fish, even though their closest relatives were terrestrial reptiles that had neither dorsal fins nor aquatic tails. The dorsal fins and tails of ichthyosaurs and fish are

What must be true of any organ that is described as vestigial?

The upper forelimbs of humans and bats have fairly similar skeletal structures, whereas the corresponding bones in whales have very different shapes and proportions. However, genetic data suggest that all three kinds of organisms diverged from a common ancestor at about the same time. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for these data?

DNA sequences in many human genes are very similar to the sequences of corresponding genes in chimpanzees. The most likely explanation for this result is that

Which of the following statements about natural selection is true?

Which term describes a trait that increases an individual's ability to survive in a particular environment?

Which term describes the ability of a trait to be passed on to offspring?

Which of the following organisms could be produced by artificial selection?

Which pair of chickens should a farmer breed to produce larger chickens?

A farmer wishes to develop a strain of high-yield corn that is also resistant to drought. He has the following individuals from the current year's crop: Individual A—Yield: 179 bushels/acre; drought resistance: high Individual B—Yield: 220 bushels/acre; drought resistance: low Individual C—Yield: 185 bushels/acre; drought resistance: medium Individual D—Yield: 140 bushels/acre; drought resistance: high Individual E—Yield: 200 bushels/acre; drought resistance: medium Which of the following crosses would produce the highest corn yield with the highest resistance to drought?

An adaptation is _____.

Which one of the following researchers developed a theory of evolution that was very similar to Charles Darwin's?

A group of small fish live in a lake with a uniformly light-brown sandy bottom. Most of the fish are light brown, but about 10% are mottled. This fish species is often prey for large birds that live on the shore. A construction company dumps a load of gravel in the bottom of the lake, giving it a mottled appearance. Which of these statements presents the most accurate prediction of what will happen to this fish population?

Charles Darwin was the first person to propose

Which of these conditions should completely prevent the occurrence of evolution in a population over time?

Natural selection is based on all of the following except

A biologist studied a population of squirrels for 15 years. During that time, the population was never fewer than 30 squirrels and never more than 45. Her data showed that over half of the squirrels born did not survive to reproduce, because of both competition for food and predation. In a single generation, 90% of the squirrels that were born lived to reproduce, and the population increased to 80. Which inference(s) about this population might be true?

Which of the following must exist in a population before natural selection can act upon that population?

The rise of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be considered to be an example of artificial selection because

Which of these lists contains the four postulates of natural selection?

Which of the following statements is an accurate combination of postulates 1 and 2 of natural selection?

Which of the following statements is an accurate combination of postulates 3 and 4 of natural selection?

Does the ability of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell to infect a new host depend on its drug-resistant phenotype?

Which of the following statements describes the evolution by natural selection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria in their new environment?

In the United States today, about half of the corn crop is genetically engineered with a protein that is toxic to corn borers, an insect pest of corn. Which of the following conditions would be necessary for evolution of resistance to the toxic protein to occur in the corn borer?

True or false? It would be difficult to assess whether the drug-susceptible or drug-resistant phenotype in a population of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was more fit in an environment without antibiotics.

The wing of a bat is homologous to the _____ of a whale.

A challenge to traditional (pre-1860) ideas about species came from embryology, when it was discovered that _____.

The theory of evolution through natural selection is considered a scientific theory because _____.

Which of the following statements best describes theories?

In a hypothetical environment, fishes called pike-cichlids are visual predators of algae-eating fish (in other words, they locate their prey by sight). If a population of algae-eaters experiences predation pressure from pike-cichlids, which of the following is least likely to be observed in the algae-eater population over the course of many generations?

If the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus experiences a cost for maintaining one or more antibiotic-resistance genes, then what should happen in environments from which antibiotics are missing?

Over evolutionary time, many cave-dwelling organisms have lost their eyes. Tapeworms have lost their digestive systems. Whales have lost their hind limbs. How can natural selection account for these losses?

Which of the following statements most detracts from the claim that the human appendix is a completely vestigial organ?

Members of two different species possess a similar-looking structure that they use in a similar fashion to perform the same function. Which information would best help distinguish between an explanation based on homology versus one based on convergent evolution?

Where are the Solomon Islands located?

Scientists studying evolution on the Solomon Islands described which animal as the 'poster child' for the biological species concept?

Based on the video, what can you infer about speciation--the process by which one species splits into two or more species?

Why did the biologists consider a frog that they found to be a new species?

When Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, he knew very little about the subject of _____, an essential component of evolutionary theory today.

Where are the Galapagos Islands located?

Which of the following sets of animals are likely to be found on the Galapagos Islands?

Which species is threatening the natural wildlife on the Galapagos Islands?

The Galapagos Islands were the first place on Earth to _____.

Tourism on the Galapagos Islands is being restricted by requiring tourists to _____.

Soapberry bugs use needlelike "beaks" to feed on seeds within the fruits of various plants. Bugs feed most successfully when their beak length matches the size of the fruit on which they are feeding. For 25 years, populations of soapberry bugs in central Florida have been feeding on small goldenrain tree fruits that were introduced to the area, rather than on the larger native balloon vine fruits that serve as food for other soapberry bug populations. Beak lengths of soapberry bugs are variable, but the average beak length is shorter in soapberry bug populations that feed on goldenrain tree fruits than in populations that feed on balloon vine fruits, as shown in the graph. How does natural selection act on beak length in soapberry bug populations?

In 1959, doctors began using the powerful antibiotic methicillin to treat infections of Staphylococcus aureus, but within two years, methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus (MRSA) appeared. How did the resistant strains of S. aureus emerge?