General Biology II
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
General Biology II is a continuation of introductory biology, focusing on the structure, function, diversity, and evolution of living organisms beyond the cellular level. The course explores the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, mechanisms of reproduction and development, principles of ecology, and evolutionary processes shaping biological diversity. Emphasis is placed on the interrelationships among organisms, adaptation to environmental challenges, and the role of natural selection in evolution. Laboratory experiences and discussions complement the lectures, providing hands-on opportunities to investigate biological concepts through experimentation and observation.
Recommended Textbook
Evolution 1st Edition by Carl T. Bergstrom
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Page 2
Chapter 1: An Overview of Evolutionary Biology
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Q1) Charles Darwin was the first person to suggest that
A)the present forms of all existing species are the result of natural selection.
B)species have changed over long periods of time.
C)traits acquired during a life time were passed on to subsequent generations.
D)A and B
Answer: A
Q2) If chimpanzee and human genomes differ only about 1.3% at the level of DNA base pairs,how can we explain the dramatic differences in appearance,behavior,cultures,etc.,between humans and chimps?
A)There is a correlation between increased rates of divergence with known functions of alleles in humans and chimps.
B)Natural selection has been acting on clusters of genes associated with both survival and reproduction in humans and chimps.
C)Important differences exist in the expression of genes in humans and chimps.
D)Two of the above can explain the differences.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Early Evolutionary Ideas and Darwins Insight
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Q1) After Aristotle,one advance in scientific methodology came through the use of logic.This allowed thinkers to
A)formulate and test hypotheses based on evidence.
B)recognize the significance of testing one's hypotheses.
C)move carefully from facts to general principles.
D)B and C
E)All of the above
Answer: C
Q2) Darwin faced which of the following major challenges to his theory?
A)Accounting for complex structure with multiple intricate parts
B)Explaining traits and organs of seemingly little importance
C)Understanding why natural selection does not exhaust the genetic variation in a population
D)All of the above
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Natural Selection
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Q1) Why aren't organisms perfectly adapted to their environments?
A)There are physical constraints that cannot be overcome.
B)An organism's surroundings do not present a stationary target to which natural selection can optimize its phenotype.
C)The process of natural selection lacks foresight.
D)All of the above
E)None of the above; some organisms are perfectly adapted to their environments.
Answer: D
Q2) An exaptation is a
A)trait originally selected for one function but later co-opted for another.
B)trait of seemingly little importance.
C)gene that codes for beneficial effects in one environment and deleterious effects in other environments.
D)All of the above
E)None of the above
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Phylogeny and Evolutionary History
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Q1) Charles Darwin
A)inferred the patterns of common ancestry without a mechanistic understanding of genes and heredity.
B)developed a hypothesis about past events that later became testable.
C)argued that humans descended from another primate species.
D)All of the above
Q2) Convergent evolution occurs when
A)closely related populations or species diverge from one another because natural selection operates differently on each of them.
B)two or more populations or species become more similar to each other because they are exposed to similar selective conditions.
C)Both of the above
D)None of the above
Q3) Analogous traits are found in two or more species because
A)some evolutionary process (usually natural selection) has independently fashioned similar traits in each species.
B)those traits are from a common ancestor.
C)Both of the above
D)None of the above
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Chapter 5: Inferring Phylogeny
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Q1) How many unrooted trees are possible for a 22-species tree?
A)More than there are stars in the universe
B)22
C)945
D)1
Q2) Computer programs for reconstructing large phylogenies
A)check all possible trees.
B)only check a very small fraction of possible trees.
C)make phylogenetic inference easy and certain.
D)None of the above
Q3) While both parsimony methods and distance methods can be quite effective in inferring evolutionary history,both use tricks of sorts.Compare the assumptions,shortcomings,and methods of each.
Q4) Which of the following statements concerning trees is true?
A)Each unrooted tree corresponds to numerous rooted trees.
B)An unrooted tree with k species has 2k-3 branches.
C)An unrooted tree with k species has 2k-3 times as many rooted trees as unrooted trees.
D)All of the above
E)None of the above
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Transmission Genetics and the Sources of
Genetic Variation
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Q1) Many trans-acting regulatory elements reside on a separate chromosome from the genes that they regulate.In such cases,the regulatory element is _________,relative to the gene.
A)unlinked B)linked
C)dominant
D)recessive
E)codominant
Q2) The double strands of DNA separate from each other at high temperatures.Why do G-C rich strands of DNA require a relatively higher temperature to separate?
Q3) How many different amino acids can be used in the construction of proteins?
Q4) When comparing the DNA sequences from two individuals,you notice that an adenine at position 513 in one species is a cytosine in the other species.This is an example of _________.
Q5) In a tetraploid animal,how many copies of each homologous chromosome will be found in its gametes following meiosis?
Q6) A plant inherits a regulatory element that increases the production of red pigment in its flowers.This type of regulatory element is known as an _________.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: The Genetics of Populations
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Q1) Assume a biallelic locus in a diploid population has the genotype frequencies: A A = 0.59; A A = 0.16; and A A = 0.25.What is the observed allele frequency (p)of the A allele?
A)0.59
B)0.16
C)0.25
D)0.67
E)0.33
Q2) In the island model of migration,under what condition(s)will the allele frequencies in an island population be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ?
Q3) Mating preferences drive assortative mating
A)all of the time.
B)none of the time.
C)some of the time.
D)every other time.
E)in selfing plants.
Q4) Name three predictions generated from the Hardy-Weinberg model.
Q5) Lifetime fitness,as demonstrated by Cummings et al.'s work on sunflowers,is dependent on what two components?
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Chapter 8: Evolution in Finite Populations
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Q1) Greater prairie chickens,large birds related to grouse,once maintained population sizes of hundreds of thousands on the North American Great Plains.As more and more of the native grassland was converted to farms,the number of greater prairie chickens declined,and the species nearly went extinct due to loss of habitat.Assume that a locus segregating for two alleles,A and a,each with a frequency of 0.5,existed in greater prairie chickens before the reduction of habitat.Further,assume that this species was fragmented into genetically isolated populations,containing very limited numbers of individuals.What effect on allele frequencies would one expect to find in the greater prairie chicken populations after the losses and fragmentation of habitat?
Q2) The neutral theory of molecular variation posits that most A)mutations are neutral.
B)substitutions are neutral.
C)mutations are deleterious.
D)B and C
E)All of the above
Q3) How are the neutral theory of molecular evolution and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium similar?
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Chapter 9: Evolution at Multiple Loci
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Q1) In quantitative genetic terms,a phenotypic value can be expressed as
A)dominance and recessiveness.
B)epistasis and pleiotropy.
C)genotypic value and environmental deviation.
D)A and B
E)All of the above
Q2) If the value of linkage disequilibrium (D)is equal to -0.25,one can infer that the alleles are
A)in repulsion.
B)in coupling.
C)in linkage disequilibrium.
D)A and C
E)None of the above
Q3) A species of lotus produces a nearly continuous spectrum of flower colors,ranging from white to deep red.The color of the flower is determined by 10 loci,each with two codominant alleles.What concept does this example illustrate?
Q4) Explain why a population may never reach its most fit phenotype.
Q5) Explain why one cannot compare the estimated heritability of intelligence tests from different populations from the United States.
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Chapter 10: Genome Evolution
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Q1) Recombination rates across a chromosome
A)are highly variable.
B)are large in recombination hotspots.
C)are nearly equal.
D)A and B
E)None of the above
Q2) Viral genomes
A)may consist of DNA.
B)may consist of RNA.
C)may be linear.
D)may be circular.
E)All of the above
Q3) Consider two species,one of which has an effective population size that is five orders of magnitude greater than the other.In which species would you expect to see a smaller genome size? Explain your reasoning.
Q4) When comparing recombination rates between a dog,with a genome size of 2410 Mb,and a mustard weed,with a genome size of 100 Mb,which would you expect to have a larger recombination rate per kilobase? Explain your answer.
Q5) Describe a haplotype block.
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Chapter 11: The Origin and Evolution of Early Life
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Q1) How has the role of horizontal gene transfer (HGT)in evolution changed over time?
A)Early life-forms were fixed entities, and the only way to adapt was through HGT. HGT no longer occurs.
B)Early life-forms had modular genomes for which HGT played a large role in adaptation. This role has decreased over time.
C)Early life-forms had modular genomes for which HGT played a large role in adaptation. This role has increased over time.
D)HGT was irrelevant for early life-forms. HGT is a more recent phenomenon and is important for current adaptations.
Q2) What is most critical for understanding the minimal gene set and the origin of life?
A)The number of genes
B)The functions of the genes
C)The stable environments of bacteria with the most reduced genomes
D)The identity of genes involved in fatty acid/lipid metabolism to understand the origin of cell membranes
Q3) Why can't we use modern atmospheric conditions to infer the origin of life?
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Chapter 12: Major Transitions
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Q1) Charles and Mary Brown have demonstrated that as cliff swallow colony size increases,the number of nests with one or more unhatched eggs decreases.They have also demonstrated that as the size of colony increases,the number of parasites increases,and these parasites cause nest failures and juvenile mortality.These two observations indicate that there are trade-offs in group living.What would be a better measure than unhatched eggs to understand the benefits of group living in cliff swallows?
Q2) Charles and Mary Brown have proposed that one reason cliff swallows live in colonies is that colonies serve as information centers.As a bird returns to its nest with food,other adults can observe the prey caught and follow the bird to where it is foraging,thereby increasing individual foraging success.This fits with which of Maynard Smith and Szathmary's processes of major transitions?
A)Economies of scale
B)Sacrifice of the ability to reproduce
C)Information transfer
D)The evolution of developmental complexity
Q3) Why must cheaters be identifiable in group living at any level (e.g.,multicellularity or social groups)?
Q4) Why does genetic imprinting inhibit parthenogenesis?
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Chapter 13: Evolution and Development
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Q1) What evidence suggests that MADS-box genes are older than flowers?
Q2) A totipotent cell
A)is fixed into a single developmental pathway.
B)has homeotic transformation.
C)can differentiate into any adult cell.
D)will become a stem cell.
Q3) Does all life evolve from simple to complex? Explain.
Q4) Regulatory enhancers can be
A)added through evolution.
B)lost through evolution.
C)associated with specific body parts.
D)All of the above
Q5) Parallelism in development
A)was advocated by von Baer.
B)was the idea that developmental stages progress from the simple to the complex, reflecting the scala naturae.
C)refers to the colinearity of Hox genes.
D)is a method of gene duplication.
Q6) How does facultative neoteny in other species support the paedomorph advantage hypothesis for axolotls?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Species and Speciation
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Q1) Which of the following statements describes a problem with applying the phenetic species concept?
A)One must construct a phylogenetic tree.
B)Character weighting is ambiguous.
C)Gene flow must be measured.
D)The concept only works with sexual species.
Q2) Which of the following does not contribute to the evidence for the out-of-Africa hypothesis?
A)The gradual divergence of Homo sapiens in different locations
B)The rapid replacement of other hominins by Homo sapiens approximately 100,000 years ago
C)Coalescence
D)The existence of greater mitochondrial diversity in Africa
E)The interbreeding of humans and Neanderthals
Q3) Which of the following is not a postzygotic isolating mechanism?
A)Male gametes are not transferred to the female gametes.
B)Zygotes die early in embryogenesis.
C)Hybrids are inviable.
D)Hybrids are sterile.
E)Backcross hybrids are inviable.
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Chapter 15: Extinction and Evolutionary Trends
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Q1) Describe how mean and variance of a trait value change in the absence of an evolutionary trend as a lineage diversifies.Use +,-,or = to indicate an increase,a decrease,or no change,respectively.You can use one,two,or all of the symbols to describe the possible changes in both mean and variance.Mean: Variance:
Q2) Extinction of a species means that
A)all members of the species have died out and have left no descendents.
B)researchers are unable to find individuals of the species in nature.
C)members of the species are not reproducing.
D)the species has died out in part of its geographic range.
Q3) What effect of mass extinctions is described by the expression "dead clade walking"?
Q4) Where would you place the actual extinction date of a taxon if you knew that the Signor-Lipps effect was at work?
A)Exactly at the date of the last known fossil
B)Before the date of the last known fossil
C)After the date of the last known fossil
D)It is not possible to determine when extinction occurred relative to the date of the last known fossil.
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Page 17
Chapter 16: The Evolution of Sex
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Q1) Which of the following statements describes an element of the Fisher-Muller hypothesis for adaptive advantage of sexual reproduction?
A)Sex builds up linkage disequilibrium.
B)Sex slows down adaptive evolution by disrupting coadapted gene complexes.
C)Sex facilitates the combination of favorable mutations that originated in different individuals into advantageous genotypes.
D)Sex accelerates adaptive evolution.
E)C and D
Q2) During bacterial conjugation,small circular chromosomes of DNA,called plasmids,are transferred from one bacterial cell to another.Why does this mechanism not fit the common definition of sexual reproduction?
A)No new offspring is produced.
B)No new allelic combinations are formed.
C)The cell receiving the plasmid does not contain genetic material from both parents.
D)The plasmid can recombine with the recipient cell's chromosome.
Q3) What are the two immediate benefits to sexual reproduction in unpredictable environments,according to Kondrashov?
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Chapter 17: Sexual Selection
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Q1) The red deer population on the Isle of Rum off Scotland has been extensively studied over several decades.One of the findings was that the variance of breeding success in males was much higher than the variance of breeding success in females.Which of the following statements explains this difference in variance?
A)Average male breeding success was higher than average female breeding success.
B)Red deer have a polygynous harem mating system.
C)Female access to nutrient resources is more reliable.
D)Males show a greater variance in fertility than females.
Q2) Part of the courting behavior of male jumping spiders consists of drumming the ground with their legs.Studies have shown that leg drumming decreases the longevity of the spiders.Why might male leg drumming have evolved in jumping spiders?
Q3) Which of the following factors should make females the choosier sex?
A)Eggs are expensive and rare compared to sperm.
B)Females tend to invest more time and energy in gestation time and/or brood care.
C)Female quality never plays a role in male mating decisions.
D)Males and females show about the same variation in quality.
E)A and B
Q4) Why is there a correlation between testis size and sperm competition in beetles?
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Page 19
Chapter 18: The Evolution of Sociality
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Q1) Which of the following equations illustrates the correct relationship?
A)Indirect fitness + Direct fitness = Inclusive fitness
B)Inclusive fitness + Direct fitness = Indirect fitness
C)Indirect fitness + Inclusive fitness = Direct fitness
D)Direct fitness - Inclusive fitness = Direct fitness
Q2) In order for a game to be a true prisoner's dilemma,which of the following conditions must be met? P = Punishment for mutual defection,R = Reward for mutual cooperation,S = "Sucker's" payoff,T = Temptation to defect
A)T > R > P > S
B)R > P > S > T
C)S > P > T > R
D)R > P > T > S
Q3) You want to study whether reciprocity explains the evolution of mobbing behavior in birds.You have two sources of birds to choose from: (A)a group of birds from your lab that all originated from the same mating pair,and (B)a group of presumably unrelated birds from the wild.Which choice would you prefer? Briefly justify your answer.
Q4) Name the three familial conflicts.
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Chapter 19: Coevolution
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Q1) Name two forms of antagonistic coevolution.
Q2) Why do we distinguish between inter- and intraspecific mutualism?
A)This distinction is for historical reasons only.
B)Mutualistic partners in the same species are part of the same gene pool, but this is not the case for intraspecific mutualisms.
C)The mutualistic partners do not benefit equally in interspecific mutualism.
D)Only intraspecific mutualism gives the opportunity for cheating.
Q3) Why does cultural transmission have the potential to be faster than genetic transmission? Limit your answer to one sentence.
Q4) Define "cultural transmission" in one sentence.
Q5) Describe the mosaic theory of coevolution in your own words.Limit your answer to one sentence.
Q6) Which of the following is a relationship between organisms that cannot evolve into a mutualistic relationship?
A)Parasite-host interaction
B)Predator-prey interaction
C)Neutral interaction
D)None of the above; any interaction can serve as a precursor
Q7) Define "obligate mutualism" in one sentence.
Page 21
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Chapter 20: Evolution and Medicine
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Q1) What two main factors are responsible for the asymmetry in the coevolutionary arms race between microbial pathogens and their multicellular hosts?
Q2) Which of the following is a telltale sign that a cell is infected by RNA viruses?
A)It is dividing slower than uninfected cells.
B)It contains long segments of double-stranded RNA.
C)Its apoptosis pathway is up-regulated.
D)It has a lower rate of protein synthesis.
Q3) Define pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs),and explain why they are crucial to our body's immune response against pathogens.Limit your answer to two sentences.
Q4) Which part of the immune system's "learning system" is responsible for maintaining life-long immunity against measles after a measles infection?
A)Somatic recombination
B)Affinity maturation
C)Clonal expansion
D)Retention of responding cells
Q5) What combination of the characteristics of Huntington's disease puzzled J.B.S.Haldane?
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