PRACTICE EOG QUESTIONS EARTH’S HISTORY SET 2 1. Which statement supports the theory of evolution?

A. All living things came from previous cells

B. All plants and animals have DNA

C. Matter cannot be created or destroyed

D. Fossils provide evidence that organisms share a common ancestor

2. Which theory explains the way that populations of animals can change over time?

A. Adaptation

B. Natural Selection

C. Variation

D. Competition

3. Some animals lay hundreds of eggs, which is an example of overproduction. What is the purpose of overproduction?

A. To make sure that there are enough for predators to eat

B. To have more babies than the environment can support

C. To make sure there is a variety of the same animal

D. To make sure that at least some survive to adulthood to avoid extinction

4. Which of the following is NOT one of the 4 principles of natural selection?

A. mutation

B. Adaptation

C. Overproduction

D. Selection

5. A single species of came evolved over time into two species because some of the camels were transported by humans to another area of the world and then lived in different conditions than the camels that stayed in their original location. What was this speciation event caused by?

a. Higher mutation rates in the camels that were taken to a different location

b. Low genetic diversity in the initial population

c. Geographic isolation

d. Different reproductive rates of the two groups 6. Which of the following pieces of evidence supports the theory of evolution by comparing the similarities between different species during different stages of development?

a. embryology

b. molecular biology

c. geographic isolationism

d. comparative anatomy

7. Woodpeckers use their long beaks to dig for and eat insects living in tree trunks. A species of woodpecker with a very long beak evolves. Which statement best explains how the environment influenced the development of this species?

A. A harmful mutation occurred in the gene for the beak length

B. Insects that live deep in tree trunks spread to trees in the woodpecker’s territory

C. The insect population decreased and the birds with the longest beaks were able to reach more insects to eat and reproduce

D. The long beak is an adaptation to help woodpeckers fight off predators

8. Which of these would NOT be used by scientists to determine the evolutionary relationship between two species?

A. bone structure

B. fossils

C. DNA

D. Population size

9. What is the science of biological classification, developed by Carolus Linnaeus, called?

10. Which of the following best explains how the fossil record provides evidence that evolution has occurred?

A. It indicates that forms of life existed on Earth at least 3.5 billion years ago

B. It indicates the exact cause of structural and behavioral adaptations of organisms

C. It shows how the embryos of many different vertebrate species are similar

D. It shows that the form and structure of groups or organisms have changed over time

11. The picture to the right demonstrates that many different species share the same anatomical structure in some of their limbs, but they use these limbs for different functions. What type of comparative anatomy is this an example of? A. Homologous structures

B. Analogous structures

C. Vestigial structures

D. Ancestral structures

12. Analogous structures are evidence that organisms share ______.

A. A common ancestor

B. A common environment

C. Both a common ancestor and common environment

D. Identical DNA

13. Which of the following is an example of a vestigial structure?

A. A cat’s long tail

B. A dolphin’s blowhole

C. A human’s wisdom teeth

D. A kangaroo’s pouch

14. Humans frequently intervene with the natural development of a species causing a species to evolve in a way that nature may not have intended. Good examples of this would be the wings on birds getting shorter so they are able to turn faster to avoid cars, or selectively breeding animals to have desirable traits. Which of the following describes this occurrence?

A. Natural selection

B. Artificial selection

C. Evolution of a new species

D. Geographic isolationism

15. Of the elements below, which is the radioactive isotope that could be used in dating a fossil? OPEN THE BOOK TO THE PERIODIC TABLE FOR THIS ONE QUESTION – PAGE D20

A. Carbon-14

B. Osmium-190

C. Uranium-238

D. Chlorine-35

16. Fossils provide solid evidence of evolution, unfortunately, not every living thing leaves behind a fossil; in fact fossils are quite rare. What is one reason why fossils are so rare?

A. Because conditions must be just right to make a fossil B. Because the Earth has not had many organisms living on it

C. Because the Earth is very young

D. Because humans destroy all the fossils they can find

17. In the natural world, what is the explanation for speciation, or how new species arise?

a. Two separate species, for instance a cow and a horse mate to produce a new species called the corse

b. Over time, variations that are beneficial will accumulate and eventually become an entirely different organism

c. If an animal changes during its lifetime, for example a bird loses a wing in an accident, it may then go on to produce an entire species of one winged birds

d. DNA cannot change or mutate, therefore life is in a fixed state and cannot change