Module

The Occurrence of Evolution

6
Introduction
In Module 5, you learned that evolution exists with the presentation of the different evidence.
This evidence provides a better understanding how organisms evolve from the past to the
present.

This module has two lessons. Lesson 1 provides you the understanding of how evolution occurs
in nature through different evolutionary thought by the different scientists. Lesson 2 gives you
the explanation of how evolution works by natural selection.

Learning competencies/objectives
At the end of this module you are expected to:

1. Explain the occurrence of evolution

2. Discuss how natural selection works
3. Identify the scientific merits of the various theories that attempt to account for the
diversity of life on the planet

What I Know

Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write the letter on a separate sheet
of paper.

1. Which of the following statement explains Lamarck’s Theory of Use and Disuse? A. Body
structures develop because they are used extensively.
B. Body structures develop because they are not in use.
C. Body structures develop because of competition.
D. Body structures develop because of mutation.
2. The evolutionary theory proposed by Charles Darwin was:
A. Change in populations through time as a response to environmental change
B. Change in populations through time as a result of mutations.
C. The passing of genes from one generation to the next.
D. The spontaneous generation of new organisms.

3. Which of the following best represents Lamarck’s ideas on the evolutionary process?
A.
Inheritance of acquired characteristics
B. Punctuated Equilibrium
C. Survival of the fittest
D. Assortive mating

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4. When first proposed, Darwin’s theory of natural selection did not fully explain how evolution
could occur. This was due to:
A. The absence of accurate descriptions of the embryological development of most plants
and animals.
B. The fact that accurate mechanisms explaining genetic inheritance were not widely known.
C. Darwin’s failure to recognize the tendency of organisms to over-reproduce.
D. Darwin’s initial overemphasis of the significance of genetic drift
5. Darwin’s theory of evolution states that species evolve by
A. Unnatural selection C. Natural selection
B. Artificial selection D. Choice
6. The use and disuse principal of evolution or theory of inheritance acquired characteristics was
proposed by
A. Darwin B. Hugo de Vries C. Lamarck D. Weismann
7. Natural selection is BEST described as
A. Working on existing variation of traits to favor those better suited to the organism’s
environment.
B. Causing the death of a significant proportion of the population C. Able to generate new
traits that better suit the species
D. Increasing the perfection of a species.
8. Which of the following phrases best describes the process of evolution? A. The change of
populations solely in response to natural selection.
B. The development of characteristics in response to need.
C. The change of simple to complex organisms.
D. Change of populations through time.
9. Which of the following best represents Lamarck’s ideas on the evolutionary process?
A. Inheritance of acquired characteristics.
B. Survival of the fittest
C. Assortive mating
D. Neutral drift
10.According to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, the individuals that tend to survive are
those that have …..
A. The ability to change their bodies to fit the environment.
B. Variations best suited to the environment.
C. The biggest body.
D. The best luck.
11.Who believed that giraffes have long necks because competition for food meant that giraffes
with slightly longer necks could get more food and survived longer to pass on their genes to
their offspring who also had longer necks.
A. Charles Darwin C. Jean Baptiste Lamarck
B. Gregor Mendel D. Thomas Malthus
12.Individuals in a population that have a variation which gives them an advantage in their
environment are more likely to ….
A. Change their characteristics to fit the environment.
B. Move to a different environment.
C. Survive and reproduce.
D. Die and not reproduce.
13.Charles Darwin’s observation that finches of different species on the Galapagos Islands have
many similar physical characteristics supports the hypothesis that these finches
A. Acquired traits through use and disuse.
B. Originated from a common ancestor.
C. Have
the ability to interbreed.
D. All eat the same type of food.
14.Which statement about the members of a population that live long enough to reproduce is
consistent with the theory of natural selection?
A. They transmit characteristics acquired by use and disuse to their offspring.
B. They are the ones that are best adapted to survive in their environment.
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 C. They tend to produce fewer offspring than others in the population.
D. They will perpetuate unfavorable changes in the species.
15.Which of the following is NOT an example of natural selection?
A. Plants with thorns are less likely to be eaten by herbivores than other members of the
same species that lack thorns.
B. Female fish that produce more eggs leave more offspring than those that produce fewer
eggs
C. Bacterial population in hospitals develop resistance to drugs used to combat infection by
them.
D. Scientists breed cows that give greater amounts of milk than their ancestors.

In your previous module, you learned the different evidence for evolution. Let us have a
review of how well you remembered these evolutionary concepts.

Instruction. Write TRUE if the statement is true or FALSE if the statement is false.

1. Goosebumps are a type of vestigial structure found in humans.

2. Analogous structures are structures which evolved from the same structure within a
common ancestor.
3. The number of differences in DNA bases between any two species measures the time
elapsed since two organisms shared a common ancestor.
4. The wing of a bat and the wing of a bird are considered to be analogous structures.
5. A fossil can be dated by looking at the relative position of the fossil in the rock layer in
which it was found.

Lesson
12 - A Evolutionary Theories
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 Evolution is the change in the characteristics of species over several generations and it
relies on the process of natural selection. As such, evolution entails changes in the inherited
traits of a population from generation to generation. These traits are the expression of genes
that are copied and passed on to offspring during reproduction.

Evolution occurs when these heritable differences become more common or rare in a
population, either non-randomly through natural selection or randomly through genetic drift.
Natural selection is a process that causes heritable traits that are helpful for survival and
reproduction to become more common, and harmful traits to become rarer. This occurs because
organisms with advantageous traits pass on more copies of these heritable traits to the next
generation.

Evolution, But How?

There are many theories as to how the different life forms start to happen on our planet. In the
mid-eighteenth century, most people believed in creationism, which held the idea that all forms
of life were already created in their present form and they have remained unchanged since the
beginning of time. Did you know that even the famous Carl von Linnaeus, the Father of
Taxonomy, believed in the fixity of species?

In the 18th century, Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus based his

categorization of species on the theory of unchanging life created by God.

Initially
he believed that all organisms appeared on Earth in their present form and never
changed. Linnaeus studied the organisms as a whole and categorized them
based
on similarities that individuals shared. Unable to consider that organisms might
change in time, he couldn't provide an explanation for the plant hybrids that resulted from cross-
pollination processes with which he experimented. He concluded that life forms could evolve
after all, but he could not say why or how.

Evolutionism

In the late 18th century, naturalist George Louis Leclerc suggested that life on Earth
was 75,000 years old and that men had descended from apes. Another step in evolution theory
was taken by Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather, who said the Earth was millions
of years old and that species did evolve, even if he could not explain how. Jean-Baptiste de
Lamarck, the first evolutionist to publicly defend his ideas, believed that organisms had evolved
constantly, from inanimate to animate organisms and on to humans. His theory was that
evolution was based on a continuous chain of inherited characteristics passed from parents to
offspring that had evolved with each generation until it produced the ultimate, perfect species:
humans.

Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism

In the early 19th century, French scientist Georges Cuvier explained evolution through
violent catastrophic events or "revolutions" that had contributed to extinction of old species and
the development of species to replace them in the newly created environment. He based his
theory on the discovery in the same place of fossils of different species. Cuvier's theory was
challenged by the English geologist Charles Lyell, developer of the uniformitarianism theory.
He said evolution had been influenced by slow changes since the beginning of time in the shape
of the terrestrial surface that could not be perceived by the human eye.

Lamarckism

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 Jean Baptiste de Lamarck was the first evolutionist to believe that
organisms change over time. Using fossil records as a guide, Lamarck
was able to develop three theories: one is the Theory of Need which
states that organisms change in response to their environment. Their
ability to survive helped them develop characteristics necessary for
them to adapt in a given environment.

Next is The Theory of Use and Disuse; which according to Lamarck, organs not in use will
disappear while organs in use will develop. Lamarck believed that giraffes before have short
necks, but because of the need to survive and in order to reach all trees for food, they kept
stretching their necks until these became longer and able to reach taller trees. These acquired
characteristics were believed to be inherited by their offspring and propagated by the next
generation of giraffes. Lamarck called it as The Theory of Acquired Characteristics.

If you change the color of your hair from black to blond, do you think your child can inherit the
blond color of your hair? A young lady keeps on using whitening soap and becomes fair? Can
her child inherit her acquired fairness?

Many scientists rejected the theories of Lamarck. They understood that if there were changes in
cell or body structure, there could be changes in the genetic information of the species.

Darwinian Theory

The more popular Theory of Evolution proposed by Charles Darwin

based on natural selection is different from the Theories of Lamarck.
According to Darwin, a giraffe selection favored the survival of giraffes with
longer necks that could feed on taller trees that were available. Giraffes
with short neck were eliminated due to lack of accessible food supply.

Fifty years after Lamarck’s Theory of Use and Disuse, Charles Darwin suggested the
Theory of Natural Selection, after his voyage to the Galapagos Island in HMS Beagle. He was
fascinated by the diversity of organisms he found along the journey.

In Galapagos Island, he observed that finch species have different beak structures for different
food types. The abundance of certain finch species in an island was somehow related to the
type of available food for these birds.

Figure 1. Finches with different beak size

Darwin suggested that selection also takes place in nature. In selective breeding, farmer
identifies and selects the best and desirable trait to propagate. In natural selection,
environmental factors promote the survival of the fittest and eliminates the less fit.

Influencer of Darwinian Theory

The 19th century was a turning point in how people viewed the history of life. Great minds
from multiple disciplines influenced one another’s theories. Darwin followed the work of
progressive thinkers of his time, such Thomas Malthus. A political economist, Malthus argued
that people and animals overproduce and put a drain on resources. He advocated for regulation
of family size as a means of population control.

Darwin saw some logic in Malthus’ arguments and applied the concept of overpopulation
to the natural world. Darwin reasoned that animals compete for survival from the moment of
birth.
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 When resources are scarce, competition is intense. Random, naturally occurring variations
make some siblings more fit than others to successfully compete, mature and multiply.

Discovery of Natural Selection

In the 1850s, Alfred Russel Wallace collected thousands of exotic specimens and
noticed regional differences in traits. He concluded that the best-suited organisms for a region
were naturally more likely to survive and pass along their characteristics. Wallace shared his
ideas with Darwin, who had been collecting evidence of natural selection for a much longer time.

Darwin had held off releasing his findings for fear of public ridicule. However, he did not
want to see Wallace receive all the credit if the idea of natural selection was favorably received.
Soon after, Darwin and Wallace simultaneously presented their work to the Linnaean Society.

A year later, Darwin published his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species.

Activity 1: SCIENTIST AT ITS FINEST!

A. Write the contributions of these scientists in the field of evolution.

1. CHARLES DARWIN
____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________
2.
JEAN BAPTISTE DE LAMARCK
____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________
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 3. GEORGE LOUIS LECLERC
_____________________________________________
____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

4.GEORGE CUVIER
___________________________________________
_________________________________________

B. What is the relationship between natural selection and survival of the fittest?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

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 Lesson
Evolution by Natural Selection
12 - B
You have already seen natural selection as part of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. In this lesson,
we will dive deeper – in fact, deeper than Darwin himself could go. We will examine natural
selection at the level of population genetics, in terms of alleles, genotype and phenotype
frequencies.

NATURAL SELECTION
The mid-19th century was marked by a new theory, that of Charles Darwin, who based
his theory of evolution on the concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest. According
to his study “On the Origin of Species,” published in 1859, the process of natural selection
enables individuals with the most suitable characteristics in a species not only to survive, but
also to transmit those characteristics to their offspring, producing evolutionary changes in the
species over time as less suitable traits disappear and more suitable traits endure. Darwin also
believed that nature produces a larger-than-necessary number of individuals of a species to
allow natural selection to take place. Survival of the fittest represents nature's preservation
instinct to ensure that only the strongest and most well-suited individuals survive and
propagate in a constantly changing environment.

Organisms struggle for existence in order to survive; they compete for food and space.
Organisms with favorable and advantageous characteristics survive and reproduce. Fitness
refers to the ability of an organism to survive and produce offsprings. Different individuals in a
population possess different characteristics and abilities. This is called variation.

Variations among individuals in the population would likely bring greater chance of
survival. An organism is adapted and has structures fitted to survive in a given environment
would likely to produce offspring.

Variations increases the chance of survival of living things. Organisms with the best and
desirable traits would likely adapt to environmental changes and may gradually become better
suited to survive in a given environment.

Organisms which are best adapted to the environment will continue to reproduce and
perpetuate their own kind. Mating between surviving populations of the same species may shift
the abundance of a new breed of organism because of mutation, gene combination, and natural
selection. This then leads to speciation and may subsequently increase biodiversity.

Darwin did not just propose that organisms evolved. He also proposed a mechanism for
evolution: natural selection. This mechanism was elegant and logical, and it explained how
populations could evolve (undergo descent with modification) in such a way that they became
better suited to their environments overtime.
Darwin's concept of natural selection was based on several key observations:

❖ Traits are often heritable. In living organisms, many characteristics are inherited, or
passed from parent to offspring. (Darwin knew this was the case, even though he did not
know
that traits were inherited via genes.)

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 ❖ More offspring are produced than can survive. Organisms are capable of producing
more offspring than their environments can support. Thus, there is competition for limited
resources in each generation.

❖ Offspring vary in their heritable traits. The offspring in any generation will be slightly
different from one another in their traits (color, size, shape, etc.), and many of these
features will be heritable.

Based on these simple observations, Darwin concluded the following:

• In a population, some individuals will have inherited traits that help them survive and
reproduce (given the conditions of the environment, such as the predators and food
sources present). The individuals with the helpful traits will leave more offspring in the
next generation than their peers, since the traits make them more effective at surviving
and reproducing.
• Because the helpful traits are heritable, and because organisms with these traits leave
more offspring, the traits will tend to become more common (present in a larger fraction
of the population) in the next generation.
• Over generations, the population will become adapted to its environment (as individuals
with traits helpful in that environment have consistently greater reproductive success
than their peers).

The Process of Natural Selection

Darwin’s process of natural selection has four components.

1. Variation. Organisms (within populations) exhibit individual variation in appearance
and behavior. These variations may involve body size, hair color, facial markings, voice
properties, or number of offspring. On the other hand, some traits show little to no
variation among individuals—for example, number of eyes in vertebrates.

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 2. Inheritance. Some traits are consistently passed on from parent to offspring. Such
traits are heritable, whereas other traits are strongly influenced by environmental
conditions and show weak heritability.
3. High rate of population growth. Most populations have more offspring each year
than local resources can support leading to a struggle for resources. Each generation
experiences substantial mortality.
4. Differential survival and reproduction. Individuals possessing traits well suited for
the struggle for local resources will contribute more offspring to the next generation.

How does natural selection work?

In natural selection, genetic mutations that are beneficial to an individual's survival are
passed on through reproduction. This results in a new generation of organisms that are more
likely to survive to reproduce.

For example, evolving long necks has enabled giraffes to feed on leaves that others can't
reach, giving them a competitive advantage. Thanks to a better food source, those with longer
necks were able to survive to reproduce and so pass on the characteristic to the succeeding
generation. Those with shorter necks and access to less food would be less likely to survive to
pass on their genes.

Accordingly, 'If you took 1,000 giraffes and measured their necks, they're all going to be
slightly different from one another. Those differences are at least in part determined by their
genes.

'The ones with longer necks may leave proportionally more offspring, because they have
fed better and have maybe been better in competing for mates because they are stronger.
Then, if you were to measure the necks of the next generation, they're also going to vary, but
the average will have shifted slightly towards the longer ones. The process carries on generation
after generation.'
Natural selection can cause microevolution

Natural selection acts on an organism’s phenotype, or observable features. Phenotype is

often largely a product of genotype (the alleles, or gene versions, the organism carries). When
a phenotype produced by certain alleles helps organisms survive and reproduce better than
their peers, natural selection can increase the frequency of the helpful alleles from one
generation to the next – that is, it can cause microevolution.

Fitness = reproductive success

The phenotypes and genotypes favored by natural selection aren't necessarily just the
ones that survive best. Instead, they're the ones with the highest overall fitness. Fitness is a
measure of how well organisms survive and reproduce, with emphasis on "reproduce." Officially,
fitness is defined as the number of offspring that organisms with a particular genotype or
phenotype leave behind, on average, as compared to others in the population.

Survival is one important component of fitness. In order to leave any offspring at all in the
next generation, an organism has to reach reproductive age.

However, survival is not the only part of the fitness equation. Fitness also depends on the
ability to attract a mate and the number of offspring produced per mating. An organism that
survived for many years, but never successfully attracted a mate or had offspring, would have
very (zero) low fitness.

Fitness depends on the environment

Which traits are favored by natural selection (that is, which features make an organism
more fit) depends on the environment. For example, a brown rabbit might be more fit than a
white rabbit in a brownish, grassy landscape with sharp-eyed predators. However, in a light-

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colored landscape (such as sand dunes), white rabbits might be better than brown rabbits at
avoiding predators. And if there weren't any predators, the two coat colors might be equally fit!

In many cases, a trait also involves tradeoffs. That is, it may have some positive and
some negative effects on fitness. For instance, a particular coat color might make a rabbit less
visible to predators, but also less attractive to potential mates. Since fitness is a function of
both survival and reproduction, whether the coat color is a net "win" will depend on the relative
strengths of the predation and the mate preference.

Natural selection can act on traits controlled by many genes

In some cases, different phenotypes in a population are determined by just one gene. For
example, this was the case with our hypothetical rabbits. It's also true in some real cases of
natural selection for coat color (e.g., in mice)

However, in many cases, phenotypes are controlled by multiple genes that each make a
small contribution overall result. Such phenotypes are often called polygenic traits, and they
typically form a spectrum, taking many slightly different forms. Plotting the frequency of the
different forms in a population often results in a graph with a bell curve shape. Height (see
graph below) and many other traits in humans are polygenic.

We can see if natural selection is acting on a polygenic trait by watching how the
distribution of phenotypes in the population changes over time. Certain characteristic shifts tell
us selection is occurring, even if we don’t know exactly which genes control the trait.

How natural selection can shift phenotype distributions

There are three basic ways that natural selection can influence distribution of phenotypes
for polygenic traits in a population. To illustrate these forms of selection, let's use an imaginary
beetle population, in which beetle color is controlled by many genes and varies in a spectrum
from light to dark green.

1. Stabilizing selection. In stabilizing selection, intermediate phenotypes are more fit than
extreme ones. For example, medium-green beetles might be the best camouflaged, and
thus survive best, on a forest floor covered by medium green plants. Stabilizing selection
tends to narrow the curve
2. Directional selection. One extreme phenotype is more fit than all the other
phenotypes. For example, if the beetle population moves into a new environment with
dark soil and vegetation, the dark green beetles might be better hidden and survive
better
than medium or light beetles. Directional selection shifts the curve towards the favorable
phenotype.

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 3. Disruptive selection. Both extreme phenotypes are more fit than those in the middle.
For example, if the beetles move into a new environment with patches of light-green
moss and dark-green shrubs, both light and dark beetles might be better hidden (and
survive better) than medium-green beetles. Diversifying selection makes multiple peaks
in the curve.

Activity 2: Questions:

1. In Diagram 1, how many sets of footprints are there? Based on the size of footprints,
describe the organisms.
2. In what directions are the footprints going?
3. Describe or predict what is happening in Diagram 3. In Diagram 4.

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 What I Have Learned

Modified True or False: Write True if the statement is true and if its false, write the correct
word(s) on your answer sheet to make the statement true.

1. About 200 years ago, many people believed that the Earth was only 6,000 years old.
2. Artificial selection occurs when nature selects the beneficial traits.
3. The individual Galápagos Islands are all similar to each other.
4. Malthus argued that human populations grow faster than their resources.
5. Lamarck was one of the first scientists to propose that species evolved by natural
selection.
6. Lyell was one of the first to say that the Earth must be far older than most people
believed.
7. Lamarck’s inheritance of acquired characteristics has become a widely accepted scientific
theory.
8. Fossils proved to Darwin that species can evolve.
9. The term fitness refers to an organism’s ability to outrun its hunters.
10.Darwin published his findings soon after returning to England from the voyage of the HMS
Beagle.
11.According to Darwin, natural selection is what occur and evolution is how it happens.
12.During his journey aboard the Beagle, Darwin found fossils of seashells in the mountains
high above sea level.
13.Galápagos tortoises have differently shaped shells depending on where they live.
14.Darwin’s book changed science forever.
15.Alfred Russel Wallace developed a theory of evolution at the same time as Darwin.

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 What I Can Do

Instruction: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

The Voyage of the Beagle

In 1831, when Darwin was just 22 years old, he set sail on a scientific expedition on a
ship called the HMS Beagle. He was the naturalist on the voyage. As a naturalist, it was his job
to observe and collect specimens of plants, animals, rocks, and fossils whenever the expedition
went ashore.
Darwin was fascinated by nature, so he loved his job on the Beagle. He spent more than
3 years of the 5-year trip exploring nature in distant continents and islands. While he was away,
a former teacher published Darwin’s accounts of his observations. By the time Darwin finally
returned to England, he had become famous as a naturalist.

Darwin’s Observations
During the long voyage, Darwin made many observations that helped him form his theory
of evolution. For example:
• He visited tropical rainforests and other new habitats where he saw many plants and
animals he had never seen before. This impressed upon him the great diversity of
life.
• He experienced an earthquake that lifted the ocean floor 2.7 meters (9 feet) above
sea level. He also found rocks containing the fossils of sea shells in mountains high
above sea level. These observations suggested that continents and oceans had
changed dramatically over time and continued to change in dramatic ways.
• He visited rock edges that had clearly once been beaches that gradually built up over
time. This suggested that slow, steady processes also changed the Earth’s surface.
• He dug up fossils of gigantic extinct mammals, such as the ground sloth. This was
hard evidence that organisms looked very different in the past. It suggested that
living things, like the Earth’s surface, can also change over time.

The Galápagos Islands

Darwin’s most important observations were made on the Galápagos Islands. This is a group of
16 small volcanic islands 966 kilometers (600 miles) off the west coast of South America.
Individual Galápagos Islands differ from one another in important ways. Some of these
islands are very rocky and dry at the same time. Others have better soil and more rainfall. While
observing here, Darwin noticed that the plants and animals on the different islands also
differed. For example, the giant tortoises on one island had saddle-shaped shells, while those on
another island had dome-shaped shells. People who lived on the islands could even tell the
island where a turtle came from just by looking at its shell.
This circumstance started Darwin to think about the origin of species. He wondered how each
island came to have its own type of tortoise.

Guide Questions
1. What was Darwin’s role on the Beagle?
2. What was significant about the new habitats Darwin visited?

Assessment

A. Multiple Choice. Choose the best answer. Write the letter on

your answer sheet.

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1. What observations did Charles Darwin make about finches in the Galapagos Islands?
A. Various species of finches lived on just one of the islands.
B. Different species of finches lived on different islands.
C. The same species of finches lived on all the islands.
D. Identical species of finches lived in South America.
2. Which theory states that floods and earthquakes have occurred often in Earth’s history?
A. Artificial selection C. Natural selection
B. Catastrophism D. Uniformitarianism
3. Natural selection results in change overtime by acting on traits that are
A. Better B. Heritable C. Mutated D. New
4. Individuals that are well adapted to their environment will survive and produce
A. Better traits C. More offspring.
B. Stronger genes. D. Fewer mutations.
5. Who believed that giraffes have long necks because competition for food meant that giraffes
with slightly longer necks could get more food and survived longer to pass on their genes to
their offspring who also had longer necks.
A. Charles Darwin C. Jean Baptiste Lamarck
B. Gregor Mendel D. Thomas Malthus
6. Why are advantageous traits more likely to be passed onto offspring? A. Because they are
more likely to survive and reproduce.
B. Because the trait is an acquired phenotype.
C. Because they come from dominant alleles.
D. Because they come from recessive alleles.
7. Darwin concluded that evolution was at work by studying the shapes of __________.
A. Beaks of finches C. Peppered moths
B. Malarial parasites D. Hemoglobins

8. Which is a major concept included in Lamarck’s theory of evolution?

A. Body structure can change according to the actions of the organism.
B. Population size decreases the rate of evolution.
C. Change is the result of survival of the fittest.
D. Artificial selection is the basis for evolution.
9. Which phrase best defines evolution by natural selection? A. A sudden replacement of one
population by another.
B. Changes in a species as it becomes more perfect.
C. An adaptation of a species to its environment.
D. A process of change in species over time
10.Charles Darwin called the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment
A. Adaptation B. Diversity C. Evolution D. Fitness
11.When lion prey on a herd of antelopes, some antelopes are killed and some escape. Which
part of Darwin’s concept of natural selection might be used to describe this situation?
A. Descent with modification C. Reproductive isolation B. Acquired
characteristics D. Survival of the fittest.
12.Charles Darwin described four key observations pertaining to natural selection from his
voyage around the world. Which of the following is NOT one of Darwin’s observations of
nature?
A. All species are capable of producing more offspring than their environment can support.
B. Individuals of a population evolve through interaction with their environment.
C. Members of a population often vary greatly in their traits.
D. Traits are inherited from parents to offspring
13. Darwin
wasn’t the first scientist to come up with a theory of evolution. Which scientific predecessor
of Darwin argued that an organism can pass on beneficial characteristics it acquires during
its lifetime to its offspring?
A. Charles Lyell C. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
B. Georges Cuvier D. Joseph Dalton Hooker
14.In a scientific context, what does the term ‘survival of the fittest’ mean?

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 A. The organisms which are best adapted to their environment will survive the longest and
have a greater number of offspring who are likely to inherit their advantageous traits.
B. The organisms which can procreate the earliest have the best chance of survival.
C. The organisms which are best adapted to their environment will survive the longest.
D. Good-looking organisms live longer than ugly organisms.
15.Some lizards have different size legs. Lizards with longer legs are able to better access food.
Overtime lizards with shorter legs became less common. What is the inherited variation?
A. Food B. Leg size C. Lizards D. Long legs

Additional Activities

To further understand the natural selection at work you may use the phet
simulation on natural selection at
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/natural -selection and answer the
following questions.

1. What are some VARIABLES that you have control over in the simulation?
2. What happens to the bunny population if a friend is never added? What
happens when you add a friend?
3. What happens when you add food as a selection factor?
4. What is the difference between the arctic and equator environment?

References and Links

Printed Materials:

Alexander, P. Bahret, MJ, Charles, J.,Chaves,J.,Courts,G.,D’Allessio,NS., Biology The Living World,

Prentice hall New Jersey. 1989.

Biology,Science and Technology Textbook, Department of Education, 1990.

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