Top 150+ Solved Evolution MCQ Questions Answer
Q. Which of the following is not an example of a macro evolutionary process?
a. One lion species splits to form two lion species over geological time.
b. The same trait evolves independently in two different taxa (e.g. wings in birds and in insects).
c. As a result of their activities, humans drive Dodos (a bird species) extinct.
d. Over a short period of time, the frequency of a single gene declines from 10 to 8%.
Q. Which of the following is an example of an ancestral homology?
a. Almost all modern reptiles, birds and mammals have forelimbs, a trait they also share with contemporary amphibians.
b. The first birds and all their descendant species have feathers, a trait that is unknown in any other group.
c. Humans and many insect species have eyes.
d. All of the above.
Q. Which of the following is not an example of micro evolutionary change?
a. The dark form of many moth species has increased in areas darkened by pollution.
b. Penicillin resistant forms of bacteria have arisen since the introduction of antibiotics.
c. The proportion of left and right bending moths in cichlid fish remains roughly 50:50.
d. The last American eagle dies off, leading to the extinction of the species.
Q. Which of the following are difficult to explain in terms of natural selection?
a. Male peacocks evolve tail feathers that would appear to make them more rather than less vulnerable to predators.
b. Male deer evolve antlers that are not used to defend themselves against predators.
c. A bird issues a warning cry that puts it at greater risk of being noticed by a predator.
d. Some traits appear to have no adaptive value.
Q. Which of the following is not an example of a monophyletic taxon?
a. The first fish species and every living organism that looks like a fish .
b. The first mammal species and all its descendants.
c. The first bird species and all its descendants.
d. All of the above.
Q. Which of the following must increase over geological time according to evolutionary biologists?
a. Size .
b. Complexity .
c. Speed of evolutionary processes such as mutation.
d. All of the above.
Q. Why is similarity misleading when it comes to inferring evolutionary relationships?
a. Organisms that look alike may be very distantly related to one another.
b. Similarities between two species may be due to common descent, without indicating how closely the two are related to one another.
c. A and B only.
d. The presence of a shared derived character state is often misleading when it comes to inferring relationships between species .
Q. Which of the following are the most distantly related to one another?
a. Sunfish and dolphins.
b. Tree frogs and snakes.
c. Vampire bats and birds.
d. Bears and whales.
Q. How does an evolutionary biologist explain why a species of birds has evolved a larger beak size?
a. Large beak size occurred as a result of mutation in each member of the population.
b. The ancestors of this bird species encountered a tree with larger than average sized seeds. They needed to develop larger beaks in order to eat the larger seeds, and over time, they adapted to meet this need.
c. Some members of the ancestral population had larger beaks than others. If larger beak size was advantageous, they would be more likely to survive and reproduce. As such, large beaked birds increased in frequency relative to small beaked birds.
d. The ancestors of this bird species encountered a tree with larger than average sized seeds. They discovered that by stretching their beaks, the beaks would get longer, and this increase was passed on to their offspring. Over time, the bird beaks became larger.
Q. How might an evolutionary biologist explain why a species of species of salamander becomes blind after colonizing a cave?
a. It is possible that in the cave there is a source of pollution that increases the mutation rate for a gene that makes salamanders blind. Over time, due to exposure to this chemical, the members of the population lose their sight.
b. Members of the ancestral population that colonized the cave differed in their ability to see. If maintaining the ability to see in the cave was a waste of energy, blind salamanders might actually have more offspring than those who could see.
c. There is no way to explain this in terms of natural selection
d. The members of this salamander species no longer needed to use their eyes. Over time, due to
Q. Which of the following is the most fit in an evolutionary sense?
a. A lion who is successful at capturing prey but has no cubs.
b. A lion who has many cubs, eight of which live to adulthood.
c. A lion who overcomes a disease and lives to have three cubs.
d. A lion who cares for his cubs, two of who live to adulthoo
Q. A biologist is trying to infer how five closely related species of snakes are related to one another. She notices that some of the snakes have forked tongues and others do not. Which of the following would help her distinguish the ancestral state?
a. She looks among snake fossils for evidence that being forked is a characteristic of the ancestor of this group, but determines no such fossils exist.
b. She locates a specimen of a more distantly related snake to see if it has a forked tongue.
c. She looks at a representative mammal species to see if it has a forked tongue.
d. She flips a coin.
Q. The earth like other planets formed from ______.
a. aggregates of uranium
b. cloud of gas and dust
c. division of pre-exiting planets
d. collisions of meteorites