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Base your answers to questions 1 on the information and chart below and on your knowledge of biology.
The Galapagos Islands are home to many different species of finches. Three finch species, their relative beak sizes, and their food preferences are represented below. All three species live on the same island.
Which process allows for the evolution of finches over time?*
A variety of species of Galapagos finches evolved from one original species long ago through the process of*
Which characteristic is necessary for natural selection to occur in a species?*
The diagram below represents the relationship between natural selection and variation. The arrow between them is labeled X.
Which phrase best indicates the meaning of the arrow labeled X?*
Some evolutionary pathways are represented in the diagram below.
An inference that can be made from information in the diagram is that*
Which factor would be least likely to contribute to the development of a new species?*
Base your answers to questions 7 on the information and table below and on your knowledge of biology.
Prey selection in a species of California garter snake depends upon where the snake lives. Snakes living inland feed on frogs, leeches, and fish while coastal snakes have added banana slugs to their diet. Banana slugs are found only in coastal areas. Researchers performed an experiment to determine what prey newly born snakes preferred. The table below summarizes the findings.
Which inference best explains these differences?*
Genetic recombination, production of more offspring than can survive, and struggling with the challenges of the environment are all concepts associated with*
The table below shows adaptations in two organisms.
The presence of these adaptations is most likely the result of*
Base your answer to question 10-14 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: ________________________________*
Base your answers to questions 15 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.
EVOLUTION OF THE ELEPHANT
Today’s elephants are the result of a long process of evolution. Over millions of years, small changes were passed from one generation to the next. The first fossil elephant species were small, but over time, they increased both in size and weight. The three species alive today are the sole survivors of a once much more widespread group.
Source: www.factmonster.com/dk/science/encyclopedia/evolution.html
Explain why some elephant species did not survive. [1]*
Base your answers to question 16-18 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.
Reindeer Drool
The results of new research highlight interesting findings regarding reindeer and moose saliva. Both reindeer and moose feed on a type of grass called red fescue. Red fescue is usually dangerous to eat due to the presence of a fungus with which it has a mutually beneficial relationship. When the red fescue is eaten, the fungus produces a toxin that decreases blood flow in the legs of the moose and reindeer. This could result in the loss of their limbs.
Since many reindeer and moose successfully feed on red fescue, scientists wondered if their saliva gave them the ability to eat the grass without suffering from circulation problems. Scientists hypothesized that moose and reindeer saliva might detoxify the grass. To conduct their experiment, the researchers smeared reindeer and moose saliva on cut red fescue that contained the fungus. They learned that the saliva slowed the growth of this fungus and detoxified the grass. The reults suggest that some animal species have evolved the ability to fight back against a plant’s natural defenses.
Explain the benefit of the ability moose and reindeer have to eat red fescue grass. In your answer, be sure to:
• explain why red fescue plants with the fungus normally have an advantage over red fescue plants without the fungus [1]
• explain how the moose and reindeer saliva protects them from the harmful effects of the fungus [1]
• explain how moose and reindeer (two separate, but related, mammals) could possess the same adaptation that protects them from the toxin produced by the fungus [1]*
Base your answer to question 19-21 on the information and photographs below and on your knowledge of biology.
In addition to their use for hearing, ears contain many blood vessels that allow heat to escape into the air. Animals that live in warm climates tend to have ears with large areas exposed to the environment. Animals in cold climates have a more compact ear that keeps exposure to the environment to a minimum. The photographs below show a jackrabbit from desert regions of the southwestern United States and a fennec fox from northern Africa with large ears, and a snowshoe hare and an arctic fox with small ears.
Discuss how differences in ear size in these organisms might have occurred. In your answer, be sure to:
• explain how the size of these animals’ ears can help the animals survive in their environment [1]
• identify one process that most likely resulted in the animals in warm climates having large ears, while animals in cold climates have small ears [1]
• state how the overproduction of offspring in each species for many generations contributed to the presence of different ear sizes [1]*
Base your answers to questions 22 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 23 on the information and diagram below and on your knowledge of biology. The diagram represents a biological process.
Fossil evidence has demonstrated that birds evolved from a group of small carnivorous dinosaurs. Scientists have hypothesized that some evolved into birds as they filled available niches.
Identify two groups of organisms from the diagram that still exist on Earth today. Describe how they may have been able to survive to the present. [1]*
