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Which of the following is the most inclusive (most general) group in which all of the members have fully opposable thumbs?


A) apes
B) Homo
C) anthropoids
D) primates

E) B) and C)
F) A) and D)

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Scientific views are based on evidence rather than an appeal to authority. Which of the following statements demonstrates a conclusion based on evidence?


A) We conclude that lungs evolved before swim bladders because a study of branching patterns shows that some of the oldest lineages of Osteichthyes have lungs.
B) We conclude that lungs evolved before swim bladders because Darwin wrote that swim bladders evolved before lungs in The Origin of Species.
C) We conclude that lungs evolved before swim bladders because the oldest osteichthyan fossils show lungs arising before swim bladders.
D) We conclude that lungs evolved before swim bladders because Hox genes direct the evolution of swim bladders but not of lungs.

E) A) and B)
F) A) and C)

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Jaws first occurred in which extant group of fishes?


A) lampreys
B) chondrichthyans
C) ray-finned fishes
D) placoderms

E) B) and C)
F) None of the above

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Birds are descended from species that laid eggs in water. It could be argued that embryos of birds still develop in water because ________.


A) the shell keeps the embryo from drying out
B) the amnion encases each embryo in water
C) the chorion, allantois, and yolk sac provide embryos with nutrients and waste disposal
D) the amnion protect the embryo in the same way that a seed coat protects plant embryos of flowering plants

E) A) and B)
F) All of the above

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Which of the following statements would be most acceptable to most zoologists?


A) The first fossils resembling lancelets appeared in the fossil record around 10 million years ago.
B) Recent work in molecular systematics supports the hypothesis that lancelets are the basal clade of chordates.
C) The extant lancelets are the immediate ancestors of the fishes.
D) Lancelets do not swim in the same way that fishes do.

E) None of the above
F) C) and D)

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It is believed that the coelacanths and lungfish represent a crucial link between other fishes and tetrapods. What is the major feature in these fish in support of this hypothesis?


A) Like amphibians, they are tied to the water for reproduction.
B) Their fins have skeletal and muscular structures similar to amphibian limbs.
C) They have highly evolved nervous and circulatory systems.
D) They have lungs and are able to breathe air when water is scarce.

E) B) and D)
F) None of the above

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Ancient fossils that seem to be an intermediate stage in the evolution from fish to tetrapods had which of the following characteristics?


A) fins and scales like a fish but ribs to support the body and a bone structure in the front limb like tetrapods
B) a pelvis and rear limbs like a fish and gills like a tetrapod
C) bones that allowed the head to move like a fish and both gills and lung like a tetrapod
D) scales and a tail like a fish and a simple bone arrangement in the back limb like a tetrapod

E) A) and C)
F) B) and D)

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Use the following figure and information to answer the question. Use the following figure and information to answer the question.   Fishes that have swim bladders can regulate their density and, thus, their buoyancy. There are two types of swim bladder: physostomous and physoclistous. The ancestral version is the physostomous version, in which the swim bladder is connected to the esophagus via a short tube (see the figure) . The fish fills this version by swimming to the surface, taking gulps of air, and directing them into the swim bladder. Air is removed from this version by  belching.  The physoclistous version is more derived and has lost its connection to the esophagus. Instead, gas enters and leaves the swim bladder via special circulatory mechanisms within the wall of the swim bladder. The presence of a swim bladder allows the typical ray-finned fish to stop swimming and still ________. A)  effectively circulate its blood B)  use its lateral line system C)  use its swim bladder as a respiratory organ D)  not sink Fishes that have swim bladders can regulate their density and, thus, their buoyancy. There are two types of swim bladder: physostomous and physoclistous. The ancestral version is the physostomous version, in which the swim bladder is connected to the esophagus via a short tube (see the figure) . The fish fills this version by swimming to the surface, taking gulps of air, and directing them into the swim bladder. Air is removed from this version by "belching." The physoclistous version is more derived and has lost its connection to the esophagus. Instead, gas enters and leaves the swim bladder via special circulatory mechanisms within the wall of the swim bladder. The presence of a swim bladder allows the typical ray-finned fish to stop swimming and still ________.


A) effectively circulate its blood
B) use its lateral line system
C) use its swim bladder as a respiratory organ
D) not sink

E) B) and C)
F) C) and D)

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Use the following information to answer the question. Due to its system of air sacs connected to the lungs, the respiratory system of birds is arguably the most effective respiratory system of all air-breathers. Upon inhalation, air first flows into posterior air sacs, then into the lungs, and then into anterior air sacs on the way to being exhaled. Thus, there is one-way flow of air through the lungs, along thousands of tubules called parabronchi. The one-way flow of air along parabronchi makes what type of gas exchange mechanism possible, at least theoretically?


A) the same as that occurring in fish gills
B) the same as that occurring in insect tracheae
C) the same as that occurring in mammalian lungs
D) the same as that occurring in echinoderm skin gills

E) All of the above
F) A) and B)

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On the back of your skull you can feel a small bump, below which is an opening where the spinal cord enters the skull. The location of this opening toward the bottom of the skull is significant in evolutionary biology for what reason?


A) It allowed for the hominin brain to grow much larger than other primates.
B) It provided greater protection for the spinal cord.
C) It occurred as a result of the change to a bipedal stance.
D) This change was necessary for the increase in size from prosimian forms to anthropoid forms.

E) A) and B)
F) B) and C)

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Which clade does not include humans?


A) synapsids
B) lobe-fins
C) diapsids
D) osteichthyans

E) None of the above
F) A) and C)

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Which of the following types of evidence would be useful in understanding if the impact of a comet caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?


A) more DNA analyses
B) more comparison of skeletal structures
C) more phylogenetic studies
D) more detailed collection of fossils

E) None of the above
F) C) and D)

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Female birds lay their eggs, thereby facilitating flight by reducing weight. Which "strategy" seems most likely for female bats to use to achieve the same goal?


A) limit litters to a single embryo
B) refrain from flying throughout pregnancy (about six weeks long)
C) give birth to underdeveloped young, and subsequently carry them in a pouch that has teats
D) feed multiple embryos internally using placentas

E) C) and D)
F) B) and D)

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A trend first observed in the evolution of the earliest tetrapods was ________.


A) the appearance of jaws
B) feet with digits
C) the mineralization of the endoskeleton
D) the amniotic egg

E) A) and B)
F) B) and C)

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Vertebrates and tunicates share ________.


A) jaws adapted for feeding
B) a high degree of cephalization
C) the formation of structures from the neural crest
D) a notochord and a dorsal, hollow nerve cord

E) B) and C)
F) A) and C)

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Suppose, while out camping in a forest, you found a chordate with a long, slender, limbless body slithering across the ground near your tent. This critter could be ________.


A) a lamprey
B) a mammal
C) an amphibian
D) a skate

E) B) and C)
F) None of the above

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Which characteristic is common to all the modern representatives of all major reptilian lineages (turtles, lepidosaurs, crocodilians, and birds) ?


A) presence of teeth
B) presence of four walking limbs
C) ectothermy
D) presence of a notochord

E) A) and B)
F) A) and D)

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As hominins diverged from other primates, which of the following appeared first?


A) reduced jawbones
B) an enlarged brain
C) the making of stone tools
D) bipedal locomotion

E) C) and D)
F) B) and D)

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Why do adult urochordates (tunicates) lack notochords, even though larval urochordates have them? Larvae use notochords to ________.


A) aid in swimming; adults are sessile and thus no longer propel themselves
B) stiffen their bodies; in adults, the notochord is replaced by a column of bone
C) induce tissue differentiation; in adults, tissue is already differentiated
D) organize their nervous systems; adults' nervous systems are fully developed and do not change

E) A) and C)
F) C) and D)

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Chordate pharyngeal slits appear to have functioned first as ________.


A) the digestive system's opening
B) suspension-feeding devices
C) components of the jaw
D) sites of respiration

E) A) and B)
F) B) and D)

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