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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following refers to ways by which an organism could spread to a new area that would NOT typically occur naturally?
(a) Artificial migration.
(b) Accidental means of dispersal.
(c) Species changes.
(d) Human transport.

2. What do scientists find throughout the fossil record?
(a) New species.
(b) Evolution.
(c) Flaws in nature.
(d) Life.

3. How do biologists classify organisms?
(a) Groups of internal features.
(b) Groups of functions.
(c) Groups of resemblance.
(d) Groups of locations.

4. What is one consequence of natural selection?
(a) Change must benefit the species.
(b) Change must be small.
(c) Change cannot involve other organs.
(d) Change must benefit the environment.

5. What is the major limiting factor to migration?
(a) Land mass.
(b) Lakes.
(c) Oceans.
(d) Stamina.

6. What happens to life forms that do NOT adapt?
(a) They become extinct.
(b) They become predators.
(c) Nothing.
(d) They are prey.

7. What is one of the most serious objections to natural selection?
(a) Age of Earth.
(b) Lack of links between species.
(c) Darwin's credibility.
(d) Religious objections.

8. What is on the seeds of plants that helps them reproduce?
(a) Fur.
(b) Hooks.
(c) Openings.
(d) Spikes.

9. How do breeders know if the traits they breed into cows are useful?
(a) They appear in adulthood.
(b) They appear in late childhood.
(c) They appear at birth.
(d) They appear prior to birth.

10. What is the general quality of fossils gathered by paleontologists?
(a) Poor.
(b) It depends on size.
(c) Superior.
(d) It depends on location.

11. What does Darwin suggest about acquired traits in parents?
(a) They do not last a lifetime.
(b) They cannot be selected for.
(c) They can be passed to offspring.
(d) They cannot be passed on.

12. What do large shifts in geology promote in species?
(a) Development of new variations.
(b) Increased migration.
(c) Development of new genera.
(d) Development of new species.

13. What does the fossil record show about new species?
(a) They did not exist in ancient times.
(b) They are variations of fossils.
(c) They did exist in ancient times.
(d) They are different species.

14. What was the basis of classification in ancient times?
(a) External similarities.
(b) Geographical similarities.
(c) Climate tolerance similarities.
(d) Internal similarities.

15. If natural selection is accepted, what is rejected?
(a) Species were created independently.
(b) Variations must be subjective.
(c) There is only artificial selection.
(d) All differences must be different species.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do scientists believe fossils do not exist at the bottom of the ocean?

2. What is said about the pressure to adapt?

3. In what type of species has perfect fertility of variations been demonstrated?

4. What happens to the offspring when two of the same distinct species interbreed?

5. What type of fossils may survive damaging geological changes?

(see the answer keys)

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