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3.2 Fossil Evidence & Lineages — Test 1
Q1. Which of the following is an extinct species?✓ Dodo
Q2. The radiocarbon (C-14) dating technique for determining the age of fossils was invented by:✓ Willard Libby
Q3. Most of the dinosaurs became extinct during which geological period?✓ Cretaceous
Q4. Mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic era is most widely attributed to:✓ Earth's collision with a large meteorite
Q5. The dog-sized ancestral horse fossil (Eohippus/Hyracotherium) is from which epoch?✓ Eocene
Q6. The earliest fossil primate generally regarded as a man-like ancestor distinct from the apes is:✓ Ramapithecus
Q7. Which of the following is regarded as a living fossil?✓ Sphenodon
Q8. The method of fossil formation in which the hard parts are infiltrated and replaced by minerals is called:✓ Petrification
Q9. Which of the following is NOT a vestigial organ in humans?✓ Epiglottis
Q10. The fossil Archaeopteryx was first discovered/described by:✓ Andreas Wagner
Q11. The Devonian period is popularly known as the:✓ Age of Fishes
Q12. The Mesozoic era is popularly called the:✓ Age of Reptiles
Q13. The common fossil ancestor of both apes and humans is generally considered to be:✓ Dryopithecus
Q14. The presence of lungfish in Australia, Africa and South America is best explained by:✓ Continental drift (vicariance)
3.2 Fossil Evidence & Lineages — Test 2
Q15. A type of heterochrony in which sexually mature adults retain juvenile features of their ancestors is called:✓ Paedomorphosis
Q16. Which feature of modern birds is already present in the transitional fossil Archaeopteryx?✓ Wishbone (furcula)
Q17. Latimeria (the coelacanth) is considered a connecting link between:✓ Fishes and amphibians
Q18. Archaeopteryx is a transitional fossil between:✓ Dinosaurs (reptiles) and birds
Q19. The duck-billed platypus is regarded as a connecting link between:✓ Reptiles and mammals
Q20. The most primitive (earliest) generally recognised ancestor in the line to modern humans among these is:✓ Ramapithecus
Q21. Neopilina is regarded as a connecting link between:✓ Annelida and Mollusca
Q22. Which Homo species co-existed with Homo sapiens on the Indonesian island of Flores?✓ Homo floresiensis
Q23. The earliest recognised member of the genus Homo is generally taken to be:✓ Homo habilis
Q24. The evolution of the amniotic egg in reptiles was significant because it allowed them to:✓ Colonise dry terrestrial environments
Q25. During mammalian evolution, the articular bone of the reptilian lower jaw became the:✓ Malleus (an ear ossicle)
Q26. During the evolution of life, the first photosynthetic organisms were:✓ Cyanobacteria
Q27. Which observation provides the strongest support for 'descent with modification'?✓ Early embryonic forms of diverse animals look similar
Q28. Vestigial organs persist in a reduced state mainly because they have become:✓ Functionless (no longer useful)
3.2 Fossil Evidence & Lineages — Test 3
Q29. A probable cause of the rapid diversification of animals during the Cambrian explosion was:✓ Accumulation of sufficient atmospheric oxygen
Q30. The patagium (skin membrane used for gliding/flight, as in bats and flying squirrels) is an example of a:✓ Volant (flight/gliding) adaptation
Q31. Mitochondria are thought to have evolved from:✓ Free-living bacteria (via endosymbiosis)
Q32. The origin and proliferation of which group was responsible for the Great Oxidation Event?✓ Cyanobacteria
Q33. In the endosymbiotic theory, the engulfing of a free-living prokaryote by an ancestral eukaryotic cell to give rise to mitochondria/plastids is called:✓ Primary endosymbiosis
Q34. Sarich and Wilson (1967), using immunological (molecular) data, estimated that humans, gorillas and chimpanzees diverged from a common ancestor only about:✓ 5 million years ago
Q35. The proposed new geological epoch reflecting the major impact of human activity on Earth is the:✓ Anthropocene
Q36. The most severe of the five major mass extinctions, removing over 95% of marine species, occurred at the end of the:✓ Permian period
Q37. A human baby born with a small tail is an example of:✓ Atavism
Q38. Radiocarbon (C-14) dating is reliable for estimating the age of fossils only up to about:✓ 50,000–55,000 years
Q39. The first vascular plants appear in the fossil record during the:✓ Silurian period
Q40. The origin and major diversification of the angiosperms (flowering plants) occurred during the:✓ Cretaceous period
Q41. The first scientist to classify organisms coherently using a hierarchical, binomial system was:✓ Carl Linnaeus
Q42. The earliest forms of life on Earth are thought to have been:✓ Anaerobic chemo-heterotrophs
3.2 Fossil Evidence & Lineages — Test 4
Q43. The decline of reptiles and the expansion (radiation) of mammals is most characteristic of the:✓ Cenozoic era
Q44. The correct sequence of the major eras from oldest to youngest is:✓ Palaeozoic → Mesozoic → Cenozoic
Q45. According to Stebbins' view on flowering-plant evolution:✓ Dicotyledons evolved before monocotyledons
Q46. The structures 'radula' and 'clitellum' are characteristic, respectively, of:✓ Mollusca and Annelida
Q47. The evolutionary transition from a single-circuit ('series') heart to a double-circuit ('parallel') heart with separation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood is associated with the move from:✓ Fishes to amphibians (and onward to higher tetrapods)
Q48. The fact that the human forelimb and the whale's flipper are embryologically homologous structures provides evidence of:✓ Common ancestry (descent with modification)
Q49. Among prokaryotes, eukaryotes and the origin of photosynthesis, the correct broad order of appearance in the history of life is:✓ Prokaryotes first, then photosynthesis, then eukaryotes
Q50. The Cambrian period (about 542–488 million years ago) is especially famous for:✓ The Cambrian 'explosion' of diverse marine animal phyla
Q51. The Archaeozoic (Archaean) eon is characterised mainly by:✓ The earliest prokaryotic life and an anoxic Earth
Q52. Homologous organs (e.g. the forelimbs of humans, whales and bats) provide evidence for:✓ Divergent evolution from a common ancestor
Q53. Analogous organs, such as the wings of insects and birds, are evidence for:✓ Convergent evolution
Q54. The Galapagos finches studied by Darwin are a classic example of:✓ Adaptive radiation
Q55. The correct order of Palaeozoic periods from oldest to youngest is:✓ Cambrian → Ordovician → Silurian → Devonian → Carboniferous → Permian
Q56. The most severe mass extinction in Earth's history, removing the majority of marine species, occurred at the end of the:✓ Permian period