Question 1

After examining the fossil record, scientists have determined that scorpions today are much smaller than their extinct ancestors. For example, Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, a giant scorpion species that lived 255 million to 460 million years ago, was 2.5 meters long. Which of the following conclusions is supported by this information?

Accepted Answer

Scorpions have changed as a result of natural selection

Answer

Scorpions do not appear in their original state in the fossil record

Answer

Scorpions living today have increased their numbers since they first appeared

Answer

Scorpions in the fossil record are smaller than their descendants are

Question 2

The cladogram shows the evolution of land plants as indicated by fossil records.Which discovery would challenge the validity of this cladogram?

Accepted Answer

A fossil of a fern more than 425 million years old

Answer

A large aquatic vascular plant about 200 million years old

Answer

A moss species that has existed for less than 380 million years

Answer

A species of algae that has existed for less than one million years

Question 3

This diagram of the fossil record represents changes in mollusks over millions of years. How can the pattern of change in the fossil record best be explained?

Accepted Answer

The mollusks were well adapted to their stable environment. A large, sudden change occurred in their environment. After the change the mollusks with the bigger shells were better adapted for the new environment

Answer

The mollusks were not well adapted to their environment. The length of the mollusks' shells changed gradually over time. The mollusks in the original population that had small shells died over a period of many years

Answer

The mollusks were well adapted to their environment. Humans introduced a new species of mollusk that was not adapted to this environment. The introduced mollusk outcompeted the native mollusk species

Answer

The mollusks were well adapted to their stable environment. The mollusks hybridized with a smaller species of mollusk. A new species of mollusk with a bigger shell resulted

Question 4

The graph shows the number of taxa of reptiles whose fossilized tracks have been found. Which statement is best supported by these data?

Accepted Answer

A great extinction occurred during the Jurassic period

Answer

Reptiles adapted to a terrestrial environment during the Cretaceous period

Answer

Environmental conditions for speciation were most favorable for reptiles during the Permian period

Answer

Competition for food and shelter among reptile species was very low during the Triassic period

Question 5

Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould researched the lenses of the eyes of fossil trilobites of different species. In 1972 they published a paper in which they described the tendency of a species to remain the same until a sudden change in the environment causes a new related species to appear. Which hypothesis was most challenged by the work of Eldredge and Gould?

Accepted Answer

Darwin's hypothesis that the development of species is a slow, gradual process

Answer

Redi's hypothesis that spontaneous generation does not occur

Answer

Haeckel's hypothesis that embryological development mimics the evolution of species

Answer

Wallace's hypothesis that geography affects the distribution of species

Related quizzes

Related quizzes