Researchers have been studying a rare population of eighty-seven voles in an isolated
area. Ten voles from a larger population were added to this isolated population. Besides
having ten additional animals, what benefits are there to importing individuals?
A) Additional animals from a distant population will likely bring genetic diversity and
reduce inbreeding depression.
B) Additional animals will bring additional competition and could hurt the population.
C) Additional animals would increase beneficial genetic drift.
D) There is no benefit other than increasing the overall population size.
When are atoms most stable?
A) when they have the fewest possible valence electrons
B) when they have the maximum number of unpaired electrons
C) when all of the electron orbitals in the valence shell are filled
D) when all electrons are paired
What is the final result of mitosis in a human?
A) genetically identical 2n somatic cells
B) genetically different 2n somatic cells
C) genetically identical 1n somatic cells
D) genetically identical 2n gamete cells
It became apparent to Watson and Crick after completion of their model that the DNA
molecule could carry a vast amount of hereditary information in which of the
following?
A) sequence of bases
B) phosphate-sugar backbones
C) complementary pairing of bases
D) side groups of nitrogenous bases
Martin Wikelski and L. Michael Romero (Body size, performance and fitness in
Galpagos marine iguanas, Integrative and Comparative Biology 43 [2003]:376-86)
measured the snout-to-vent (anus) length of Galpagos marine iguanas and observed the
percent survival of different-sized animals, all of the same age. The graph shows the log
snout-vent length (SVL, a measure of overall body size) plotted against the percent
survival of these different size classes for males and females.
Currently the only predators of Galpagos marine iguanas are Galpagos hawks. Iguana
body size is not correlated with risk of hawk predation, although small iguanas can
sprint faster than large iguanas. If predators (for example, cats) that preferably catch
and eat slower iguanas are introduced to the island, iguana body size is likely to _____
in the absence of other factors; the iguanas would then be under _____ selection.
A) increase; directional
B) increase; disruptive
C) decrease; directional
D) decrease; disruptive
In a newly fertilized egg, the vitelline layer _____.
A) lifts away from the egg and hardens to form a fertilization envelope
B) secretes hormones that enhance steroidogenesis by the ovary
C) reduces the loss of water from the egg and prevents desiccation
D) provides most of the nutrients used by the zygote
On Easter Island, data show that it was once covered by massive palm trees. How can
an ecosystem collapse from removal of just one species of large tree?
I) Without large trees, soil erosion increases and reduces productivity.
II) Species of plants needing shade no longer have it.
III) Large trees are habitats for many species.
A) only I
B) only II
C) only III
D) I, II, and III
Which statement about the beak size of finches on the island of Daphne Major during
prolonged drought is true?
A) Each bird evolved a deeper, stronger beak as the drought persisted.
B) Each bird’s survival was strongly influenced by the depth and strength of its beak as
the drought persisted.
C) Each bird that survived the drought produced only offspring with deeper, stronger
beaks than seen in the previous generation.
D) The frequency of the strong-beak alleles increased in each bird as the drought
persisted.
What is the probable sequence in which the following clades of animals originated,
from earliest to most recent?
1. tetrapods
2. vertebrates
3. deuterostomes
4. amniotes
5. bilaterians
A) 5 → 3 → 2 → 1 → 4
B) 5 → 3 → 4 → 2 → 1
C) 3 → 5 → 4 → 2 → 1
D) 3 → 5 → 2 → 1 → 4
As you are walking along a beach, you find an animal and believe that it belongs to the
class Asteroidea. Which of the following characteristics would support your hypothesis
that the animal is a sea star and not another type of echinoderm?
A) It is pentaradially symmetric.
B) It feeds on other animals.
C) It has a hydrostatic skeleton, formed from its water vascular system.
D) Its central region is not well-delineated from its appendages.
How could you determine if a plant is heterosporous?
A) Male and female reproductive structures are located on separate plants.
B) It has vascular tissue.
C) It has multiple sporangia.
D) Its diploid sporophyte produces spores via meiosis.
One mole of the compound above would weigh how many grams? (Note: The atomic
masses, in daltons, are approximately 12 for carbon, 1 for hydrogen, and 16 for
oxygen.)
A) 29
B) 30
C) 60
D) 150
A population of plants experiences several years of severe drought. Much of the
population dies due to lack of water, but a few individuals survive. You set out to
discover the physiological basis for their adaptation to such an extreme environmental
change. You hypothesize that the survivors have the ability to synthesize higher levels
of _____ than their siblings do.
A) auxin
B) gibberellin
C) cytokinin
D) abscisic acid
If photosynthesizing green algae are provided with CO2 containing heavy oxygen
(18O), later analysis will show that all of the following molecules produced by the algae
contain 18O EXCEPT_____.
A) glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P)
B) glucose
C) ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP)
D) O2
Which of the following is a true statement about body size and physiology?
A) The amount of food and oxygen an animal requires and the amount of heat and
waste it produces are inversely proportional to its mass.
B) The rate at which an animal uses nutrients and produces waste products is
independent of its volume.
C) Small and large animals face different physiological challenges because an animal’s
body mass increases cubically while its surface area increases as a squared function.
D) The wastes produced by an animal double as its volume doubles and triple as its
surface area triples.
Connell conducted this experiment to learn more about _____.
A) character displacement in the color of barnacles
B) habitat preference in two different species of barnacles
C) how sea-level changes affect barnacle distribution
D) competitive exclusion and distribution of barnacle species
Which of the following, if discovered, could refute our current understanding of the
pattern of evolution?
A) no fossils of soft-bodied animals
B) a modern bird having reptile-like scales on its legs
C) radioactive dating of rocks showing that rocks closer to the Earth’s surface are
younger than lower rock strata
D) diverse fossils of mammals in Precambrian rock
What group of mammals have (a) embryos that spend more time feeding through the
placenta than the mother’s nipples, (b) young that feed on milk, and (c) a prolonged
period of maternal care after leaving the placenta?
A) Eutheria
B) Marsupiala
C) Monotremata
In the form of gene therapy used successfully for severe combined immunodeficiency
syndrome (SCID)-X1, the genetic engineering of human cells is done by _____.
A) injecting engineered viruses into the patient’s bloodstream
B) injecting engineered viruses into the patient’s bone marrow
C) treating a relative’s cultured bone marrow cells with genetically engineered viruses
and then injecting these cells into the patient’s bone marrow
D) isolating the patient’s bone marrow cells, infecting them with genetically engineered
viruses, and injecting them back into the patient’s bone marrow
Which of the following would be LEAST likely in the fossil record?
A) burrowing species
B) marine-dwelling species
C) marsh-dwelling species
D) desert-dwelling species
A G-protein receptor with GTP bound to it _____.
A) is in its active state
B) signals a protein to maintain its shape and conformation
C) will use cGMP as a second messenger
D) directly affects gene expression
An eccentric millionaire botanist has offered a $25,000 scholarship to anyone who can
successfully get a plant to grow through a vertical maze in complete darkness. The
maze is not in a box; the maze is simply drawn on the wall, and the contestants must get
their plant to grow in a pattern that matches the path through the maze. You need the
money and feel confident that you can accomplish this task. Which of the following
techniques will help you succeed?
A) Apply auxin directly to the shoot tip on the side to which you want the tip to bend.
B) Apply auxin directly to the part of the stem just below the tip opposite from the
direction you want the stem to bend.
C) Inject compounds that block auxin receptors into the part of the stem opposite from
the direction you want the stem to bend.
D) Plant the roots in two different pots, and apply auxin to the root bucket that is on the
same side as the direction you want the plant to bend.
In terms of alternation of generations, the internal parts of the pollen grains of
seed-producing plants are most similar to a _____.
A) moss sporophyte
B) moss gametophyte bearing both male and female gametangia
C) fern sporophyte
D) fern gametophyte bearing only antheridia
Which of the following statements about evolution of behavior is correct?
A) Natural selection will favor behavior that enhances survival and reproduction.
B) An animal may show behavior that minimizes reproductive fitness.
C) If a behavior is less than optimal, it will eventually become optimal through natural
selection.
D) Innate behaviors cannot be altered by natural selection.
Which of the following statements regarding the future of populations in developing
countries are correct?
I) The fecundity is predicted to increase.
II) Survivorship will increase.
III) Overall population size will increase dramatically.
IV) The number of offspring each year is predicted to remain high.
A) only I and III
B) only II and IV
C) only II, III, and IV
D) only I, II, and III
The evolution of animal species has been prolific (the estimates go into the millions and
tens of millions). Much of this diversity is a result of the evolution of novel ways to
_____.
A) reproduce
B) arrange cells into tissues
C) sense, feed, and move
D) form an embryo and establish a basic body plan
A summer occupation in the Corn Belt states is de-tasseling the corn: removing
unwanted male flowers so that female flowers on the same plant are pollinated by the
desired pollen for the hybrid corn. What does this tell you about corn? The flowers are
_____.
A) perfect and the plant is dioecious
B) perfect and the plant is monoecious
C) imperfect and the plant is dioecious
D) imperfect and the plant is monoecious
Gene expression is often assayed by measuring the level of mRNA produced from a
gene. If one is interested in knowing the amount of a final active gene product, a
potential problem of this method is that it ignores the possibility of _____.
A) chromatin condensation control
B) transcriptional control
C) alternative splicing
D) translational control
Which of the following are important components of the long-distance transport process
in plants?
I) the cohesion of water molecules
II) a negative water potential
III) the root parenchyma
IV) the active transport of solutes
V) bulk flow from source to sink
A) II, III, IV, and V
B) I, III, IV, and V
C) I, II, IV, and V
D) I, II, III, and V
Refer to the following graph of an action potential to answer the question(s) below.
The membrane potential is closest to the equilibrium potential for potassium at label
_____.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
The last common ancestor of all bilaterians is thought to have had four Hox genes. Most
extant cnidarians have two Hox genes, except Nematostella (of β-catenin fame), which
has three Hox genes. On the basis of these observations, some have proposed that the
ancestral cnidarians were originally bilateral and, in stages, lost Hox genes from their
genomes. If true, this would mean that _____.
A) the Radiata should be a true clade
B) the radial symmetry of extant cnidarians is secondarily derived, rather than being an
ancestral trait
C) Hox genes play little actual role in coding for an animal’s “body plan”
D) the Cnidaria may someday replace porifera as the basal bilaterians
The lock-and-key analogy for enzymes applies to the specificity of enzymes _____.
A) as they form their tertiary and quaternary structure
B) binding to their substrate
C) interacting with water
D) interacting with ions