Name ______Date ______Period ______

Evolution Test Review

  1. Where is the best place to search for fossils?
  1. What did Darwin call the combination of physical traits and behaviors that help an organism survive and reproduce?
  1. In a rock column, the fossils in the upper layers must be the (oldest, youngest)
  1. The long slow process of change in species over time is ______
  1. According to Darwin, any inherited characteristic that increases an organism’s fitness for survival is a(n) ______
  1. Scientists who specialize in the study of fossils are ______
  1. What is absolute dating? Relative dating?
  1. The wings of a bat and the front legs of a dog are examples of what kind of structures?
  1. In humans, muscles that move the ears are ______structures.
  1. The presence of 4 tiny leg bones in pythons and boa constrictors (snakes) is evidence that snakes evolved from ancestors with ______
  1. According to Darwin, the long neck and legs of the giraffe are ______
  1. How did Lyell, Malthus, Farmers and Breeders, and Lamark influence Darwin’s concept of evolution?
  1. Darwin’s finches are an excellent example of
  1. speciation
  2. genetic recombination
  3. artificial selection
  4. convergent evolution
  1. A new species usually cannot form without ______isolation.
  1. Examples of analogous structures are
  1. The first person to bring the concept of evolution to the attention of scientists was ______
  1. Lyell’s work affected Darwin’s thinking by presenting new information about
  1. A group of similar-looking organisms that breed with each other and produce fertile offspring make up are called a(n)
  1. According to Darwinian theory, evolution occurs by ______selection.
  1. Related organisms became less alike by
  1. fitness
  2. adaptation
  3. convergent evolution
  4. divergent evolution
  1. The rock pocket mice are a classic example of
  1. A species will have the best chance of survival if it
  1. destroys its niche
  2. occupies an empty niche
  3. leaves its niche
  4. shares its niche
  1. The success of an organism has in passing on its genes is called ______
  1. Since the number of humps on a camel does not seem to affect its survival, the evolution of humps probably resulted from
  1. Scientists believe that all of the species ever alive on Earth, more than _____% are now extinct.
  1. Darwin argued that if you look far enough back in time, you will see that all species have a ______ancestor.
  1. A species has the best chance of survival if it occupies an empty ______.

  1. The book in which Darwin explained his concept of evolution is ______.
  1. The time required for half the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay is its ______.
  1. The human appendix is an example of a(n) ______.
  1. Scientists can determine the age of fossils quite accurately by ______dating.
  1. Most geologists agree that the Earth is about ______years old.
  1. Scientists who specialize in the study of fossils are ______.
  1. Body parts of humans, birds, and whales that are similar in structure are ______.
  1. Scientists determine the age of fossils in relation to fossils in different rock layers by ______dating.
  1. Wings of a bird, bat, and butterfly are examples of ______.
  1. The imprints and remains of organisms that lived in the past are ______.
  1. Discuss how Lamarck, Lyell, and Malthus influenced Darwin’s theory of evolution.
  1. How did the practices of farmers (and breeders) influence Darwin’s theory of evolution?

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