Biology

Genetics and Evolutionary Biology

1,156 Questions

Genetics and evolutionary biology explain how traits are passed from parents to offspring and how species change over time. Key concepts include genetic drift, inbreeding, and heredity. This topic is fundamental for the biology section of many competitive tests.

Heredity and traitsGenetic variations and driftInbreeding conceptsEvolutionary mechanisms

Genetics and Evolutionary Biology Questions

Multiple choice

Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the level of

  1. Genetic

  2. Species

  3. Eco system

  4. All the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Biodiversity encompasses the variety of life at all levels, including genetic diversity (within species), species diversity (number of species), and ecosystem diversity (variety of habitats).

Multiple choice

New alleles appeared in a population that is NOT due to mutations. Where/how did they appear?

  1. independent assortment of chromosomes

  2. gene flow (migration)

  3. natural selection of traits

  4. genetic drift (bottleneck or founder's effect)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Gene flow, or the movement of individuals and their alleles between populations through migration, is a primary way that new alleles can be introduced into a population without mutation.

Multiple choice

Does natural selection change individuals or populations?

  1. individuals

  2. populations
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Natural selection acts on the variation present within a population. While individuals either survive or die, the change in the frequency of traits over generations occurs at the population level.

Multiple choice

How does genetic diversity help natural selection pick organisms to survive and reproduce?

  1. fewer mutations within the gene pool

  2. reduced predation of the population

  3. increased chance of beneficial traits within the gene pool

  4. less competition between the population members
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Genetic diversity provides a range of traits within a population. When environmental pressures change, this diversity increases the likelihood that some individuals possess beneficial traits that allow them to survive and reproduce.

Multiple choice

Why can mutations be beneficial to organisms?

  1. recombined genes can improve DNA stability

  2. mitosis becomes the main way to reproduce asexually

  3. DNA creates more additional nucleotides

  4. Phenotypic change may create an advantage for survival
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Mutations introduce new genetic variations. If a mutation results in a phenotype that provides a survival or reproductive advantage in a given environment, it is considered beneficial.

Multiple choice

Why are mutations important to natural selection?

  1. It gives nature different variations/traits to pick from.

  2. It lets an organism change its DNA to be more adaptive.

  3. It causes individuals to change.

  4. It causes cancer, killing an entire population- extinction.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Natural selection requires variation to function. Mutations are the ultimate source of new genetic variation, providing the raw material upon which natural selection acts.

Multiple choice

What is bottleneck effect?

  1. natural disaster that randomly wipes out part of population

  2. when a population migrates to a new area

  3. when a barrier permanently separates a population into two

  4. when a group breaks off to form a new population
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The bottleneck effect is a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events or human activities, which significantly reduces the genetic variation of the population.

Multiple choice

A major benefit of sexual reproduction is:

  1. Offspring inherit variety of genetic information.

  2. Offspring are identical to parents.

  3. It happens more quickly than asexual reproduction.

  4. Viruses are incapable of killing the species.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Sexual reproduction involves the combination of genetic material from two parents, which results in offspring with unique genetic combinations. This genetic diversity is a key advantage for species survival.

Multiple choice

What does reproduction mean?

  1. make more living things of the same kind

  2. double

  3. the process of an animals life

  4. Traits that are not passed on from parents to offspring
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Reproduction is the biological process by which new individual organisms, or offspring, are produced from their parents. It is essential for the continuation of a species.

Multiple choice

When major events cause rapid changes it is called?

  1. Tragitism

  2. Castratrophism

  3. Bottleneck Effect

  4. Testcross
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Catastrophism (misspelled as Castratrophism) proposes that rapid, catastrophic events drive major biological or geological changes, as opposed to gradual change over long periods.

Multiple choice

What kind of traits can natural selection act upon?

  1. Dominant

  2. Genotype

  3. Phenotype

  4. Recessive
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Natural selection acts on the phenotype, which is the physical expression of the genotype, because the phenotype determines an organism's interaction with the environment.