SAT II Biology E : SAT Subject Test in Biology

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Biology E

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 : Natural Selection

A species of seagull migrates into the region in which a crab population lives. This type of seagull has never lived in this particular environment before. The seagulls eat crabs, and begin to prey on the crab population. The smallest of the crabs are able to successfully hide under rocks and avoid being eaten by the seagulls. The largest of the crabs are too big to fit inside of the seagulls' beaks, so the seagulls learn not to try to eat them. Over time, the seagulls prey on the medium sized crabs, and only the smallest and largest members of the initial crab population survive. 

Which type of selection does the described situation model?

Possible Answers:

Random selection

Directional selection

Divergent selection

Convergent selection

Disruptive selection

Correct answer:

Disruptive selection

Explanation:

The situation presents an example of disruptive selection. In disruptive selection, organisms with an intermediate phenotype are selected against. This means that individuals with the intermediate phenotype will decrease in prevalence in the population, while organisms on either end of the phenotype spectrum will increase in prevalence. In this case, the trait being discussed is crab size. The smallest and largest crabs survive, but those with an intermediate (middle-sized) phenotype are eaten. 

Example Question #5 : Evolution

In which of the following scenarios is stabilizing selection most likely to take place?

Possible Answers:

A population of feral cats begins to hunt the mice in a neighborhood. Mice that are very small are unable to run fast enough to escape the cats, whereas mice that are very large are unable to fit in small nooks and crannies to hide from the cats.

A population of rattlesnakes lives in a desert. The smallest rattlesnakes can fit entirely into the burrows of the rodents they hunt, providing them a ready-made source of protection.

A few individuals in a population of coastal-dwelling moths is blown to an offshore island during a tropical storm.

Male elk that have larger antlers are better able to fight for dominance. The most dominant elk in an area produces the most offspring.

In a population of hawks, very large hawks are able to carry off large prey such as small deer, but very small hawks are slightly faster and so have more success hunting small mammals.

Correct answer:

A population of feral cats begins to hunt the mice in a neighborhood. Mice that are very small are unable to run fast enough to escape the cats, whereas mice that are very large are unable to fit in small nooks and crannies to hide from the cats.

Explanation:

Stabilizing selection is a type of natural selection in which the extremes of phenotype are selected against. In other words, individuals with traits on either end of the phenotypic spectrum are more likely to die, or less likely to produce offspring, than those in the middle of the spectrum. This selection against both extremes favors individuals with an intermediate phenotype, and therefore reduces the diversity of the population. The only scenario in which the intermediate phenotype is selected for is the situation describing the cats and the mice. The smallest mice and the largest mice are both eaten by the cats, but medium-sized mice can both run fast enough to escape the cats and fit in the nooks and crannies, making them more evolutionarily fit for survival in this particular situation.

The scenario describing rattlesnakes presents an example of directional selection. Smaller rattlesnakes benefit from being able to fit into burrows. Based on this information alone, smaller rattlesnakes may have more offspring than larger rattlesnakes, and the rattlesnake population may eventually select for a smaller body size.

The scenario describing elk and antler size is also an example of directional selection. Male elk that have larger antlers are more likely to have more offspring, so the average antler size of the male elk in the population is likely to increase over time.

In the example describing hawks, the largest and smallest hawks each benefit from their body sizes, but medium-sized hawks do not. In this situation, disruptive selection is likely to take place, dividing the population over time into two predominant phenotypes. Given enough time, the hawk population might eventually split into two distinct species, one larger and one smaller.

The situation describing the moths being blown to an island in a storm describes a founder event, not any type of selection. We don't know anything about the makeup of the population of moths, so we can't say that any particular type of selection is taking place.

Example Question #1 : Evolution

What is the main difference between allopatric and sympatric speciation?

Possible Answers:

Sympatric speciation occurs when species are separated geographically whereas  allopatric speciation occurs without geographical separation.

Sympatric speciation mainly occurred in the past whereas allopatric speciation still occurs today.

Allopatric speciation occurs when species are separated by the movement of plate tectonics whereas sympatric speciation occurs when species are separated by the formation of a new body of water.

There are no large differences between these two forms of speciation.

Allopatric speciation occurs when species are separated geographically whereas sympatric speciation occurs without geographical separation.

Correct answer:

Allopatric speciation occurs when species are separated geographically whereas sympatric speciation occurs without geographical separation.

Explanation:

Allopatric speciation occurs when two populations are separated geographically and diverge over time due to natural selection, genetic drift, and mutations. This may be due to a mountain range forming, a river, or any sort of geographic barrier. Sympatric speciation involves populations diverging without any sort of geographical barrier. Both occur today and both likely occurred in the past as well.

Example Question #1 : Types Of Evolution And Speciation

Which of the following is not an assumption made by Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Possible Answers:

Random mating

Mutations are non-lethal

Population size is infinitely large

No natural selection

No migration

Correct answer:

Mutations are non-lethal

Explanation:

All of the given are assumptions made for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium except "mutations are non-lethal." In the Hardy-Weinberg model, there is an assumption of no mutations, as mutations would introduce new alleles that would distort the ratios predicted for a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. 

Example Question #2 : Types Of Evolution And Speciation

In which type of speciation does a new species evolve from an ancestral species while inhabiting the same area as the ancestral species?

Possible Answers:

Convergent 

Allopatric

Parapatric

Peripatric

Sympatric

Correct answer:

Sympatric

Explanation:

The correct answer is "sympatric." Speciation often occurs after a group of individuals becomes geographically isolated from its original population, as occurs in allopatric and peripatric specition. In parapatric speciation, there is a very small overlap in the area of the diverging population during and after speciation. In sympatric speciation, a new species evolves without the individuals ever leaving the area of the ancestral species. "Convergent" is a type of evolution where two different species adapt similar phenotypes.

Example Question #144 : Sat Subject Test In Biology

Species X has lived in the forest for many years. One day, some individuals in the Species X forest population moved to the mountains, away from the native habitat in which they had lived for so long. A large river then developed between the mountains and the forest, separating the two environments. None of the Species X individuals in the forest could travel to the mountains and none in the mountains could come back to the forest. Gradually, over time, the individuals that had moved to the mountains became increasingly different from the animals that remained in the forest. Eventually, the Species X individuals that moved to the mountains became so different from those in the forest that they could no longer breed with one another.

Which of the following best describes this type of speciation?

Possible Answers:

Artificial speciation

Peripatric speciation

Parapatric speciation

Allopatric speciation

Sympatric speciation

Correct answer:

Allopatric speciation

Explanation:

The definition of species states that once two groups of animals are no longer able to breed with one another, they are considered members of different species. Allopatric speciation describes speciation that happens when two groups of organisms become separated by a geographic barrier that prevents interbreeding. In this question, the river is the geographic barrier separating the organisms in the mountains from those in the forest. Over time, these two groups of organisms acquire differences. Once these differences are enough to prevent the members of these two groups from being able to mate with one another, they are considered different species and allopatric speciation has occurred. 

Example Question #1 : Other Evolution Principles

A bat's wing and a bird's wing are considered __________.

Possible Answers:

vestigial structures

homologous structures

divergent traits

derived traits

analogous structures

Correct answer:

analogous structures

Explanation:

A bat's wing and a bird's wing are analogous structures, as the development of these structures does not share an evolutionary history. The common ancestor of bats and birds did not have wings, therefore these traits arose independently. Therefore, they are not homologous, but represent convergent evolution, as similar traits arose from different lineages due to environmental pressures.

Example Question #2 : Other Evolution Principles

Which of the following does not contribute to evolution?

Possible Answers:

Mutation

A constant environment

Genetic drift

Natural selection

Migration

Correct answer:

A constant environment

Explanation:

Mutation, migration, natural selection, and genetic drift all change the presence and proportion of alleles in a given population, contributing to evolution. An unchanging environment would not contribute to changes in alleles and, therefore, does not contribute to evolution.

Example Question #141 : Sat Subject Test In Biology

A farmer has 1000 chickens. A disease is introduced into the population that infects almost all of the chickens. The farmer loses 500 chickens to this disease. The chickens that were infected but didn't die produce fewer eggs than the chickens that were never sick, so generations later, there are more chickens that are immune to the disease than chickens who can be infected with the disease. A few generations of chickens later, the genetic diversity of the chickens is drastically reduced. What evolutionary processes are at play?

Possible Answers:

Natural selection and genetic drift.

Natural selection and population bottleneck.

Natural selection and mutation.

Mutation and genetic drift.

Mutation and population bottleneck and genetic drift.

Correct answer:

Natural selection and population bottleneck.

Explanation:

We see natural selection because those chickens that are entirely immune to the disease produce more offspring than those chickens who were infected but survive. The gene(s) that offers protection against contracting the disease is retained at a greater rate than the gene(s) that protects the chicken from dying of the disease. If the genetic diversity of the population is reduced generations later, this suggests that the chickens experienced a population bottleneck when the population number dropped to half of its original number.

Example Question #142 : Sat Subject Test In Biology

Which of the following is an example of founder effect?

Possible Answers:

A new predator is introduced into the ecosystem.

A small number of humans form an isolated colony on a deserted island.

A hurricane destroys half of a population of monarch butterflies in Mexico.

A dog breeder decides she only wants to sell dalmatians that weigh more than 45 pounds, so she only allows males and females above this weight to breed.

A fatal mutation appears in a population of Sumatran tigers.

Correct answer:

A small number of humans form an isolated colony on a deserted island.

Explanation:

The founder effect is when genetic variability is lost due to a small number of individuals from a larger population forming a new population. The smaller population only breeds with each other and is not genetically representative of the larger group from which it was founded. Thus, the humans on a deserted island are an example of this. The hurricane might be an example of a population bottle neck and the breeder might be causing a population bottleneck by only breeding certain dogs, but the humans are a better example of the deliberate formation of a new breeding population.

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