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1. Many people in the United States believe in the Biblical creation. What various kinds of factors may account for the
fact that many people do not accept evolution as an explanation for the origins and diversity of life?
ANSWER: Will vary
REFERENCES: Opposition to Evolution Today
2. During the voyage of the Beagle Darwin noted the variations in Galapagos finches between beak size and:
a. body size.
b. longevity.
c. diet.
d. exercise.
e. altitude.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
3. The most critical mechanism of evolutionary change is natural selection.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
4. Many people argue that evolution is “just a theory.” Define theory and describe how evolution does or does not fit this
definition.
ANSWER: In science a theory is something that has been tested and has robust support. Evolution provides
various cases of support from the peppered moth to current disease challenges.
REFERENCES: Introduction
5. In explaining the origins of variation within species, Darwin:
a. had no idea of the true causes.
b. agreed with Lamarck that it was caused by an animal’s inner needs.
c. used research he carried out while at Cambridge.
d. argued it was caused by differential use of an animal’s body parts.
e. used Mendel’s theory of heredity.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
6. There are no well-documented examples of natural selection operating on natural populations.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
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7. In Europe during the Middle Ages, it was most commonly believed that:
a. all forms were created by God and did not change over time.
b. life was created slowly, over millions of years.
c. most species had become extinct over time.
d. all species had evolved from a common ancestor.
e. evolution was the result of natural selection acting upon genetic variation.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
8. The principle of uniformitarianism:
a. was the same as the theory of catastrophism.
b. stated that the geological processes that operated in the past are still occurring in the present.
c. was a problem for the development of evolutionary theories.
d. was first proposed by Georges Cuvier.
e. proposed that the earth was only a few thousand years old.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
9. In formulating his theory of natural selection, Darwin did not:
a. appreciate the fact that population size is limited by availability of food.
b. recognize the importance of biological variation within a population.
c. wonder if he had enough supportive data.
d. apply his knowledge of domesticated species to undomesticated ones.
e. claim that favorable variations would tend to be destroyed, unfavorable ones be preserved.
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
10. Populations which are prevented from mating and producing fertile offspring are:
a. not in biological continuity.
b. considered part of the same taxonomic species.
c. infertile.
d. less subject to selective pressures.
e. reproductively isolated.
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
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11. Thomas Malthus did not:
a. propose that human population today is not related to the availability of resources.
b. argue that in nature resource availability remains relatively stable over time.
c. argue that in nature there is a tendency for animal population to increase in number.
d. influence the development of Darwin’s and Wallace’s theories of natural selection.
e. argue for limits to human population growth.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
12. _________ was an 18th century thinker who believed that living forms changed in response to the environment yet
still rejected the idea that one species could give rise to another.
a. John Ray
b. Alfred Russel Wallace
c. Georges Cuvier
d. Erasmus Darwin
e. Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
13. Fitness, in an evolutionary sense, refers to an individual’s:
a. size.
b. aggressiveness.
c. strength.
d. age at death.
e. reproductive success.
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
14. __________was the opponent of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the proposer of the view that the earth’s geological
landscape is the result of violent cataclysmic events.
a. Thomas Malthus
b. Erasmus Darwin
c. Alfred Russel Wallace
d. Charles Lyell
e. Georges Cuvier
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
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15. Growing attacks on traditional beliefs occurred simultaneously with growing awareness of biological diversity.
_________challenged a notion proposed by Aristotle to account for the movement of the sun and planets.
a. Darwin
b. Wallace
c. Mendel
d. Copernicus
e. Linnaeus
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
16. Darwin argues that:
a. there is biological variation within all species.
b. fitness is a measure of how healthy and physically adapted an individual is.
c. there are fewer selective pressures on well-adapted species.
d. individuals who have more resources are reproductively successful.
e. in each generation all offspring survive in the most adapted species.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
17. _____________first recognized that species were groups of organisms that were distinguished from other such
groups by their ability to mate with one another and produce fertile offspring.
a. Carolus Linnaeus
b. John Ray
c. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
d. Alfred Russel Wallace
e. Charles Darwin
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
18. Natural selection operates on populations, but it is individuals who evolve.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
19. What is natural selection?
ANSWER: Natural selection is the key evolutionary mechanism – that all species produce offspring faster
than the food supply, that there is biological variation within all species, that in each generation
more offspring are born than survive, that more favorable traits lead to more fit individuals, that
the environment determines which traits are favorable, that traits are inherited and passed on to
yield greater reproductive success overall, that accumulations of changes over time may lead to a
new species, and that geographical isolation contributes to the formation of a new species through
selective pressure.
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
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20. ___________refined the existing system of classifying biological organisms into a binomial system
a. Georges Cuvier
b. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
c. Carolus Linnaeus
d. George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
e. Erasmus Darwin
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
21. Which of the following concepts did NOT influence Darwin in developing his theory of evolution?
a. Species are unchanging types, and individual variation within a species is not important.
b. Population size increases more rapidly than food supplies.
c. There is biological variation in all members of a species.
d. Favorable variations are passed on and accumulate in populations over time.
e. There is competition among individuals for resources.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
22. Natural selection merged with the work of __________ in the 20th century to open up our understanding of
evolutionary theory.
a. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
b. Gregor Mendel
c. Alfred Russel Wallace
d. Charles Lyell
e. Erasmus Darwin
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: Constraints on 19th-Century Evolutionary Theory
23. The concept of a theory in science is associated with all of the following except:
a. it has robust support.
b. it is a hunch or intuitive idea.
c. it has been tested.
d. it has not been disproved.
e. it has evidentiary support.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
24. Outline Lamarck’s theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics. According to this theory, what was the
environment’s role in biological change?
ANSWER: Under Lamarck’s theory an animal’s activity patterns would cause change in their physical make-
up; those parts used would expand and those not used would decrease.
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
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25. Evolution is a theory that has considerable support from genetic evidence.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: Introduction
26. Regarding the example of the peppered moth, which of the following is not true?
a. The two color patterns resulted from genetic variation in the species.
b. The dark is more visible on the trees darkened by pollution.
c. The most common variety of the peppered moth in England, prior to the 19th century, was a mottled gray color.
d. Natural selection acted upon pre-existing variation in the population.
e. It has recently come under criticism.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
27. Present and discuss the fundamentals of evolutionary change produced by natural selection.
ANSWER: Will vary
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
28. What is the belief that species do not change but are the same as when they were first created?
a. Uniformitarianism
b. Catastrophism
c. Natural selection
d. Fixity of species
e. The Great Chain of Being
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
29. In the example of the peppered moth and changing camouflage colors, which one is best considered the selective
agent?
a. Trees
b. Peppered moths
c. Birds
d. Grey moths
e. Coal dust
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
30. Define what Darwin meant by the concept of fitness.
ANSWER: It is a measure of the relative reproductive success of individuals.
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
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31. What is the term for the theory stating that characteristics acquired during the lifetime of an individual could be passed
on to that individual’s offspring?
a. Use-disuse theory
b. Fixity of species
c. Natural selection
d. Catastrophism
e. Uniformitarianism
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
32. Which concept, proposed by Charles Lyell, had a profound effect on 19th-century scientific thought?
a. Natural selection
b. The immense age of the earth
c. The role of catastrophic events in producing geological phenomena
d. Recent origins for earth
e. The inheritance of acquired characteristics
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
33. Who coined the term “biology”?
a. Charles Lyell
b. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
c. Georges Cuvier
d. Charles Darwin
e. Thomas Malthus
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
34. We credit Erasmus Darwin with significantly influencing Charles Darwin’s evolutionary thinking.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
35. Charles Darwin:
a. received no formal education.
b. began to doubt the fixity of species during a voyage around the world in the 1830s.
c. grew up in modest circumstances.
d. was a physician who studied natural history as a hobby.
e. spent two years in Africa where he developed the theory of natural selection.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
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36. Charles Darwin acknowledged the importance of selective pressure when formulating his theory of natural selection.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
37. __________wrote the highly praised Principles of Geology in which was emphasized the principle of
uniformitarianism.
a. Charles Darwin
b. Alfred Russel Wallace
c. Charles Lyell
d. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
e. Thomas Malthus
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
38. What is the “theory of evolution” based on what you have learned in this chapter?
ANSWER: Will vary
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
39. Carolus Linnaeus:
a. developed theories of natural selection.
b. was a supporter of Charles Darwin.
c. was a proponent of evolutionary change.
d. established a binomial system of classification for plants and animals.
e. opposed all notions of fixity of species.
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
40. Charles Darwin recognized the importance of beak variation in finches while visiting the Galápagos Islands.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
41. Creationism is considered a science because it has testable hypotheses.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: Opposition to Evolution Today
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42. Which is the best example of natural selection?
a. The medium ground finch of the Galápagos
b. Mendel’s project with peas and beans
c. The recent decrease in resistant strains of disease-causing microorganisms
d. The recent increase in resistant strains of disease-causing microorganisms
e. The peppered moth
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
43. What is meant by biological continuity?
ANSWER: It is when expressions of a phenomenon continuously grade into one another so that there are no
discrete categories of difference.
REFERENCES: Opposition to Evolution Today
44. Alfred Russel Wallace is best known for:
a. finding numerous important fossils during the 19th century.
b. the principle of uniformitarianism.
c. being the co-discoverer of natural selection.
d. finding numerous important fossils during the 18th century.
e. identifying changes in the coloration of a species moth.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
45. Charles Darwin was not the only one to conceive of natural selection. Who also published an article suggesting
current species were descended from other species?
a. Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
b. Erasmus Darwin
c. John Scopes
d. Alfred Russel Wallace
e. Jean Baptiste Lamarck
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
46. Charles Lyell, author of Principles of Geology, is considered the founder of modern geology.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
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47. The fact that individuals who possess favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those who
possess less favorable traits is the basis for which theory?
a. Uniformitarianism
b. Catastrophism
c. Natural selection
d. The inheritance of acquired characteristics
e. The fixity of species
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: Natural Selection
48. Explain why and how Charles Lyell’s principle of uniformitarianism and Thomas Malthus’ argument on population
growth and resource availability were important to Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace as they developed their
theories of biological evolution.
ANSWER: Will vary
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
49. Compare and contrast catastrophism and uniformitarianism.
ANSWER: Both are theories to explain change, but both explain it in different ways. Catastrophism argues
that the earth’s geological landscape is the result of violent cataclysmic events. As these events
occurred, some forms of life became extinct and later repopulated by migrating species from other
areas. Uniformitarianism argues that the earth’s features are the result of long-term processes,
leaving the earth as a product of deep geological time.
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
50. What is the view that the extinction and the subsequent appearance of more modern forms could be explained by a
series of disasters and creations?
a. Catastrophism
b. Use-disuse theory
c. Natural selection
d. Descent with modification
e. Uniformitarianism
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
51. Who was the first to actually attempt to explain the mechanism by which species change?
a. Charles Darwin
b. Erasmus Darwin
c. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
d. Carolus Linnaeus
e. Charles Lyell
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
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52. Several events combined to alter Western Europeans’ ideas about the earth by the 18th century. These did not
include:
a. the circumnavigation of the globe.
b. the discovery of the New World.
c. the invention of the microscope.
d. a less than rigid feudal class system.
e. the notion of a sun-centered universe.
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
53. The theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics has recently displaced natural selection as mainstream
science’s most accepted theory of evolutionary change.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
54. Which is the most common reason that about half of Americans do not believe in evolution?
a. The mechanisms of evolution are complex and do not lend themselves to simple explanations.
b. Most Americans are religiously fundamentalist and do not believe in science.
c. Most have not read or studied science in school.
d. Most people do not want clear-cut answers.
e. Most people possess extensive familiarity with the principles of genetics and know that evolution could not
occur.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Opposition to Evolution Today
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