21. Evolution

At the time Charles Darwin sailed on HMS Beagle, __________.

Because he was well aware of the effect his theory of evolution would have on the public and on the Church of England, Darwin delayed publishing his work for several decades while he gathered additional evidence. After invoking selective breeding of domesticated species as evidence that groups of organisms are capable of change, he then proposed that natural populations can change as well. On which two lines of evidence did he base this proposal?

In Darwin's view of descent with modification, __________.

What insight did Darwin gain from reading Thomas Malthus's essay on human suffering?

The breeding of plants and animals for particular traits by humans is called __________.

The smallest unit that can evolve is a(n) __________.

During periods of rapid environmental change, what may happen to a species that was well suited to the former environment?

According to the theory of evolution, anatomical and molecular homologies should __________.

When they were first sold, aerosol insecticides were highly effective in killing flies and mosquitoes. Now, several decades later, a much smaller proportion of these insects die when sprayed. The reason fewer insects die when they are sprayed is that __________.

To describe evolution as a "scientific theory" means that __________.

What did Darwin observe about species on islands?

Evidence from molecular biology supports the theory of evolution by demonstrating that __________.

All known organisms translate genetic information to produce protein molecules via the same genetic code. This finding strongly supports the hypothesis that __________.

A population of zooplankton is exposed to a small number of predatory fish that feed on the larger-sized (adult) zooplankton. Which of the following predictions would most likely occur based on the principles of natural selection?

How did some strains of Staphylococcus aureus become resistant to antibiotic drugs?