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AP Biology Unit 7A: Natural Selection & Evolutionary Mechanisms — practice questions

Explore 52 free Unit 7A: Natural Selection & Evolutionary Mechanisms questions in AP Biology Biology. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Unit 7A: Natural Selection & Evolutionary Mechanisms questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 52.

R. H. Whittaker proposed the 5-Kingdom classification system in:Read the answer and worked solution →Which scientist's experiment with sterilised flasks established the theory of biogenesis, that life arises only from pre-existing life?Read the answer and worked solution →The idea that life arose through a long series of chemical reactions from non-living inorganic molecules was proposed by which pair of scientists?Read the answer and worked solution →Archaeopteryx is regarded as an important fossil because it shows features of both reptiles and birds. What is its evolutionary significance called?Read the answer and worked solution →The biogenetic law summed up as 'Ontogeny recapitulates Phylogeny' was proposed by which scientist?Read the answer and worked solution →Lamarck's theory of evolution is popularly known by which of the following names?Read the answer and worked solution →In which book, published in 1859, did Charles Darwin present his theory of natural selection?Read the answer and worked solution →Competition for food and space among individuals belonging to the same species is which type of struggle for existence?Read the answer and worked solution →Variations that affect only the body cells of an organism, arise from environmental factors and are not passed on to offspring are called what?Read the answer and worked solution →Sudden, large, heritable changes such as the short-legged Ancon sheep, which have no intermediate forms, are examples of which kind of variation?Read the answer and worked solution →The theory of evolution by natural selection was finally formulated by:Read the answer and worked solution →A heritable trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce where it lives is called:Read the answer and worked solution →Mutations that make no difference to the fitness of the phenotype are called:Read the answer and worked solution →When two species evolve in different directions from a common ancestor, this is:Read the answer and worked solution →Structures that remain in a body but no longer have a function are called:Read the answer and worked solution →Natural selection follows from three principles, the first being that most characteristics are:Read the answer and worked solution →The second of Darwin's three principles is that:Read the answer and worked solution →For selection to change the next generation, the differences among individuals must:Read the answer and worked solution →Natural selection is described as the only known mechanism for:Read the answer and worked solution →The Grants studied changing beak shapes in the medium ground finch on which island?Read the answer and worked solution →During a wetter El Nino year on Daphne Major, which finches did better?Read the answer and worked solution →Antibiotic resistance spreads through a bacterial population because:Read the answer and worked solution →The wings of bats and insects are a classic example of:Read the answer and worked solution →Camouflage patterns that resemble each other in unrelated species arise because of:Read the answer and worked solution →Broad groups that evolved before the breakup of Pangaea are distributed worldwide, and that breakup happened about:Read the answer and worked solution →Structures absent in adults of some groups often appear in their:Read the answer and worked solution →Differences between the three domains of life show up in conservative structures such as:Read the answer and worked solution →Sexual reproduction adds to genetic diversity because reproduction assembles:Read the answer and worked solution →Build Darwin's argumentRead the answer and worked solution →Divergent or convergent?Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

R. H. Whittaker proposed the 5-Kingdom classification system in:

  1. $1859$
  2. $1900$
  3. $1953$
  4. $1969$
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Correct answer: D. $1969$

R. H. Whittaker proposed the 5-Kingdom classification in 1969: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia. Based on cell type, body organisation, mode of nutrition.

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Which scientist's experiment with sterilised flasks established the theory of biogenesis, that life arises only from pre-existing life?

  1. Charles Darwin
  2. Jean Baptiste Lamarck
  3. Ernst Haeckel
  4. Louis Pasteur
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Correct answer: D. Louis Pasteur

1. Biogenesis states that living things arise only from other living things. 2. Louis Pasteur showed this using sealed sterilised flasks in which no life appeared. 3. Darwin proposed natural selection, not biogenesis, which rules out option A. 4. So the scientist is Louis Pasteur, option D. _Source: Samacheer Kalvi (TN SCERT) Class 10 Science, Unit 19 Origin and Evolution of Life "Theories on Origin of Life", p.282_

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The idea that life arose through a long series of chemical reactions from non-living inorganic molecules was proposed by which pair of scientists?

  1. Watson and Crick
  2. Oparin and Haldane
  3. Darwin and Wallace
  4. Lamarck and De Vries
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Correct answer: B. Oparin and Haldane

1. The chemical evolution theory says life began from non-living inorganic molecules through chemical reactions. 2. This idea was developed by Oparin (1922) and Haldane (1929). 3. Watson and Crick described the DNA model, not the origin of life, which rules out option A. 4. So the answer is Oparin and Haldane, option B. _Source: Samacheer Kalvi (TN SCERT) Class 10 Science, Unit 19 Origin and Evolution of Life "Chemical Evolution of Life", p.282_

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More Biology topics

Unit 5C: Non-Mendelian Genetics & Population TransmissionUnit 2B: Membrane Transport, Tonicity & Cell SizeUnit 8K: Human Organ Systems & HomeostasisUnit 3B: Photosynthesis, Respiration & Cellular EnergyUnit 7B: Population Genetics & Hardy-Weinberg EvolutionUnit 2G: Osmoregulation & Membrane DynamicsUnit 8R: Environmental Pollution & Organismal HealthUnit 5D: Organismal Reproduction & Life Cycles