Regents Living Environment Test Preparation Practice

    New Species Formation And Evolution

    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.

    labs, lab, the beaks of finches fig: lenv12014-examw_g21.png

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    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.

    evolution, new species formation and evolution fig: lenv12017-exam_g16.png

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    Base your answer to question 11-15 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

    11-15

    Base your answers to questions 16 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

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    Base your answers to question 17-19 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.

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    Base your answer to question 20-22 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.

    evolution, new species formation and evolution, evolution, naturel selection, evolution, naturel selection fig: lenv62014-examw_g19.png

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    Base your answers to questions 23 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.

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