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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Why is instinct NOT well-defined?
(a) They change rapidly.
(b) It covers too many behaviors.
(c) No one can agree on a definition for instinct.
(d) It is elusive.

3. What does the fossil record suggest about species that go extinct?
(a) They reappear as a variation.
(b) They go extinct quickly.
(c) They pass on their traits.
(d) They do not reappear.

4. What animal that is alive today could be considered an intermediate species of a mammal and the mastodon?
(a) Ox.
(b) Mammoth.
(c) Tiger.
(d) Elephant.

5. What can be said about organisms belonging to the same species?
(a) They originated from the same location.
(b) They will produce the same type of variations.
(c) They will change at the same rate.
(d) They have similar habits.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the fossil record show about new species?

2. What seems unlikely, but must be possible concerning the migration of fish?

3. What separates marine life near the equator and South America that causes vast differences in species?

4. What do naturalists understand will never happen to most organisms?

5. What is one of the most serious objections to natural selection?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the key explanation for species living in different regions?

2. Why does Darwin use a fish and a reptile as comparisons?

3. Describe the process of egg-laying of the European cuckoo.

4. How do physical barriers correlate with differences in creatures that inhabit a region?

5. Why is adaptation necessary?

6. What is one cause of a landmass changing the geological record?

7. How does natural selection explain the behaviors of Formica rufescens?

8. How does the age of the earth play into natural selection?

9. Why do rudimentary organs pose a problem for theorists that species were created independently?

10. What are three facts that can be explained by natural selection as discussed in Chapter 11?

(see the answer keys)

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