Evolution Trivia

1. The human circulatory system consists of a pump called the heart and a network of cylindrical arteries, veins, and capillaries that emanate from the heart to circulate blood. How is the blood distributed by the heart?

From Quiz Evolution of the Human Heart: One Beat at a Time

Answer: Deoxygenated blood is pumped to the lungs, returned to the heart then oxygenated blood pumped to the rest of the body

The human heart is a fist sized organ that is divided into two. The right side of the heat pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs where carbon dioxide (a waste product) is exchanged for oxygen and then oxygenated blood is returned to the left slide of the heart, slightly bigger than the right side, as it has more work to do. The left side then pumps nutrient rich, oxygenated blood to the organs and tissues of the rest of the body. This is a closed-loop system.

From Quiz The Evolution of Populations

Answer: allele frequency

The allele frequency is the rate of an allele's appearance in a given population. An allele comprises two or more genes that give rise to a physical trait. The frequency of an allele can change within a population, depending on environmental factors or genetic drift. As an allele spreads through a population, it creates a larger gene pool of the trait it expresses.

From Quiz The Animals Say, "Evolution Ain't Bunk"

Answer: Allopatric speciation

Lakes act as islands for these guppies, each lake separated by dry land, preventing interbreeding of the different populations. Different lakes may have different selective pressures, e.g. types of predator or muddiness of the water, and therefore different genes will be advantageous. High levels of predation in one lake will favour duller, less conspicuous guppies, whereas in lakes with fewer predators, brightly coloured males can flourish and attract more females. Over time, the gene pools of separate populations will become so different so as to prevent interbreeding (i.e. speciation occurs). Because this speciation is due to physical barriers, it is known as allopatric.

From Quiz Survival of the Fittest

Answer: The organism that produces the most surviving offspring

In biologic terms, it doesn't matter how big, strong, or beautiful you are if you don't leave any offspring to carry on your genes.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Parasites

Answer: Most creationists claim that they are degenerate forms, when in fact they are not

Creationists claim that parasites are degenerate creatures. Under creationist philosophy, creatures can change by degeneration or "devolution," (they can lose information/complexity) they just cannot evolve (which creationists think requires new information/complexity.) However, parasites have not "devolved." They have indeed lost organs and functions that no longer improve their survivability (just as human no longer have tails, fur or a big cecum) but they have also gained incredibly intricate complexity over their ancestors in such matters as their ability to thwart the host's immune system, their reproductive patterns, and their ability to sense and navigate through their hosts. Creationists have "answers" for the other three issues. They claim that, before the Fall, parasites were innocuous creatures. After the Fall, according to creationists, they somehow went "wrong" and started invading the wrong hosts, the wrong organs, etc. They claim that parasites survived the Flood by becoming spores, going dormant, being frozen in ice floes, etc. Parasites such as fleas and lice are mentioned in the Bible.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Transitional Fossils

Answer: A fossil intermediate between two other fossils

Transitional fossils show the pathway of evolution from one type of animal to another. For example, Archaeopteryx was a fossil that showed characteristics of both its reptilian forebears and its avian descendants.

From Quiz Evolution and the Creationists

Answer: Living things are related to each other through common ancestry from earlier forms that were different from them

In order to understand the arguments over evolution, we must first understand what it is! It is a theory that encompasses all living things, not just humans.

From Quiz Evolution of the Human Heart: One Beat at a Time

Answer: None. External fluid environment provides nutrient flow passively

In all animals that are not single cells, there needs to be a system to transport fluids containing nutrients reach their natural end points: the cells (where cellular metabolism keeps the cells and hence the organism alive). The simplest animals, such as the sponges (Porifera) do not need a circulatory system because they are in an aqueous environment. Diffusion provides exchange of water, nutrients, and waste products. In slightly more complex organisms such as jellyfish (Cnidaria), diffusion occurs through their epidermis (upper side) and internally through a gastrovascular section (underside). All tissues are soaked in an aqueous environment and exchange fluids by diffusion on both sides. Exchange of fluids is assisted by the pulsing of the jellyfish body in the absence of a dedicated pump such as a heart.

From Quiz The Evolution of Populations

Answer: constant

This principle debunked the idea that a dominant allele would tend to increase in frequency without being influenced by evolutionary parameters. However, this is only an idealized situation. Hardy and Weinberg acknowledged that no population is immune to evolution. All populations are susceptible to evolutionary influences like genetic drift and natural selection. What good is it then? The principle is used to determine the degree to which frequencies of alleles are changing in a given population. This can determine whether the population is evolving or not.

From Quiz Unnatural Selection

Answer: A costly item that the possessor used precious resources to acquire

Many male animals put on extravagant displays in order to attract females- huge antlers or horns, elaborate nests, ornamental feathers, elaborate mating displays. These displays are extremely costly of an animal's precious energy resources. So why do they do it? Because a male that can afford to "squander" resources on enormous antlers or perfect plumage shows females that he has quality genes. "'Cause you never hear them say they got it cheap on sale Which means that bling is meant to represent How much they really spent, and at the end of the day That's the definition of a "fitness display" Like a bowerbird's nest, which takes hours of work And makes the females catch a powerful urge Just like a style of verse or an amazing flow But it takes dedication and it takes a toll 'Cause the best displays are unfakeable"

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Parasites

Answer: Animals have defense systems to ward off parasite infestation

Again, creationists believe that since creation, only "devolution" has occurred. In this case, sophisticated immune systems, for example, are very difficult to explain. They are useless- in fact they are harmful- if no parasite infestation exists to be fought. As an example, an immunoglobulin called IgE causes allergic reactions in humans- our bodies react to ragweed pollen, let us say, as a foreign parasite, and the immune system's intense response to "destroy the invader" causes the allergic symptoms we all know and hate. However, IgE serves a very important purpose in much of the world- it also fights multicellular parasites that we rarely encounter in developed countries. In countries without such parasite problems, IgE is a nuisance. So, immune system responses don't do animals much good if there is no real threat to respond to. Therefore, the creationist must explain where they came from. Did animals have them before the fall, and suffer the allergies and immune-mediated disorders that an under-exercised immune system causes? Or did they come about only after the Fall- in which case, true evolution, as in increasing complexity, did occur?

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Scientific Opinion

Answer: parsimony.

According to Ezcurra, [parsimony] "states that natural effects should be explained through natural causes and that unnecessary hypotheses should be discarded when trying to understand the way the natural world works." Intelligent design adds unnecessary complexity and hypotheses to an explanation of how the world came to be.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Unintelligent Design

Answer: It takes a much more circuitous path than is necessary

In mammals, the recurrent laryngeal nerve runs from the vagus nerve, down the neck, into the chest, under the aorta, around a ligament in the lung, then back up to the larynx in the throat. This is clearly an inefficient design, especially in a mammal like a giraffe! In a fish, the path of the recurrent laryngeal nerve is a straight line. As mammals evolved, the positions of the various organs changed (such as the heart moving down into the chest,) but the path of the nerve did not, and thus assumed the tortuous route that it now has.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Transitional Fossils

Answer: They show the intermediate steps in the evolution of a species

Transitional fossils document the evolution of species. For example, most people are familiar with the evolution of horses from small, multi-toed animals to large, hoofed animals. The many species in between Eohippus (now known as Hyracotherium,) the dawn horse, and Equus, the horse of today, are transitional fossils.

From Quiz Evolution of the Human Heart: One Beat at a Time

Answer: Blood is mixed with other body fluid, pumped into a body cavity to bathe the organs

In arthropods, blood is not enclosed in the blood vessels in an open circulatory system but is pumped by the heart into a cavity called a haemocoel. The blood mixes with the interstitial fluid and this is called haemolymph. As the heart pumps, the haemolymph circulates through the haemocoel surrounding the body organs then re-entering the heart through ostia (openings). Haemolymph movement facilitates gas and nutrient exchange. Insect blood does not carry haemoglobin and is therefore not red. As such oxygen is distributed by a complex series of air-sacs called tracheae. In an open circulatory system, not as much energy is needed to operate it compared to a closed system. There is a cost - It is difficult to reach specific organs and tissues that require high oxygen concentrations. This is why insects with wing spans of up to 60cm /24 inches do not exist today because they were ousted by the arrival of birds around 150 million years ago. Birds have a closed circulatory system, can move more efficiently, filling food and oxygen needs faster.

From Quiz Unnatural Selection

Answer: The inheritance of mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondria, the energy factories of the cell, have their own DNA, derived from their bacterial ancestors (mitochondria were once bacteria that were engulfed by cells and then became a symbiotic part of them.) Because the few mitochondria in sperm are lost after an egg is fertilized, mammals inherit their mitochondria only from their mothers. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA shows that, around 200-250,000 years ago, a female proto-human lived in East Africa who is the matrilineal ancestor of all humans alive on Earth today. She is called "Mitochondrial Eve."

From Quiz Human Evolution vs. Creationism

Answer: 120,000 to 400,000 years ago.

The key with this question is to pay particular attention to the words: "Homo sapiens" and "a distinct species". First of all, there may have been creatures who were somewhat human-like even three million years ago in the sense that they were bi-pedal (walked upright). But they had very apelike jaws and teeth. Also, they had very small brains -- far below the norm for modern humans. (Enlargement of the brain occurred very recently in our evolution.) Finally, 44 to 68 thousand years does not work because the fossil record and complex studies of DNA sequences points to modern humans having an emergence at least 150 thousand year ago. Probably much older.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Scientific Opinion

Answer: be prepared to generate experiments that will prove ID incorrect and teach their students how to disprove ID.

In order to be a true theory, a scientific theory must be falsifiable- that is, experiments that could disprove the theory must be conceivable. No such experiments have been proposed by the architects of intelligent design theory.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Transitional Fossils

Answer: Evolution is rarely a straight-line process; it's a bush rather than an arrow

For example, the horse family tree has many branches (see http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/horses/horse_evol.html for a great discussion of this.) Therefore, some of the branches were indeed not direct ancestors of the modern horse. But all of the branches were part of the same family tree, and a path (including all of the transitional fossils) can be traced from the "root" of the tree to the horse of today.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Unintelligent Design

Answer: The female lizards are much more fertile if they are courted by another female

The ancestral species of the parthenogenic whiptails is still around. In this ancestral species, the males court the females, as in most other lizard species. This courting causes the female to release hormones that boost her fertility. Even though several species of whiptail no longer require males to lay eggs, they still require the same courtship ritual to stimulate hormone production. So the parthenogenic whiptails pair up, and one female will first assume the part of the male, then they switch roles.

From Quiz The Evolution of Populations

Answer: heat conservation

Environmental variance can lead to phenotypic variation, like the kind seen at the poles. The ability of larger animals to conserve heat better is an example of a latitudinal cline- a geographical factor that leads to variation across an ecological gradient. Altitudinal cline is another kind of geographic variation, where flowering plants at different places along a mountain slope bloom at different times.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Parasites

Answer: The Amazon River once emptied into the Pacific Ocean rather than the Atlantic

The tapeworms that parasitize Amazon stingrays have as their closest relatives tapeworms found in the Pacific Ocean. They are not related to the tapeworms found in rays in the Atlantic, where the Amazon now empties. In addition, there are other species of tapeworms found in stingrays in the Atlantic and Pacific that are more closely related to each other than to the tapeworms in the freshwater rays. The geology of South America can explain this otherwise-odd occurrence quite neatly. Until the Miocene uprising of the Andes Mountains about 10 million years ago, the Amazon flowed into the Pacific, and was colonized at this time by rays from the Pacific. At the same time, there was an open channel through the area that is now Panama that connected the Atlantic and Pacific, allowing rays from both oceans to mingle. As the Andes and the isthmus of Panama arose, the Amazon began to flow into the Atlantic, and the channel allowing intermixing was cut off. But the ray's parasites remain as a record of how the world once was.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Transitional Fossils

Answer: Whales

Pakicetus ("whale from Pakistan") was discovered in 1979. Ambulocetus ("walking whale") was discovered in 1995. Pakicetids did not look like whales at all. They had four legs, a long tail and snout, and were about the size of a large dog. What they had in common with the whales of today was the structure of the inner ear, which was adapted for hearing underwater. The whales are the only mammals that have developed this specialization. Their descendants, the ambulocetids, had more adaptations to aquatic life and resembled a mammalian crocodile. They retained the special inner ear. As whales continued to evolve, subsequent species became more and more perfectly adapted to aquatic life.

From Quiz The Evolution of Populations

Answer: new species

Speciation is the gradual creation of a new species through adaptations created by the restriction of gene flow. This is happening all the time on Earth. Gene flow across populations result in gradual differences along a cline. But when the new population becomes totally separated, the gene flow becomes restricted, resulting in differences extreme enough that the separated populations can no longer mate.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Discovery by Debate

Answer: They have two types of photoreceptors; one found in vertebrates and one in invertebrates

Photoreceptors are cells that sense light. Arthropods and vertebrates have two types of these cells. Vertebrates have ciliary photoreceptors, while arthropods have rhabdomeric photoreceptors. The two types are built by the same gene set and have the same function, but are structured differently. Ragworms and other polychaete annelid worms are thought to be the last common ancestor of insects and vertebrates. And, when scientists examined ragworms, they found that they have both types of photoreceptors. The rhabdomeric type are found in the ragworm's eye, while the ciliary type are found in a light-sensing organ in the brain. Ragworms also possess the precursor to what became the hypothalamus in animals with more developed brains.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Parasites

Answer: Australia

70 million years ago, Australia and South America were part of the same continent, Gondwanaland. As they drifted apart, marsupials, which originated on that supercontinent, were left on both land masses- along with their parasites.

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Unintelligent Design

Answer: Grow teeth

The researchers injected cells from mice into the chicken embryos. The mouse cells could not "tell" the embryo how to produce teeth, but they could "translate" any available instructions to grow teeth. The embryos grew teeth, which indicated that the genetic instructions for tooth formation were still present in the chicken embryo. This makes sense if birds evolved from reptilian ancestors that had teeth. Indeed, the teeth formed in succeeding experiments were undifferentiated, conical teeth like those of reptiles.

From Quiz Unnatural Selection

Answer: They share food with unrelated vampire bats

The evolution of altruism is a tricky subject. Why would an animal risk itself to benefit another? In most cases, altruism is due to kin selection- if you do a good act for a relative, you increase the chances of the survival of genes that both you and that relative share, even if your chances for reproduction are lessened. But what about situations like vampire bats, where one bat will offer food to another, unrelated bat? This can be explained by reciprocal altruism- if I give you food today, you will be more likely to reciprocate and give me food tomorrow. "And you don't have to reciprocate either Because karma is a sophisticated teacher Karma isn't just energy waves in the ether! No, karma's in the way everyone hates a cheater Cheater detection will keep you in check when You jump cues and refuse to treat people respectfully"

From Quiz Evidence for Evolution- Parasites

Answer: Hyenas and lions

This relationship supports an African origination for humans. All tapeworms go through a two-stage life cycle. One stage lives in an herbivore, such as a gazelle or a zebra. The second, reproductive stage lives in a predator, such as a lion or wolf. By scavenging hyena and lion kills, humans ingested the first stage of tapeworms evolved to reproduce in lions and hyenas. Some of these tapeworms managed to survive, reproduce, and become tapeworms dependent on humans.

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