Evolution Quiz

Origin of Species quiz

I found this quiz on http://www.abc.net.au/science/games/quizzes/2009/originofspecies/ I got 80%.  Try your hand or paw at it mates.

It's 150 years since Charles Darwin first published On the Origin of Species. But can your evolutionary knowledge survive our quiz?

1. A more complete title of Darwin's book was On the Origin of Species by Means of…

a) Natural Selection
b) Native Selection
c) Naive Selection
d) Natural Seduction

2. Darwin wasn't the first scientist to come up with a theory of evolution. Which scientific predecessor of Darwin argued that an organism can pass on beneficial characteristics it acquires during its lifetime to its offspring?

a) Charles Lyell
b) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
c) Georges Cuvier
d) Joseph Dalton Hooker

3. While studying variation among related species on different islands in the Galapagos, Darwin struck the core of what would become his theory of evolution. Which of the following animals was crucial to Darwin's discovery?

a) Beagle
b) Turtle
c) Finch
d) Porpoise

4. Which of the following Australian cities did Darwin NOT visit when he came to Australia in 1836 during his voyage on the HMS Beagle?

a) Sydney
b) Hobart
c) Albany
d) Darwin

5. Which iconic Australian animal did Darwin describe as being like a European water rat?

a) Koala
b) Kangaroo rat
c) Platypus
d) Australian water rat

6. In a scientific context what does the term 'survival of the fittest' mean?

a) The organisms which are best adapted to their environment will survive the longest
b) The organisms which are best adapted to their environment will survive the longest and have a greater number of offspring who are likely to inherit their advantageous traits
c) The organisms which can procreate the earliest have the best chance of survival
d) Good-looking organisms live longer than ugly organisms

7. After 20 years of research, why did Darwin rush to publicise his theory of natural selection in 1858?

a) He had heard another scientist had independently developed a very similar theory and was about to publish it
b) His wife threatened to divorce him if he didn't get it finished
c) He was leaving science to join his family's Wedgwood pottery business
d) He was in bad health and wanted to publish his theory before his health deteriorated further

8. Which missing part of Darwin's theory of evolution did Gregor Mendel explain with his experiments crossbreeding pea plants?

a) How variations within species occur
b) How to breed fitter organisms
c) The process by which animals and plants pass down traits to their offspring
d) How an organism develops traits to make them better suited to their environment

9. On the Origin of the Species includes a drawing of Darwin's 'tree of life', a metaphor to explain the evolutionary relationships between different species. What do scientists now say Darwin got wrong in his tree of life?

a) All life did not descend from a simple common ancestor
b) Evolution occurs in far fewer generations than Darwin originally suspected
c) Swapping traits or crossbreeding between different species is far more common than Darwin thought
d) All of the above

10. Which of the following could NOT be considered an example of evolution?

a) The fossil record suggests that the ancestors of whales once walked on land
b) The common garter snake has developed a very high level of resistance to a toxin produced by one of its favourite prey, the rough-skinned newt
c) Galapagos finches have different shaped beaks depending on what island they're from
d) Pregnant women who survived the Dutch famine of 1944 gave birth to smaller than normal babies