Copy of Thursday (02/19) - Evolutionary Mechanisms Quiz Review AAC (5/2/2026)

Match the term to the correct description

Practice

Which of the following best describes natural selection?

Arctic foxes grow thicker, white fur during the winter months to survive in cold environments. This adaptation is the result of —

During the industrial revolution in England, factories produced black ash that covered the trucks and branches of the white aspen trees. At the same time, the number of white moths that lived on the trees decreased.

Based on the moth example above, which statement is true?

Male peacocks living in areas with few predators have larger and more elaborate tail feathers than males living in regions with many predators who have shorter tail feathers. A population of peacocks from an area with a HIGH number of predators is relocated to a nearby habitat with very FEW predators.

Which of the following is most likely to occur over several generations?

Blue flying fish live in the upper layers of the ocean. Blue flying fish have enlarged pectoral fins that enable them to glide for 400 meters above the ocean surface and appear to fly.

Which statement best describes how natural selection led to enlarged pectoral fins in blue flying fish?

Hospitals use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections.

Some individual bacteria have a genetic mutation that allows them to survive exposure to the antibiotic. As a result, these resistant bacteria survive while the others die.

Which statement BEST explains how the presence of only a few resistant bacteria can cause the antibiotic to become ineffective over time?

The graph below shows the average speed of rabbits. The data was collected between 1965 and 1967, after wolves were introduced back into the area.

What is the change in the phenotypic distribution?

The diagram below shows different beak shapes of finches. In the ancestral species of finches, beak size was much larger than in three living species of finches.

Which question would BEST help determine whether the change beak size and shape of these finches was influenced by natural selection?

The data table below shows the survival rates of three populations of finches over four generations.

Which beak has the highest fitness, and how do you know?

The rainbow trout is a freshwater fish that lives in the rivers of Minnesota. A 5 pound trout is capable of laying up to 6,000 eggs at once.

Many of these embryos will be eaten by predators or will freeze in the arctic water before they can reach adulthood. Only 3% of the eggs will actually hatch and reach adulthood.

Why does the rainbow trout use energy to lay up to 6,000 eggs if most of them will not survive?

The reproductive rates of mosquitoes are shown.

Based on the information provided, which statement **BEST describes the effect of climate on the reproduction and activity of the mosquito population?

The image shows a population that is split by a river, leading to breeding isolation (reproductive isolation).

The populations are reproductively isolated and cannot produce viable offspring. Which process most likely explains this outcome?

Why is gene flow important?

Poison dart frogs are small amphibians that do not have physical defenses such as claws or sharp teeth. Many species produce toxic chemicals in their skin, and their bright colors serve as a warning to predators.

Based on this information, how has adaptation through natural selection allowed poison dart frogs to survive successfully without physical defenses?

Escherichia coli is a species of bacteria that normally reproduces asexually through binary fission. However, E. coli can also gain new genes by taking up plasmids from other bacteria in its environment. Some of these plasmids carry genes that provide resistance to toxic chemicals.

How does the ability to exchange DNA with other bacteria help Escherichia coli survive in changing environments?

A road is built through a field which separates a population of Texas tortoises.

What would provide evidence that speciation has occurred if the two populations were reintroduced after many generations?

Select two correct answers.

A species of insect originally feeds on one type of plant. Some individuals begin feeding and mating on a different plant species in the same area. Over many generations, the two groups no longer interbreed.

Which type of speciation is most likely occurring?

A volcanic eruption creates a new island. A small group of lizards from the mainland is blown to the island during a storm. After thousands of years, the island lizards can no longer reproduce with the mainland population.

Which type of speciation best explains this situation?