BIOL 1441 – Final Assessment | A+ Graded
Q&A from Comprehensive Biology Exam
What is extinction? - ✔✔the natural process whereby species no longer exist
What are the three types of extinction? - ✔✔background, mass, anthropogenic
What is background extinction? - ✔✔slow, steady rate of extinction; organism reaches its
"shelf life/expiration date"
What is mass extinction? - ✔✔the disappearance of a large number of species over a short
period of time
What is anthropogenic extinction? - ✔✔extinction caused by humans
What are the three forms of natural selection? - ✔✔disruptive, stabilizing, and directional
What is disruptive selection? Know diagram. - ✔✔favors individuals at both extremes of the
phenotypic range (bimodal distribution)
Who is the author of "Philosophie Zoologique"? - ✔✔Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
What is the German word for time spirit? - ✔✔zeitgeist
What is the founder effect???? - ✔✔when a few individuals colonize or invade a separate
distinct area/habitat
What is the bottleneck effect? - ✔✔an effect that occurs when a natural disaster results in a
few individuals remaining in a population with different allelic frequencies by chance
, Who failed at becoming a doctor and a minister, but went on to revolutionize the study of the
natural world? - ✔✔Charles Darwin
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace? - ✔✔a naturalist that spent time in the Malay Archipelago
and was strongly influenced by the local natural history
Who was Thomas Malthus? - ✔✔the author of "An Essay on the Principle of Population, as it
Affects the Future Improvement of Society" (1789)
Who was Louis Agassiz???? - ✔✔a Harvard comparative morphologist that felt museums
should showcase manifestations of the Creator
Who was the Frenchmen responsible for the belief that organisms could inherit acquired
characteristics? - ✔✔Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
Who was Sir Charles Lyell? - ✔✔the author of "Principles of Geology", a book that would have
an important influence on Darwin
What is gene flow? - ✔✔the exchange of genes between populations (demes) due to
immigration/emigration of reproducing individuals
What is fitness? - ✔✔the measured ability to get one's genes into the next generation (in
relation to other genotypes)
What is an adaptation? - ✔✔any morphological, physiological, developmental, or behavioral
character that enhances survival and reproductive success of an organism
What is macroevolution? - ✔✔the broad pattern of evolutionary change over time above the
species level
What is evolution? - ✔✔the process of change over time that has transformed life on earth
Q&A from Comprehensive Biology Exam
What is extinction? - ✔✔the natural process whereby species no longer exist
What are the three types of extinction? - ✔✔background, mass, anthropogenic
What is background extinction? - ✔✔slow, steady rate of extinction; organism reaches its
"shelf life/expiration date"
What is mass extinction? - ✔✔the disappearance of a large number of species over a short
period of time
What is anthropogenic extinction? - ✔✔extinction caused by humans
What are the three forms of natural selection? - ✔✔disruptive, stabilizing, and directional
What is disruptive selection? Know diagram. - ✔✔favors individuals at both extremes of the
phenotypic range (bimodal distribution)
Who is the author of "Philosophie Zoologique"? - ✔✔Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
What is the German word for time spirit? - ✔✔zeitgeist
What is the founder effect???? - ✔✔when a few individuals colonize or invade a separate
distinct area/habitat
What is the bottleneck effect? - ✔✔an effect that occurs when a natural disaster results in a
few individuals remaining in a population with different allelic frequencies by chance
, Who failed at becoming a doctor and a minister, but went on to revolutionize the study of the
natural world? - ✔✔Charles Darwin
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace? - ✔✔a naturalist that spent time in the Malay Archipelago
and was strongly influenced by the local natural history
Who was Thomas Malthus? - ✔✔the author of "An Essay on the Principle of Population, as it
Affects the Future Improvement of Society" (1789)
Who was Louis Agassiz???? - ✔✔a Harvard comparative morphologist that felt museums
should showcase manifestations of the Creator
Who was the Frenchmen responsible for the belief that organisms could inherit acquired
characteristics? - ✔✔Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
Who was Sir Charles Lyell? - ✔✔the author of "Principles of Geology", a book that would have
an important influence on Darwin
What is gene flow? - ✔✔the exchange of genes between populations (demes) due to
immigration/emigration of reproducing individuals
What is fitness? - ✔✔the measured ability to get one's genes into the next generation (in
relation to other genotypes)
What is an adaptation? - ✔✔any morphological, physiological, developmental, or behavioral
character that enhances survival and reproductive success of an organism
What is macroevolution? - ✔✔the broad pattern of evolutionary change over time above the
species level
What is evolution? - ✔✔the process of change over time that has transformed life on earth
