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3.5 Molecular Evolution & Phylogenetics — Test 1
Q1. A monophyletic group (clade) is best defined as:✓ An ancestral species and all of its descendants
Q2. A paraphyletic group:✓ Includes a common ancestor but not all of its descendants
Q3. Character similarity that can be mistaken for common descent, but actually arose independently, is called:✓ Homoplasy
Q4. Convergent evolution is best described as:✓ Evolution of similar phenotypes in distantly related lineages
Q5. The wings of insects and the wings of bats are an example of:✓ Convergent evolution (analogous structures)
Q6. Which of the following pairs are analogous structures?✓ The wings of a bird and the wings of a butterfly
Q7. Structures that share the same evolutionary origin even if they now perform different functions are termed:✓ Homologous
Q8. Characteristics arising from common evolutionary descent are described as:✓ Homologous
Q9. The system of binomial nomenclature was devised by:✓ Carl Linnaeus
Q10. Scientific names of animals at the rank of sub-genus and above are:✓ Uninomial (a single word)
Q11. A 'tautonym' (in zoological nomenclature) refers to:✓ The same name used for both genus and species
Q12. The taxonomic rank 'Tribe' is recognised between which two ranks?✓ Family and genus
Q13. Of all the taxonomic categories, the only one that exists in nature as a biologically cohesive, real unit is the:✓ Species
Q14. Numerical (phenetic) taxonomy classifies organisms based on:✓ Equal weighting of many observable phenotypic similarities
Q15. Classification based on overall similarities and differences, without regard to evolutionary descent, is called:✓ Phenetic classification
3.5 Molecular Evolution & Phylogenetics — Test 2
Q16. Classification that reflects evolutionary and genetic relationships is called:✓ Cladistics (phylogenetic)
Q17. Cladistic classification is based primarily on:✓ The order in which lineages branch from a common ancestor
Q18. The three-domain classification of life proposed by Carl Woese was based mainly on:✓ Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequence comparisons
Q19. The 16S/18S ribosomal RNA genes are widely used in molecular systematics because they are:✓ Universal and slowly evolving, allowing deep comparisons
Q20. The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene is used as a standard DNA 'barcode'. This identification technique is called:✓ DNA barcoding
Q21. A central prediction of the neutral theory of molecular evolution is that:✓ Most molecular variation is selectively neutral and accumulates by drift
Q22. The technique that uses a roughly constant rate of molecular change to estimate the time of divergence between lineages is the:✓ Molecular clock
Q23. Based on molecular evidence, the closest living relatives of humans are the:✓ African apes (chimpanzee and gorilla)
Q24. An evolutionary change in the timing of developmental events is called:✓ Heterochrony
Q25. Limulus (the horseshoe crab), a 'living fossil', is also an example of:✓ Evolutionary stasis (very slow change)
Q26. The Red Queen hypothesis is most directly related to:✓ The evolutionary arms race between hosts and parasites
Q27. An evolutionary change within a single lineage, where one species is transformed into another over time without branching, is called:✓ Anagenesis
Q28. Under the biological species concept, species are defined chiefly by:✓ Reproductive isolation
Q29. Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans look almost identical yet are reproductively isolated. Such species are termed:✓ Sibling (cryptic) species
Q30. Habitat isolation, where two species breed in different habitats and rarely meet, is a type of:✓ Prezygotic isolating mechanism
3.5 Molecular Evolution & Phylogenetics — Test 3
Q31. Which of the following is NOT a prezygotic reproductive barrier?✓ Hybrid sterility
Q32. The most common mode of speciation is generally considered to be:✓ Allopatric speciation
Q33. Which of the following is an example of sympatric speciation?✓ New fig-wasp species arising on the same fig host through host-specialisation
Q34. The 'New Systematics' (population-based taxonomy) was a term popularised by:✓ Julian Huxley
Q35. A group of organisms at any particular rank in a classification system is called a:✓ Taxon
Q36. In zoological classification, the correct hierarchical sequence is:✓ Domain → Kingdom → Phylum → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species
Q37. A holotype is best described as:✓ The single specimen on which the name of a species is formally based
Q38. A 'clade' (a biological group recently derived from a common ancestor) is also referred to as a:✓ Monophyletic group
Q39. UPGMA, used in building phylogenetic trees, is an example of a:✓ Distance-based tree-construction method
Q40. The evolution of a multigene family typically occurs through:✓ Gene duplication together with unequal crossing-over
Q41. A similar molecular or structural feature arising independently in different lineages (not from a common ancestor) is an example of:✓ Homoplasy
Q42. Death-feigning (thanatosis) behaviour appearing in unrelated groups such as snakes and millipedes is an example of:✓ Convergent evolution
Q43. The characteristics of organisms in close symbiotic relationships have largely developed through:✓ Co-evolution
Q44. The phylogenetic 'tree of life' primarily represents:✓ The evolutionary relationships among species
3.5 Molecular Evolution & Phylogenetics — Test 4
Q45. When James Brown and Ford Doolittle reconstructed deep relationships and found conflicting gene trees, the main complicating factor they highlighted was:✓ Horizontal (lateral) gene transfer
Q46. Reproductive isolation is considered the most important factor in speciation because it:✓ Prevents gene flow, allowing populations to diverge into separate species
Q47. Peripatric speciation is a special case in which a new species arises from:✓ A small population isolated at the edge of the parent species' range
Q48. Parapatric speciation differs from allopatric speciation in that the diverging populations:✓ Are adjacent and meet along a contact zone, with reduced gene flow
Q49. A grass species diverging on heavy-metal-contaminated mine soil immediately adjacent to normal soil, despite some gene flow, is an example of:✓ Parapatric speciation
Q50. Sympatric speciation by instantaneous polyploidy is most common in:✓ Plants
Q51. Darwin's finches, which diversified into many bill forms on the Galapagos islands, are a classic example of:✓ Adaptive radiation
Q52. In the orchid genus Cryptostylis, reproductive isolation is maintained by flowers that mimic female insects, deceiving males into pseudocopulation. This is a form of:✓ Behavioural (ethological) isolation through mimicry
Q53. Drosophila pseudoobscura and Drosophila persimilis, which are morphologically very similar but reproductively isolated, are best described as:✓ Sibling (cryptic) species
Q54. A synapomorphy, used to define a clade in cladistics, is a:✓ Shared derived character inherited from the group's common ancestor
Q55. Orthologous genes are best described as homologous genes that:✓ Diverged from a common ancestral gene through speciation
Q56. In a phylogenetic tree, the point where a lineage splits into two is called a:✓ Node
Q57. Reinforcement during speciation refers to selection that:✓ Strengthens prezygotic isolation when hybrids have low fitness
Q58. Adaptive radiation is the rapid diversification of one lineage into many species that:✓ Occupy a variety of newly available ecological niches