A pattern of evolution in which most change in appearance takes place during a relatively short period of time fits the ______ model of speciation.
punctuated equilibrium
The science of naming, identifying, and classifying organisms is called ______.
taxonomy
Thirty people are selected for a long-term mission to colonize a planet many light years away from Earth. The mission is successful and the population rapidly grows to several hundred individuals. However, certain genetic diseases are unusually common in this group, and their gene pool is quite different from that of the Earth population they have left behind. Which of the following phenomena has left its mark on this population?
Founder effect
Genetic drift is the result of ______.
chance
According to the theory of endosymbiosis, which organelles evolved from small prokaryotes that established residence within other, larger prokaryotes?
mitochondria and chloroplasts
Homology is evidence of ______.
common ancestry
Why is RNA thought to have been the first genetic material?
RNA is capable of self-replication; DNA is not.
What name is given to the single supercontinent that formed near the end of the Paleozoic?
Pangea
Scientists have warned doctors of the danger of their increasing use of antibiotics for treating minor illnesses. They are concerned because _____.
strains of bacteria that are resistant to these drugs will become more widespread
______ is an example of bioremediation.
The use of prokaryotes to treat sewage
The figure below shows what happens in insect populations when crops are sprayed with insecticides. This is an example of ______.
natural selection
Which one of the following is the only domain that contains eukaryotes?
Eukarya
While examining a rock surface, you have discovered an interesting new organism. Which of the following criteria will allow you to classify the organism as belonging to Bacteria but not Archaea or Eukarya?
Cell walls are made primarily of peptidoglycan.
Which of the following is a characteristic of a population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
The population is not evolving.
______ is the study of the evolutionary relationships of organisms, past and present.
Systematics
In The Origin of Species, Darwin argued that the mechanism of descent with modification was _____.
natural selection
Which of the following is most likely to decrease genetic variation?
stabilizing selection
The modern synthesis was a fusion of ______.
genetics and evolutionary biology
Feathers in birds appear to have first evolved for insulation but later conveyed a new advantage in helping create light aerodynamic surfaces. This switch in function is an example of ______.
an exaptation
Eukaryotes that are not fungi, animals, or plants are classified in a "catch-all" category called ______.
protists
All of the alleles of all of the genes within a population make up that population's ______.
gene pool
Which of the following include the two classes of poisons produced by pathogenic bacteria?
endotoxins and exotoxins
The biological species concept cannot be applied to ______.
bacteria that only reproduce asexually
The idea that life regularly arises from nonliving matter is referred to as ______.
spontaneous generation
Which of the following is a species name?
sapiens
Natural selection can be defined as ______.
a process in which organisms with certain inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than other individuals
Which of the following is an example of sexual selection?
Peahens choose to mate with peacocks that have the most beautiful tails.
The smallest unit of evolution is the ______.
population
Which prokaryotic group is most closely related to eukaryotes?
domain Archaea
What organisms are most numerous on Earth?
prokaryotes
What was the first stage of the process that led to the abiotic origin of life?
abiotic synthesis of monomers, such as amino acids and nucleotides
Which protozoan group consists solely of parasitic forms?
apicomplexans
What does Darwinian fitness measure?
reproductive success
On what basis are populations assigned to the same biological species?
being able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring
Which of the following would likely be the most difficult to kill were you to can your own food?
endospores
A reproductive barrier that prevents species from mating is an example of ______.
pre-zygotic barrier
Bacilli are ______ prokaryotes.
rod-shaped
Which of the following describes allopatric speciation? A) A male horse and a female donkey mate, producing a sterile
A population of squirrels is separated by the Grand Canyon. Through time the two subpopulations evolve into two distinct species.
All prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms that photosynthesize fit into which nutritional category?
photoautotrophs
The two basic types of cells are ______ and ______.
prokaryotic...eukaryotic
Which of the following is a component of the fossil record?
bones of extinct whales
A slimy layer of bacteria coating a surface is also known as a ________.
biofilm
What theory states that all living things are composed of cells?
cell theory
New branches form on the tree of life through the process of _____. A) speciation
speciation
The original source of all genetic variation that serves as the raw material for natural selection is ______.
mutation
The absence of ______ in the primitive atmosphere was essential to the origin of life on Earth.
oxygen
Which of the following options lists taxonomic categories in the correct order from most specific to most general?
genus, family, order, class, phylum
Analogous structures are evidence of ______.
convergent evolution
Prokaryotes reproduce by means of ______.
binary fission
Characteristics shared by both snakes and birds include ______.
the amniotic egg
Sharks are a type of ______.
cartilaginous fish
______ are the most diverse group of arthropods.
insects
Which of the following actions would increase your carbon footprint?
eating more beef and less chicken
A(n) ______ is an example of a mollusc that does not have a shell.
octopus
The ______ helps plants retain water.
cuticle
Which of these adaptations to a terrestrial existence evolved most recently?
seeds
The greenhouse effect causes an increase in global temperatures. This increase is primarily due to ______.
C02 and other greenhouse gases slowing the escape of heat from Earth
Which of the following is abiotic?
a rock
Permafrost, or permanently frozen subsoil, characterizes _____.
tundra
Which of these human characteristics evolved first?
upright posture
Water-storing plants and deeply-rooted shrubs are plants that characterize ______.
deserts
The effect of deforestation is to ______.
increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
What are estuaries?
regions where fresh water and salt water mix
What name is given to the seafloor?
benthic realm
What does the term tetrapod mean?
having 4 feet
How do sponges differ from all other animals?
sponges lack true tissues
Where did humans first appear?
Africa
The mobile stage of the cnidarian life cycle is the ______ stage.
medusa
What level of ecology is concerned with both the biotic and abiotic aspects of an environment?
ecosystem
______ are seedless vascular plants.
ferns
______ are the mammalian group that lay eggs.
Monotremes
Ecology is the study of ______.
interactions between organisms and their environments
What name is given to the open ocean?
pelagic realm
Which of the following is a characteristic of all chordates?
They all have a notochord sometime during the life cycle.
Swim bladders ______.
help bony fish maintain buoyancy
______ have radial symmetry.
Cnidarians
Why does it make sense that many fruits are green when their seeds are immature?
They are harder to see and thus less likely to be eaten than other fruits.
Like plants, fungi have ______; however, in plants they are composed of ______, whereas in fungi they are composed of ______.
cell walls . . . cellulose . . . chitin
Which of these biomes is maintained by fire?
chaparral
Gametophytes are ______; sporophytes are ______.
haploid...diploid
What are hyphae?
threadlike filaments that make up fungal bodies
What is the primary source of energy for nearly all of Earth's ecosystems?
sunlight
Mutualistic associations of plant roots and fungi are called ______.
mycorrhizae
Which of the following correctly illustrates the sequence of the origin of modern groups of plants?
bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, angiosperms
What is the name given to the process by which a larva develops into an adult?
metamorphisis
In an aquatic ecosystem, what name is given to the region where photosynthesis can occur?
photic zone
What important role do fungi play in many ecosystems?
they decompose organic material
Most adult insects have three major body parts or sections. They are the
head, thorax and abdomen
Nearly all ______ are aquatic.
crustaceans
Unique features of vertebrates include the presence of a(n) ______.
skull and backbone
A true coelom is ______.
completely lined with tissue derived from mesoderm
Which of the following can moderate climate by absorbing heat when the air is warm and releasing heat when the air is cold?
oceans
With regard to the environment as a whole, when is the worst time to apply pesticide to your lawn?
before/after rain
Among vertebrates, the unique feature of lampreys and hagfish is the ______. A) absence of a post-anal tail
absence of jaws
A(n) ______ is an example of an invertebrate chordate.
lancelet
What is a population?
a group of organisms of the same species living in a particular geographic area
Nearly all food plants are classified as ______.
angiosperms
Nutritionally, all fungi are ______.
heterotrophs
Aquatic organisms ______.
may experience problems with the solute concentration of the surrounding fluid
The primary goal of conservation biology is to ___.
counter the loss of biodiversity
Why are most energy pyramids limited to 3-5 levels?
There is insufficient energy to support more levels
Modern conservation science increasingly aims to ___.
sustain entire ecosystems
An assemblage of interacting ecosystems is a _____.
landscape
Integrated pest management ____
advocates mixed-species plantings and rotating crops
Which of these convert organic matter to inorganic matter by breaking down dead organisms?
decomposers
In the food chain (grass -> antelope -> human -> lion), the human is ____
secondary consumer
A demographic tool used to predict a populations future growth is
age structures
The number of individuals of a population unit per area is the
population density
In terms of population, what is boom and bust cycling?
when a population oscillates around the carry capacity of its environment
Humans are ____
omnivores
Species only found in one area of the earth are called _____ species
endemic
The present rate of species loss _____
is as much as 1,000 times higher than it has been in the last 100,000 years
Species that exhibit an equilibrial life history typically ______
have long lives
The major abiotic reservoir for phosphorous is
rock
Rate at which organic matter is produced into an ecosystem is its _____
primary productivity
In order to asses the species diversity of a community, you would need to know the different number of species as well as
the relative abundance of different species
What form of carbon is incorporated into organic matter by producers?
CO2
Organisms at the first trophic level are ____
producers
Biomass is the amount of _____ in an ecosystem
organic material in
The ecological footprint of the USA _____
shows Americans consume disproportionate amounts
Bears eat berries, etc....
A food web
The Endangered Species Act aims to help protect species that _____
are in danger of extinction
An unexpected freeze that kills a population of chipmunks is an example of
a density-independent factor
Which of these describes a Type II survivorship curve?
relatively constant death rate
As a result of disturbance, a community will ____
undergo succession
In the absence of limiting factors, a population's growth follows a _____ growth model.
exponential
Which of these organisms convert atmospheric nitrogen gas to a form that can be utilized by plants?
bacteria
In most developed countries, overall population growth rates _____
are near 0, population size is stable
Which of these organisms are ultimately responsible.....
producers
The death by bubonic plague...
density-dependent factor
Type I survivorship curves are typical of species that exhibit ____
few offspring and good parental care
Introduced species can have important effects on biological communities by ____
all of the above
E.O. Wilson coined the term....
biophilia
The intentional release of a natural enemy to attack a pest population is ____
biological control
Most plants have a variety of chemicals, spines and thorns because the plants _____
cannot run away from herbivores
Small areas that have a large number of endangered species....
biodiversity hot spots
What is a population?
group of same species individuals that occupy the same general area
____ is the maximum population size that a particular habitat can support
Carrying capacity
Which of the following will decrease population size?
decreasing food supply
Single greatest threat to biodiversity comes from ______
habitat destruction and fragmentation
Competition among the same species is _____ competition
intraspecific
An ecological footprint
is a means of understanding resource availability and usage
The sum total of a populations of the biotic and abiotic resources of its habitat constitutes its _____
niche
What is one way that chemical flow and energy cycling differ?
energy flow is unidirectional, chemical elements can be recycled
Sustainable development ____
involves all of the above
A movement corridor _____
unites otherwise isolated patches of quality habitat for a species
A community is composed of
potentially interacting populations of different kinds of organisms
An example of mutualism....
corals/algae