Survival of the Fittest Trivia Quiz

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.

Answer: No

It was actually first used by another biologist, Herbert Spencer, in his 1864 book "Principles of Biology." However, Spencer was a believer in Lamarckism- the idea that organisms passed on changes that they acquired during their lives to their offspring- so his idea of "survival of the fittest" was quite different from Darwin's.

Answer: Adaptation

"Genetic drift" is the change in genomes caused by the randomness of sexual recombination. "Migration" is the addition of new genes into a population by immigrants.

Adaptations are the products of natural selection; they are not in themselves sources of genetic variation.

Answer: Mutation

A mutation is an actual change in the genetic information of a cell. Mutations can be neutral (no effect), harmful, or beneficial. Only mutations that occur in germ cells (eggs, sperm, pollen) can actually be passed down to the next generation.

Answer: A prolonged cold spell wipes out most mice in a population, but some survive and multiply

The three incorrect answers are all artificial selection - selection by humans for or against specific traits. This is how new breeds of plants and animals are developed.

Answer: False

Remember- natural selection selects for those traits that enhance the perpetuation of an individual's genome. The traits can sometimes be contrary to individual survival! The salmon that dies after spawning once, the peacock that risks predation and starvation to grow a magnificent tail, the ground squirrel that enhances kin survival by risking himself as a sentry- all act in ways contrary to individual survival but all help perpetuate their genes.

Answer: Mutation

Natural selection in a nutshell:
VARIATION in individuals leads to DIFFERENTIAL REPRODUCTION as some individuals are more fit to survive and reproduce than others. Those individuals pass these differences on to their offspring through HEREDITY. These offspring will VARY, and the cycle begins anew.

Answer: False

This is one of the most common misconceptions about natural selection. It is, as Richard Dawkins commented, a "blind watchmaker," a mindless process that has no goals and no intents. Variation occurs, some variants have more offspring and pass their traits to those offspring. That is all. Yet such a process, without guidance or thought, produced the amazing assemblage of living things we see today.

Answer: False

This is another very common misconception. While variation by mutation and sexual recombination are random, natural selection is decidedly nonrandom. Those traits that promote genomic survival are selected for, those traits that impede genomic survival are selected against.

Answer: have been, and are being, evolved.

There is nothing more awe-inspiring and wondrous than the enormous array of living things that evolution has produced on our planet. Darwin recognized it, and, 200 years after his birth, these words are just as true and powerful as they were when they were first written.