80 Evolution Trivia Questions with Answers
80 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
What is the name of the long-term evolution experiment with E. coli that has been running since 1988?
Answer
Lenski's experiment
Which living reptiles are the closest living relatives of birds?
Answer
crocodilians
Which mass extinction event is known as the 'Great Dying' and occurred about 252 million years ago?
Answer
Permian-Triassic extinction
What term describes structures in different species that are similar due to common ancestry?
Answer
homologous structures
What is the name of the first known bird, which lived during the Jurassic period?
Answer
Archaeopteryx
Which scientist proposed natural selection independently of Charles Darwin?
Answer
Alfred Russel Wallace
Which dinosaur was the first to be scientifically named, in 1824?
Answer
Megalosaurus
What term describes the transfer of genetic material between different species, common in bacteria?
Answer
Horizontal gene transfer
What type of selection occurs when individuals with intermediate phenotypes have higher fitness?
Answer
Stabilizing selection
What is the closest living relative to the hippopotamus?
Answer
Cetaceans
Which mass extinction event marked the end of the non-avian dinosaurs?
Answer
Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction
Which early human ancestor species is represented by the fossil skeleton 'Lucy'?
Answer
Australopithecus afarensis
What is the term for a body part that has lost its original function through evolution?
Answer
Vestigial organ
What is the name for the gradual change in species over time?
Answer
Evolution
Which islands did Charles Darwin visit that greatly influenced his theory of evolution?
Answer
Galapagos Islands
What are the preserved remains of ancient organisms called?
Answer
Fossils
Who is known as the father of evolutionary biology?
Answer
Charles Darwin