Phylogenetics and Evolutionary Relationships MCQs with Answers

What is the term for the study of the evolution of behavior, emphasizing the role of natural selection?

What term describes the geographic separation of populations, leading to reproductive isolation and speciation?

Which type of selection favors individuals at both extremes of a phenotypic range?

Which scientist proposed the theory of natural selection?

Which molecular technique is commonly used to determine phylogenetic relationships among species?

Which molecular clock hypothesis suggests that the rate of molecular evolution is constant over time?

What term describes the evolution of similar traits in unrelated species due to similar environmental pressures?

Which principle suggests that changes in allele frequencies occur randomly and can lead to the fixation or loss of alleles?

Which type of homology is based on similarities due to common ancestry?

Which type of molecular marker is based on differences in the number of repeated DNA sequences?

What is the name of the process by which new species arise within the same geographic area without geographic isolation?

What term describes the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time?

What term describes the adaptation of an ancestral group of organisms to different ecological niches?

Which method reconstructs evolutionary relationships based on the order of appearance in the fossil record?

Which method reconstructs evolutionary relationships based on shared similarities and differences in morphology?

What is the term for structures that have similar functions but different evolutionary origins?

Which process involves the exchange of genetic material between different species through hybridization and repeated backcrossing?

Which evolutionary process involves the movement of individuals between populations, resulting in genetic mixing?

What is the term for a group of species that share a common ancestor but not all descendants?

What is the name of the principle that states each living species has descended, with changes, from other species over time?

What is the name of the principle that describes how allele frequencies in a population will remain constant unless disturbed?

What is the study of evolutionary relationships among organisms called?

What term describes the concept that some traits persist because they are associated with other beneficial traits?

Which type of molecular marker is used to infer phylogenetic relationships based on the order of DNA base pairs?

What is the name of the hypothesis that proposes that major evolutionary changes occur in sudden bursts rather than gradually?

Which method uses morphological traits to infer evolutionary relationships before the advent of molecular techniques?

Which evolutionary process involves the change in allele frequencies due to chance events in small populations?

What is the term for the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among groups of organisms?

What is the term for the study of the similarities and differences in the genetic makeup of organisms?

Which method reconstructs evolutionary relationships based on shared derived characters?

Which evolutionary process involves the divergence of populations leading to new species?

What is the term for structures that have reduced in size and function compared to ancestral counterparts?

What is the name of the process by which species evolve in response to each other over time?

Which concept explains why some traits persist in a population despite being disadvantageous?

Which scientist developed the binomial nomenclature system for naming species?

Which type of selection favors intermediate variants and acts against extreme phenotypes?

Which concept states that changes in the phenotype of an organism during its lifetime are not inherited by offspring?

Which term describes a group of organisms that includes an ancestor and all of its descendants?

What is the name of the principle that states the simplest explanation that fits the data is preferred?

What is the name of the concept that describes the evolutionary adaptation of species to specific ecological niches?