Understanding Evolution

Review Questions

Which scientific concept did Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace independently discover?

  1. mutation
  2. natural selection
  3. overbreeding
  4. sexual reproduction

Hint:

B

Which of the following situations will lead to natural selection?

  1. The seeds of two plants land near each other and one grows larger than the other.
  2. Two types of fish eat the same kind of food, and one is better able to gather food than the other.
  3. Male lions compete for the right to mate with females, with only one possible winner.
  4. all of the above

Hint:

D

Which description is an example of a phenotype?

  1. A certain duck has a blue beak.
  2. A mutation occurred to a flower.
  3. Most cheetahs live solitary lives.
  4. both a and c

Hint:

D

Which situation is most likely an example of convergent evolution?

  1. Squid and humans have eyes similar in structure.
  2. Worms and snakes both move without legs.
  3. Some bats and birds have wings that allow them to fly.
  4. all of the above

Hint:

D