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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is one consequence of natural selection?
(a) Change must benefit the environment.
(b) Change cannot involve other organs.
(c) Change must be small.
(d) Change must benefit the species.

2. What does Darwin suggest about acquired traits in parents?
(a) They do not last a lifetime.
(b) They cannot be passed on.
(c) They can be passed to offspring.
(d) They cannot be selected for.

3. Organisms in which regions experience less competition?
(a) Polar ice caps.
(b) Mountain ranges.
(c) Small islands.
(d) Deserts.

4. How far are the Galapagos Islands from South America?
(a) 200 miles.
(b) 100 miles.
(c) 500 miles.
(d) 300 miles.

5. What species of bees builds inefficient hives?
(a) Honeybees.
(b) Hive-bees.
(c) Bumblebees.
(d) Yellow jackets.

6. What animal that is alive today could be considered an intermediate species of a mammal and the mastodon?
(a) Ox.
(b) Mammoth.
(c) Tiger.
(d) Elephant.

7. What is said about the pressure to adapt?
(a) It is not equal among all species.
(b) It is dependent on the numbers in a species.
(c) It is dependent on the region.
(d) It is equal among all species.

8. How do some scientists try to explain the purpose of rudimentary organs?
(a) They serve as support filler.
(b) They were used by ancestors.
(c) They add symmetry.
(d) They beat the process of natural selection.

9. What do naturalists say about the situation of hybrids resembling their parents?
(a) There is no explanation.
(b) Artificial selection explains this.
(c) Natural selection cannot explain this resemblance.
(d) Natural selection can explain this resemblance.

10. How do some scientists demonstrate the differences between species and variations?
(a) Natural breeding.
(b) Through hybrids.
(c) Scientific method.
(d) Fossil records.

11. What type of species are most likely to inter-breed?
(a) Mammals.
(b) Wild species.
(c) Polymorphic organisms.
(d) Domesticated organisms.

12. What is the general quality of fossils gathered by paleontologists?
(a) It depends on location.
(b) It depends on size.
(c) Superior.
(d) Poor.

13. How do breeders know if the traits they breed into cows are useful?
(a) They appear at birth.
(b) They appear prior to birth.
(c) They appear in adulthood.
(d) They appear in late childhood.

14. What type of organisms will not fossilize?
(a) Species with bones.
(b) Soft creatures.
(c) Sea animals.
(d) Insects.

15. What is NOT sufficient to account for differences in organisms in different regions?
(a) Differences in climate and terrain.
(b) Genetics.
(c) Food supply.
(d) Natural selection.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are variations typically related to in complex species?

2. What period in time can explain many migrations due to climate change?

3. What may occur if one organism changes dramatically over time?

4. What does the bone structure of the human hand resemble?

5. Where might a species who are adapted to warm climates migrate to as the climate becomes colder?

(see the answer keys)

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