Evolution Set 2 MCQs

Q1 | Which of the following are the most distantly related to one another?

Sunfish and dolphins.

Tree frogs and snakes.

Vampire bats and birds.

Bears and whales.

Q2 | How does an evolutionary biologist explain why a species of birds has evolved a larger beak size?

Large beak size occurred as a result of mutation in each member of the population.

The ancestors of this bird species encountered a tree with larger than average sized seeds. They needed to develop larger beaks in order to eat the larger seeds, and over time, they adapted to meet this need.

Some members of the ancestral population had larger beaks than others. If larger beak size was advantageous, they would be more likely to survive and reproduce. As such, large beaked birds increased in frequency relative to small beaked birds.

The ancestors of this bird species encountered a tree with larger than average sized seeds. They discovered that by stretching their beaks, the beaks would get longer, and this increase was passed on to their offspring. Over time, the bird beaks became larger.

Q3 | How might an evolutionary biologist explain why a species of species of salamander becomes blind after colonizing a cave?

It is possible that in the cave there is a source of pollution that increases the mutation rate for a gene that makes salamanders blind. Over time, due to exposure to this chemical, the members of the population lose their sight.

Members of the ancestral population that colonized the cave differed in their ability to see. If maintaining the ability to see in the cave was a waste of energy, blind salamanders might actually have more offspring than those who could see.

There is no way to explain this in terms of natural selection

The members of this salamander species no longer needed to use their eyes. Over time, due to

Q4 | Which of the following is the most fit in an evolutionary sense?

A lion who is successful at capturing prey but has no cubs.

A lion who has many cubs, eight of which live to adulthood.

A lion who overcomes a disease and lives to have three cubs.

A lion who cares for his cubs, two of who live to adulthood.

Q5 | A biologist is trying to infer how five closely related species of snakes are related to one another. She notices that some of the snakes have forked tongues and others do not. Which of the following would help her distinguish the ancestral state?

She looks among snake fossils for evidence that being forked is a characteristic of the ancestor of this group, but determines no such fossils exist.

She locates a specimen of a more distantly related snake to see if it has a forked tongue.

She looks at a representative mammal species to see if it has a forked tongue.

She flips a coin.

Q6 | The surface temperature of the sun is ______.

6000o C

9000o C

1000o C

10,000o C

Q7 | The earth like other planets formed from ______.

aggregates of uranium

cloud of gas and dust

division of pre-exiting planets

collisions of meteorites

Q8 | The experiment to show the production of mice in 21 days from a dirty shirt placed in contact with kernels of wheat was carried out by ______.

Francesco Redi

Jean Baptiste Van Helmont

Aristotle

Louis Pasteur

Q9 | The first formed organism (riboorganism) used only ................. for catalyzing reactions.

DNA

amino acids

fatty acids

RNA

Q10 | Anaerobic photosynthetic bacteria appeared on the earth about ______.

500 million years ago

1500 million years ago

2500 million years ago

3500 million years ago

Q11 | The sequence of origin of life may be considered as ______.

Amino acid ? Protein ? Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll ? Starch ? Glycogen

Nucleic acid ? Amino acid ? Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll ? Nucleic acid ? Amino acid

Q12 | The primitive cell-like colloidal particles capable of growth and division were ______.

prokaryote

coacervates

eobionts

chemoautotrophs

Q13 | The stage for the evolution of autotrophs was set with the evolution of ______.

RNA

DNA

ozone

chlorophyll

Q14 | The first organism to be found on a bare rock is a (an) ______.

mos

alga

lichen

fern

Q15 | The doctrine of evolution is concerned with ______.

gradual change

abiogenesis

biogenesis

none of the above

Q16 | The era called ‘age of prokaryotic microbes’ is ______.

archaezoic

precambrian

phaenerozoic

proterizoic

Q17 | The determine which molecules might have formed spontaneously on early earth, Stanley Miller used an apparatus with an atmosphere containing ______.

oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen

oxygen, hydrogen, ammonia and water vapour

oxygen, hydrogen and methane

hydrogen, ammonia, methane and water vapour

Q18 | The utilization of elements and compounds in nature generation theory because ______.

life cycle

cyclic pathway

material cycles

recycling

Q19 | What is ethnobotany ?

Relationship between primitive plants and people

Study to soil

Cultivation of flower yielding plants

Use of plants and their parts

Q20 | The first photoautotroph organisms were ______.

bryophyte

algae

cyanobacteria

bacteria

Q21 | Who performed this famous experiment to prove origin of life ?

Oparin and Haldane

Spallanzani and Pasteur

Urey and Miller

Fox and Pasteur

Q22 | How much temperature was used for the gases to react ?

10o C

130o C

1000o C

50oC

Q23 | What was the mixture of gases used in chamber marked A ?

Methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen (H2), and water (H2O)

Oxygen (O2), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen (H2), and water (H2O)

Oxygen (O2), ozone (O3), hydrogen (H2), and water (H2O)

all above

Q24 | What was the resultant found in place marked E ?

Glucose, fatty acids and lipids

Some fatty acids and organic acids

Some amino acids as glycine and alanine and

Organic esters only

Q25 | Match the appropriatc :_ans_key_Column – I Column – II_ans_key_A. Cosmozoan theory (i) Oxidizing environment rich in autotrophs like cyanobacteria_ans_key_B. Spontaneous generation (ii) Microspheres_ans_key_C. Primary abiogenesis (iii) Hot ball of gases_ans_key_D. Atmosphere I (iv) Oparin and Haldane_ans_key_E. Atmosphere III (v) Panspermia_ans_key_F. Sydney Fox (vi) Abiogenesis_ans_key_A B C D E F A B C D E F

(v) (vi) (iv) (iii) (i) (ii)

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi)

(ii) (iii) (i) (v) (vi) (iv)

(vi) (iv) (iii) (v) (ii) (i)