Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of why these errors occur in all organisms?

Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of how biological design information is encoded in terrestrial organisms?

How many different monomers are used to build a protein molecule and how different are those monomers from one another?

Practice Questions for Topics 1 – 10 ANSWERS DENOTED with [ * ]  1. Of the following pairs of species from the conventional phylogenetic tree above, which are likely to  be the most different in their anatomy and/or behavior? a. 1, 5 *b. 5, 7 c. 1, 9 d. 2, 9 2. Chimps and gorillas are much more like one another than either is like humans. Phylogenetic analysis  and related approaches allow us to make a very specific statement about how this state of affairs arose.  Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of this statement? [Note that  “related” in the answers to this question refers to evolutionary relationships (think of a phylogenetic  tree), NOT genetic relatedness.] a. Chimps and gorillas are more closely related to one another than they are to humans;  therefore, our differences from them are largely due to the long time since we last had a common  ancestor with them.  b. Chimps, gorillas, and humans are all comparably closely related to one another, but the chimp  and gorilla lineages experienced new selection reshaping them into rain forest apes.  c. Gorillas are more closely related to us than they are to chimps, yet humans became very  different from both these other apes by evolving rapidly in a new direction. *d. Chimps are more closely related to us than they are to gorillas, yet humans became very  different from both these other apes by evolving rapidly in a new direction. 1 3. We forecast that almost all the unique properties of humans emerge directly from our adaptation to  our novel pattern of social cooperation. Which of the following is least likely to be an example of such a  product (or effect) of this process? a. Our high intelligence b. Our large brains c. Our language *d. Our bipedal gait 4. How many different monomers are used to build a protein molecule and how different are those  monomers from one another?  a. Proteins are built from twenty monomers whose chemical structures are generally very  similar. *b. Proteins are built from twenty monomers whose chemical structures are generally very  different. c. Proteins are built from four monomers whose chemical structures are generally very similar.  d. Proteins are built from four monomers whose chemical structures are generally very  different. 5. Catalysts are vital to the functioning of all organisms. Which of the following is the most accurate and  complete description of the collective effect of all catalysts in an organism? a. Biological catalysts dramatically accelerate all possible reactions, providing access to all  molecules necessary to the organism. *b. Biological catalysts dramatically accelerate the tiny subset of all possible reactions that is  adaptive to the survival and reproduction of the organism. c. Biological catalysts exclusively allow new chemical reactions that can never happen in the  absence of a catalyst, thereby permitting the unique chemistry of life.  d. Biological catalysts sometimes allow new chemical reactions that can never happen in the  absence of a catalyst, thereby permitting the unique chemistry of life. 6. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of the most fundamental  nature of all organisms on Earth? [Note that more than one answer may be a true statement without  being the correct answer.] a. Organisms are chemical systems containing catalysts that allow chemical reactions that  cannot occur in the non-biological world.  b. Organisms are chemical systems containing catalysts that accelerate very specific sets of  chemical reactions that also occur in the non-biological world. *c. Organisms are chemical systems built by design information and behaving as if their purpose  were to replicate that design information. d. Organisms are chemical systems that contain macromolecules specifically designed to allow  biological chemistry to avoid the constraints of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.2 7. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of how biological design  information is encoded in terrestrial organisms? a. Biological design information is encoded as linear combinatorial information using twenty  distinct individual coding elements. b. Biological design information is encoded in branched polymers using both monomer identity  and placement of branch points to encode information.  *c. Biological design information is encoded as linear combinatorial information using four  distinct individual coding elements. d. Biological design information is encoded in branched polymers whose complex folded  structure (rather than its sequence of monomers) expresses this information. 8. When an organism replicates its design information errors (mutations) rarely, but inevitably occur.  These errors create the variation in design information on which evolution by natural selection depends.  Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of why these errors occur in all  organisms?  a. A natural law, Newton’s Second Law, makes these errors inevitable.  b. Organisms evolve to generate these errors to assure that individuals can evolve. *c. A natural law, The Second Law of Thermodynamics, makes these errors inevitable.  d. Organisms evolve to generate these errors to assure that species can evolve. 9. The complex contemporary molecular machinery of organisms encodes genetic design information,  replicates that information, and expresses that information. Which of the following is currently believed  to be the most likely candidate for the single original ancestral molecule that ultimately generated this  complex machinery as a result of evolution by natural selection? a. DNA *b. RNA c. protein d. carbohydrate e. lipid 10. In rough, round numbers which of the following is closest to the ratio of the time since humans and  chimps last had a common ancestor divided by the time since poodles and wolves last had a common  ancestor? a. 0.006 b. 0.6 c. 6 *d. 600 e. 6,000,0003 11. Which of the following best describes the functional relationships between different genes  (different pieces of design information) in the genome of an animal like us? a. Individual genes are inherited in blocks corresponding to chromosomes over multiple  generations and, thus, cooperate to build vehicles that serve chromosomal interests.  b. Individual genes are inherited in blocks corresponding to haploid genomes over multiple  generations and, thus, cooperate to build vehicles that serve genomic interests.  c. Individual genes are inherited in blocks corresponding to the elements of molecular machines  over multiple generations and, thus, cooperate to serve the interests of these machines. *d. Individual genes are inherited separately over multiple generations and, thus, build the  vehicle to serve their own individual interests.  12. Which of the following best describes the origins of the majority of specific, highly adaptive  behaviors in non-human animals? a. Specific adaptive behaviors usually require extensive individual experience to form. b. Specific adaptive behaviors usually require extensive teaching by adults to form. *c. Specific adaptive behaviors are usually controlled in detail by genetic design information. d. Specific adaptive behaviors are usually controlled by the species’ shared cultural heritage. 13. Why don’t cuckoos (nest parasites) drive their target (prey) species, the reed warbler, to extinction  – or vice versa? [Which is the most accurate and complete description of the causal processes at work in  the two animals?] a. Warblers and cuckoos have evolved an optimal ratio in order to assure the survival of both  species.  *b. Vigilant warblers abandon potentially parasitized nests, sometimes losing clutches in the  process, but restraining cuckoo population size. As cuckoos become rare, vigilant warblers leave fewer  progeny, as cuckoos become common again, vigilant warblers leave more progeny. c. Warblers and cuckoos domesticated one another so that each can be thought of as the  managed domesticated animal of the other.  d. Vigilant warblers abandon potentially parasitized nests, allowing the local warbler population  to restrain the cuckoo population so that cuckoos are forced to move onto another, naïve warbler  population.  14. Adult male lions sometimes actively commit infanticide against very young lions. Which of the  following is the most accurate and complete description of the ultimate casual processes producing this  behavior?  a. The behavior of these males leads to selective killing of genetically less fit cubs, improving the  lion gene pool.  b. The behavior of these males lions results from the functioning of proximate psychological  devices designed to support survival of the lion species. c. The behavior of these males results from their inherently aggressive nature, in turn designed  to support survival of the lion species. *d. The behavior of these male lions leads to better replication of the design information controlling this behavior, whenever these lions are in competition with non-infanticidal males. 4 15. Suppose a cooperative behavior requires one member of a species to accept 1 unit of cost (risk,  energy invested, etc.) in order to generate 7 units of benefit for another member of the same species.  According to Hamilton’s Law (or Rule) which of the following pairs of individuals are most likely to  display this behavior? a. none *b. siblings c. first cousins d. second cousins 16. In a video clip in lecture we observed that an African bee eater mating pair lost its clutch. The male  member of the pair then turned to help the “Bee Team” nest rear its hatchings, while the female  member of the pair did not. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of  the ultimate causal logic of the difference in the behavior of the two members of this pair? a. Male bee eaters are more responsible colony members than females.  b. Male bee eaters are designed to be better parents than females. *c. This male bee eater was genetically related to the Bee Team, while the female was not.  d. This male bee eater had formed a friendship with Bee Team, while the female had not. 17. Non-human animals commit conspecific infanticide regularly (recall the lions, for example). Which  of the following is the most accurate and complete description of the corresponding behavior of humans  toward non-kin infants? a. Humans are much more likely to kill kin infants than non-kin infants, and rates relative to non human infanticide are culturally variable and unpredictable. b. Humans are just as likely, on a per capita basis, to kill non-kin infants as non-human animals  are.  *c. Humans are much more likely to kill non-kin infants than kin infants, but far less likely to kill  non-kin infants than non-human animals are.  d. Human infanticide rates are the result of culture, rather than kin-selected behavior and are,  thus, unpredictable and highly variable. 18. The large majority of human youngsters are raised by close kin (parents, older siblings, aunts,  grandmothers, etc.). Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of the  ultimate origins of this pattern of behavior? *a. This pattern is cross-culturally universal and results from the same form of natural selection  on human design information as that producing the corresponding non-human behaviors.  b. This pattern is cross-culturally universal and results from selection on human design  information to assure the survival of our species. c. This pattern is cross-culturally universal and results from our cognitive ability to recognize that  this pattern is the most beneficial to human youngsters.  d. This pattern is cross-culturally universal and results from our cognitive ability to recognize  that this pattern is the most beneficial to the survival of the species.5 19. Which of the following is MOST closely associated with the ultimate causation of a behavior? a. You drink to satisfy your thirst.  b. You eat to satisfy your hunger. c. You hunt to satisfy your hunger. *d. You mate to produce babies. 20. Given your understanding of the quantitative nature of genetic relatedness (r), which of the  following is the relatedness of half-siblings in a mammal like humans? a. 3.125% b. 12.5% c. 50% *d. 25% 21. We explored the phenomenon of genetic relatedness (r) that emerges from inheritance in a  population of sexually mating animals. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete  description of the impact of relatedness on social behavior and of the origin of that impact? a. Relatedness does not predict social cooperation because non-human animals lack the  cognitive capacity to recognize cues of relatedness.  b. Relatedness does not predict social cooperation because the needs of the species outweigh  the needs of local family units.  c. Relatedness predicts social cooperation because all other influences on behavior (other than  genes) are inherently random. *d. Relatedness predicts social cooperation because genes are predominant controllers of non human animal social behavior.  22. Non-human animal social behavior taught us a number of essential lessons. One such lesson arises  from considering “flocking” (birds) or “schooling” (fish). Which of the following best describes the  evolutionary logic of these social entities? *a. Schools and flocks are collections of non-kin individuals exploiting one another. b. Schools and flocks are collections of non-kin individuals cooperating with one another. c. Schools and flocks are collections of close kin individuals exploiting one another. d. Schools and flocks are collections of close kin individuals cooperating with one another. 23. The evolutionary logic of large-colony hymenoptera (honey bees and social ants) had a very  interesting and important lesson to teach us. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete  description of why worker bees raise their brothers year after year in a bee hive? a. They raise their brothers because they are not biologically capable of producing other males  who are more closely related to them. *b. Their opportunity to raise other males more closely related to them is closed off by the  threat of coercive violence from their sisters. c. They raise their brothers because they are fully sterile workers who cannot produce any  alternative class of more closely related males. d. Their opportunity to raise other males more closely related to them is avoided because it  would not be in the collective interests of the hive.6 24. Empirically, humans are unique in a number of very diverse ways. However, theoretical and  empirical evidence indicates that there is a single initial, ultimate cause of all the different features of  our uniqueness. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of this original  cause of our uniqueness? a. We are the first animals to acquire the capacity to understand the need to coercively police  the conflict of interest problem. b. We are the first animals to acquire the capacity to understand the enormous benefits of  kinship-independent social cooperation. *c. We are the first animals to acquire the capacity to police social cooperation through  projecting coercive threat against conspecific adults at a substantial distance and with elite skill. d. We are the first animals to acquire the capacity to understand the difference between right  and wrong, to evolve an ethical sense. 25. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of the forces behind the  evolution of uniquely human social behavior? a. Vastly expanded social cooperation results when natural selection produces a robust ethical  psychology. b. Vastly expanded social cooperation results when natural selection produces the extremely  high intelligence necessary to close off the self-interested acts of others. *c. Vastly expanded social cooperation results when more narrowly self-interested adaptive  strategies are closed off by the coercive actions of self-interested others. d. Vastly expanded social cooperation results when animals have evolved to a sufficiently high  level or status to understand the adaptive value of such cooperation. 26. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of the process of fossil  formation in a human ancestor? a. Bone atomic components are immediately removed, leaving a stone-like bone remnant. b. Bone is encased in sandy soil (ultimately rock) preserving the original structure intact.  *c. Bone atomic components are gradually partially replaced, producing a stone-like bone  replica. d. Bone is encased in clay soil (ultimately rock) preserving the original structure intact. 27. It is important to gain as much information as possible from fossils about how our ancestors looked  and behaved. However, this information can only be fully useful if we can also determine when these  ancestors lived. Which of the following best describes how we can determine the relative and absolute  ages of potential human ancestors from their fossils as discussed in lecture? a. Relative ages of ancestral fossils can be determined by their positions in relation to nearby  fossils of other animals and absolute ages by examining chemical changes in the bones themselves. *b. Relative ages of ancestral fossils can be determined by their positions in a sequence of  sedimentary deposits and absolute ages by their positions relative to occasional volcanic ash deposits.  c. Relative ages of ancestral fossils can be determined by their positions in a sequence of  evolutionary changes and absolute ages by examining physical changes in the bones themselves. d. Relative ages of ancestral fossils can be determined by their positions in a sequence of  evolutionary changes and absolute ages by their positions in a sequence of sedimentary deposits.7 28. Using the various tools of paleontology and/or paleoarchaeology, we were able to reliably date the  evolutionary emergence of uniquely human social cooperation (what we have called the human  “village”). Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of how we did this? a. Dating archaeological remains of buildings in the first human village settlements.  *b. Dating brain expansion whose development requires the social support of the human village. c. Dating skeletal changes involved in the evolution of elite throwing.  d. Dating archaeological and fossil remains of early cooperative hunting activities.  29. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete description of one of the lessons we drew  from the archer fish? *a. Projection of threat from a distance requires wholesale redesign of body components.  b. Projection of threat from a distance is a simple and readily evolved property.  c. Projection of threat from a distance is too complex to evolve in non-human animals.  d. Projection of threat from a distance in any form is always sufficient to allow expanded social  cooperation. 30. Which of the following is an example of a skeletal change associated with the evolution of elite  aimed throwing in the human lineage? a. contraction of the pelvis along the front to back dimension b. reconfiguration of the shoulder joint to allow the arm to better project upward c. movement of the peroneus longus muscle attachment to the second metatarsal bone *d. expansion of apical tufts on the fingertip bones 31. Which of the following is not a muscle attached to the pelvis and implicated in elite aimed throwing  in the human lineage? *a. dorsal interosseous b. gluteus maximus  c. internal obliques d. tensor fasciae latae e. latissimus dorsi 32. Taking into account all available paleoanthropological and paleoarchaeological evidence, which of  the following is the most likely conclusion about the timing of the evolution of elite throw in the human  lineage? a. Elite throwing in the human lineage first evolved long after human brain expansion.  b. Elite throwing in the human lineage first evolved sometime between 1.0 and 0.5 million years  ago. c. Elite throwing in the human lineage first evolved long before human brain expansion.  *d. Elite throwing in the human lineage first evolved sometime between 2.5 and 1.8 million years ago.  33. Which of the following best describes the fundamental constraints on animal (human and non human) brain size? a. Animals grow the largest brain whose development can be supported. b. Animals grow the largest brain that is possible, given historical constraints on development. c. Animals grow the largest brain that is developmentally possible, given body structure. *d. Animals grow the largest brain that is adaptive and whose development can be supported.8