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Base your answers to questions 1 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.
Fossil Footprints
Scientists examined a trail of fossil footprints left by early humans in soft, volcanic ash in Eastern Africa. A drawing of the trail of footprints is shown below. Each footprint is represented as a series of lines indicating the depth that different parts of the foot sank into the volcanic ash.
The type of information directly provided by these fossil footprints is useful because it*
In 2007, scientists broke open a fossil of a dinosaur bone and found some preserved tissues. Analysis showed that some proteins in these tissues are very similar to proteins found in modern chickens. The conclusion that these dinosaurs are related to modern chickens is based on*
Evidence that best supports the theory of biological evolution was obtained from the*
Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide a scientific explanation for*
Scientists who have examined the fossil record have noted that some species have changed very little over long periods of geologic time. The lack of change in such organisms is most likely because*
The fossil record of ancient life forms provides scientific evidence of*
Base your answers to questions 7 on the information and diagram below and on your knowledge of biology. The diagram represents the evolutionary relationships among many organisms.
Three species with the most similar traits are most likely*
Which diagram below indicates that species D is more closely related to C than it is to either A or B?*
The diagram below represents one possible evolutionary change that could have led lobe-finned fish to develop into the first amphibians. Amphibians are animals that live on land some of their life.
This change from fins on the lobe-finned fish to legs and feet on the early amphibian is most likely due to*
Base your answers to questions 10 on the information and photograph below and on your knowledge of biology.
A Close Relative of the Elephant
A hyrax is an animal that has been called a rock rabbit and looks like a guinea pig. Fossil records show that hyraxes first appeared on Earth approximately 37 million years ago. As they evolved, some became mouse-sized, while some were the size of a horse. Some eventually adapted to marine life and are related to manatees, and some became grazers and are related to elephants.
Identify one type of molecular evidence that could have been used to develop this mammalian evolutionary tree, and describe one specific way that the evidence could have been used to construct the tree. [1]
Evidence: ________________________________________*
Base your answers to questions 11 on the passage below and on your knowledge of biology.
Most animal fossils include hard body parts such as teeth and bones. Until recently, scientists had little hope that soft tissue could be preserved in the bones. A team of scientists has removed soft tissue containing a collagen protein from the leg bone of a 68-million-year-old fossil from a dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus rex. The technique of mass spectrometry was used to identify the sequences of certain molecules in several small fragments of the dinosaur collagen protein.
The molecular sequences were compared to those of modern animals. The scientist found that the collagen protein of the Tyrannosaurus rex more closely resembled the collagen protein found in modern chickens than that in some other modern animals.
State one kind of evidence that would support the conclusion that birds evolved from dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex. [1]*
Base your answer to question 12-16 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.
New varieties of organisms have resulted from human activities. These organisms have often led to problems in modern society. Two of these new varieties are listed below.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria Pesticide-resistant insects
Select one of these varieties and discuss a problem associated with the development of this new variety of organism. In your answer, be sure to:
• identify the variety you selected
• identify one biological process by which a population of this variety may develop resistance [1]
• describe how this process is involved in the production of a population of resistant organisms [1]
• identify one problem caused by this resistance [1]
• state one solution to this problem [1]
• identify one possible negative effect of this solution [1]
Variety: ________________________________*
The diagram below shows a branching “tree” representing the evolution of ten different groups of organisms alive today.
Identify the group of organisms that is most closely related to the Arthropoda group. Support your answer. [1]
Group of organisms:_______________________*
Base your answers to questions 18 on the passage below and on your knowledge of biology.
Ocean-dwelling (marine) iguanas and land iguanas inhabit the Galapagos Islands. Some scientists believe that both types of iguanas diverged from a common ancestor. Marine iguanas eat algae. Land iguanas feed on cacti. Algae are more abundant in the ocean than cacti are on the islands. Both species lay their eggs in the sand.
Rats, cats, and goats have been introduced to the islands by humans. Rats feed on iguana eggs, cats eat baby iguanas, and goats eat cacti.
Identify the process by which ancestral iguanas developed into the present-day marine iguanas and land iguanas of the Galapagos Islands. [1]
Process: ________________________*
Base your answers to questions 19 on the information and chart below and on your knowledge of biology.
Scientists studied the distribution of a species of pocket mouse that lived in the sandy desert regions of the southwestern United States. They are eaten by a variety of predators. Pocket mice are active at night, and feed on seeds and grasses. A single female mouse can reproduce several times each year, producing a litter of 3 to 13 offspring each time. Each new litter is considered a generation.
A volcanic eruption that resulted in lava flows changed the color of the area that the mice inhabit from light brown to black. Data from the scientist’s research of the population are shown in the chart below.
Explain why the percentage of black pocket mice changed so much after the volcanic eruption. [1]*
