IB Review Questions about Evolution:

1. Which characteristics apply to all evolving populations?

I. Overproduction of offspring
II. There are differing genotypes in the population
III. Different chances of survival
A. I & II only B. I & III only C. II & III only D. I, II & III

2. "Natural selection" and "evolution" are two terms that are sometimes confused, even by top biology students.
What is the relationship between natural selection & evolution?
a. They are the same thing.
b. Any phenomenon that causes evolution is natural selection.
c. Natural selection is one of several causes of evolution.
d. When natural selection is occurring, evolution is not, and vice versa.

3. Which of the following is a true statement about Charles Darwin?

a. He was the first to discover that living things can change, or evolve.
b. He based his theory on the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
c. He worked out the principles of population genetics.
d. He proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution.
e. He was the first to realize that Earth is billions of years old.

4. Lamarck’s theory of evolution assumed that:

a. considerable variation exists among members of a given species
b. there always tends to be a struggle for existence
c. evolutionary change could be achieved by the transmission of characters acquired thru the influence of the environment
d. organisms produce far more offspring than the environment can support

5. What is produced by mutation and essential for evolution to occur?

a. Improvements in organisms b. Variation c. Additional DNA d. A struggle for existence

6. A mutation would have the greatest affect on the evolution of a species of mammal if it occurred in the:
a. DNA of an interstitial cell in the testes b. DNA of a zygote
c. RNA of an oocyte d. DNA of a spermatagonia cell in testis

7. Which factor(s) is/are essential for evolution to occur within a population?

I. Inheritance of characteristics II. Variation in the population III. Natural selection
A. I only B. I and II only C. II and III only D. I, II and III

8. Which of the following factors is NOT an important part of natural selection?

a. selective breeding of domestic plants and animals
b. unequal reproduction with individuals best meeting environmental demands having most success
c. heritable variation
d. limited environmental resources

9. According to the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory, which of the following is true?
a. Populations are the units of evolution. b. Only certain animal species are sexual.
c.Evolution is independent of genetics. d.Segregation of alleles explain evolution of individuals, not species.

10. The following statements are part of the theory of evolution by natural selection.
I. Only the best adapted individuals survive and pass on their genes
II. More offspring are produced than the environment can support
III. As one generation follows another, the characteristics of the species change
IV There is struggle for survival in which some individuals are more successful
What is the correct sequence of statements?
a. I, II, III, IV b. II, IV, I, III c. III , I, IV, II d. IV, III, II, I

11. Assume there are two varieties of mice, brown and gray, living on an island. They are the prey for the hawks
on the island. They are distributed through rocky areas in the north of the island and across the fields in the south part.
Which of the following scenarios is predicted by natural selection?
a. If the mice remain as mixed populations, they will remain mixed in the future because the two varieties will not
interbreed with each other.
b. Since brown mice blend better with the ground and gray mice blend better with the rocks, these are the ones that
will be missed by the hawks and the mouse distribution will tend to indicate this.
c. Hawks find the mice by movement so color of the mice won't matter in their survival.
d. A mouse population that starts as a random mixture will never adapt to the environment.

12. Discuss how prokaryotes, early in time, might have become involved in the makeup of eukaryotic
organelles (2). Include proofs of this theory (2). (for a total of 4 pts)
13. Phenologists are biologists who study the timing of seasonal activities in animals and plants, such as the opening of
tree leaves and the laying of eggs by birds. Data such as these can provide evidence of climate changes, including global
warming. The date in the spring when new leaves open on horse chestnut trees (Aesculus hippocastaneum) has been
recorded in Germany every year since 1951. The graph below shows the difference between each year’s date of leaf
opening and the mean date of leaf opening between 1970 and 2000. Negative values indicate that the date of leaf
opening was earlier than the mean. The graph also shows the difference between each year’s mean temperature
during March and April and the overall mean temperature for these two months. The data for temperature was obtained
from the records of thirty-five German climate stations.
4 –15
3
–10
2
1 –5
D iffe re n c e in D iffe re n c e in
0 0 d a te o f lea f
m e a n te m p e ra tu re
/ ºC – 1 o p e n in g / d a y s
5
–2 K ey :
= te m p e ra tu re 10
–3
= le a f o p e n in g
–4 15
1970 ‘8 0 ‘9 0 2000
Ye a r
[Source: Walther et al., Nature (2002), 416, pages 389–395]

(a) Identify the year in which there was the

(i) earliest opening of horse chestnut leaves............................................................................(1)

(ii) lowest mean temperature in March & April..................................................................................(1)

(b) Use the data in the graph to deduce the following: The relationship between temperatures
in March and April and the date of opening of leaves on horse chestnut trees.

...............................................................................................................(1)

From 1973 onwards phenologists in the Netherlands have been studying a population of great tits (Parus major) in a
forest on the Hoge Veluwe. Nest boxes are checked every week to find out when the great tits lay their eggs and how
many eggs they lay. Young birds are ringed when they are 7 days old, to allow the reproductive success of their parents
to be monitored. Great tits feed on arthropods, especially caterpillars. The phenologists found that the date of maximum
caterpillar biomass each year in the forest could be estimated accurately using temperature records. The graphs below
show the mean date of egg laying & the estimated date of maximum caterpillar biomass for each year from 1973 to 1995.

45

35
M e a n d a te o f e g g
la y in g / n u m b e r o f d a y s
a fte r 3 1 M a r c h 25

15

5
75

65
M e a n e s tim a te d d a te o f
m a x im u m c a te rp illa r
b io m a ss / n u m b e r o f 55
d a y s a fte r 3 1 M a rc h
45

35
‘7 2 ‘7 6 ‘8 0 ‘8 4 ‘8 8 ‘9 2 ‘9 6
Ye a r
[Visser, Noordwicijk, Tinbergen & Lessells, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London,(1998), 265, pgs 1867–1870]
 (c) (i) Compare the date of egg laying with the date of maximum caterpillar biomass.

...............................................................................................................(1)

(ii) Suggest an advantage to great tits of the difference in dates.

...............................................................................................................(1)

(d) State the trend, shown in the graph, for the date of maximum caterpillar biomass.

........................................................................................................................ (1)

There was no statistically significant change in the date of egg laying between 1973 and 1995, but the
phenologists found evidence that natural selection will eventually cause a change in the date of egg laying.

(e) Explain how natural selection could cause a change in the date of egg laying in the population of
great tits in the forest on the Hoge Veluwe.

..............................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................(2)

14. Outline the evolution of bacteria in response to the use of antibiotics. [2]