Table 2 Questions from the knowledge section along with results
From: Awareness and Acceptance of Evolution and Evolutionary Medicine Among Medical Students in Pakistan
Column N% | ||
|---|---|---|
Q30. Individuals within a species tend to be genetically different. The primary mechanism generating this individual variability is | a. Meiosis | 94.1% |
b. Mitosis | 1.9% | |
c. Polyploidy | 1.5% | |
d. Duplications | .4% | |
e. Asexual Reproduction | 1.1% | |
f. Not attempted | 1.1% | |
Q31 Which of the following phrases best describes the process of evolution? | a. The development of humans from monkey like ancestors | 4.1% |
b. The change of simple t complex animals | 30.1% | |
c. The development of characteristics in response to need | 31.6% | |
d. Change in populations through time | 8.9% | |
e. The change of populations solely in response to natural selection | 23.8% | |
f. Not attempted | 1.5% | |
Q32. Which of the following best represents Lamarck’s ideas on the evolutionary process? | a. Survival of the fittest | 28.6% |
b. Inheritance of acquired characteristics | 61.0% | |
c. Neutral drift | 3.7% | |
d. Punctuated equilibrium | 1.5% | |
e. Assortive mating | 1.5% | |
f. Not attempted | 3.7% | |
Q33. The wing of the bat and the forelimb of the dog are said to be homologous structures. This indicates that | a. They have the same function | 6.7% |
b. Bats evolved from lineage of dogs | 2.2% | |
c. They are structures that are similar due to common ancestry | 62.5% | |
d. The limb bones of each are anatomicaly identical | 8.9% | |
e. They have a different ancestry but a common function | 17.5% | |
f. Not attempted | 2.2% | |
Q34. The first animals to settle on land probably had which of the following charactersitics? | a .They were quite mobile to escape from predators | 3.7% |
b. They were partially dependent on water for survival | 65.1% | |
c. They were capable of completely adapting to the terrestrial environment in their life span | 17.5% | |
d. They had wings for flight from one habitat to another | 3.0% | |
e. They were able to feed on terrestrial plants | 8.2% | |
f. Not attempted | 2.6% | |
Q35. Marine mammals have many structural characteristics in common with fishes. The explanation that evolutionary theory would give for this similarity is | a. Fish and mammals are closely related | 12.6% |
b. Fish evolved structures similar to those already existing in mammals | 3.3% | |
c. Marine mammals evolved directly from the fishes | 22.7% | |
d. Marine mammals never developed the use of limbs | 2.2% | |
e. Marine mammals adapted to an environment similar to that of fishes | 56.1% | |
f. Not attempted | 3.0% | |
Q36. Radiometric dating techniques rely on the fact that | a. The bony portions of organisms decompose at a known rate | 14.9% |
b. Organisms that lived earlier in time will tend to be found in sediments below organisms that lived more recently | 34.9% | |
c. The magnetic field of the earth has reversed its polarity at known intervals in geological time | 7.1% | |
d. The earth contains elements that change into other elements at a constant known rate | 14.9% | |
e. During the decomposition process organic matter is converted into radioactive elements at a known rate | 21.6% | |
f. not attempted | 6.7% | |
Q38. When first proposed, Darwin’s theory of natural selection did not fully explain how evolution could occur. This was due to | a. Darwin’s failure to recognize that organisms could overreproduce | 4.8% |
b. Darwins initail overemphasis of the significance of genetic drift | 8.2% | |
c. The fact that Darwin was unaware of Mendelian genetics | 40.9% | |
d. The absence of accurate knowledge of embryology | 15.6% | |
e. The absence of biochemical techniques to determine the genetic similarities between species | 25.7% | |
f. Not attempted | 4.8% | |
Q39. The life histories of five birds of the same species are listed below. The most evolutionary successful bird is the one that | a. Live 5 years, lays 12 eggs in a lifetime, 4 hatch and survive to breed | 8.2% |
b. Live 4 years, lays 8 eggs in a lifetime, 5 hatch and survive to breed | 7.4% | |
c. Live 6 years, lays 2 eggs in a lifetime, 2 hatch and survive to breed | 14.1% | |
d. Live 4 years, lays 7 eggs in a lifetime, 6 hatch and survive to breed | 59.5% | |
e. Live 5 years, lays 4 eggs in a lifetime, 3 hatch and survive to breed | 4.1% | |
f. Not attempted | 6.7% | |
Q40. The most compelling evidence for large-scale evolutionay change, or macroevolution, is | a. Kettler’s release-recapture experiment with peppered moth | 7.4% |
b. The fossil record | 57.2% | |
c. The occurence of mass extinctions | 9.3% | |
d. Domestication of plants and animals | 5.6% | |
e. The observed increase of mutation rates across all species | 15.6% | |
f. Not attempted | 4.8% | |