Chapter 30-33 Practice Test

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. A cladogram shows that all chordates evolved from
A. tunicates and lancelets.
B. dinosaur ancestors.
C. fishes.
D. a common ancestor.
2. Pikaia was an early
A. worm.
B. fish.
C. chordate.
D. lancelet.
3. A flexible, supporting structure found only in chordates is the
A. nerve net.
B. notochord.
C. pharyngeal slits.
D. dorsal fin.
4. Vertebrae are characteristic of
A. worms.
B. all chordates.
C. vertebrates only.
D. reptiles only.
5. Which of the following animals is NOT a nonvertebrate chordate?
A. Pikaia
B. worm
C. lancelet
D. tunicate
6. Which of the following pairs of modern chordate groups contains the most closely related groups?
A. hagfishes and lungfishes
B. lampreys and ray-finned fishes
C. birds and crocodilians
D. sharks and the coelacanth
7. Convergent evolution is the process that produces
A. species that are similar in appearance and behavior but not closely related.
B. unrelated species that are different in appearance and behavior.
C. closely related species that are similar in appearance and behavior.
D. closely related species that are different in appearance and behavior.
8. The sugar glider is an Australian marsupial. The eastern flying squirrel is a North American placental
mammal. Both animals are nocturnal, live in trees, and can glide through the air using a flap of skin that

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 stretches between the legs on each side of the body. The resemblance between these two animals is an
example of
A. oviparous development.
B. ectothermy.
C. chordate diversity.
D. convergent evolution.
9. A rapid growth in the diversity of a group of organisms as they adapt to new conditions is called a(an)
A. cladogram.
B. ecological condition.
C. adaptive radiation.
D. evolutionary history.
10. The largest living group of chordates is the
A. amphibians.
B. fishes.
C. mammals.
D. birds.
11. Compared with the number of extinct chordate species, the number of living chordate species is
A. much larger.
B. slightly larger.
C. the same.
D. much smaller.
12. Essential life functions are carried out most efficiently when an animal’s internal body temperature is
A. insulated.
B. regulated by the environment.
C. the same as its external temperature.
D. within a particular “operating range.”
13. In vertebrates, each of the following is important in regulating body temperature EXCEPT a
A. source of heat.
B. way of conserving heat.
C. long digestive tract.
D. method of eliminating heat.
14. Suppose a terrestrial vertebrate has an optimal body temperature of 37°C but lives in an environment where
the air temperature is 40°C. Which of the following is the most important requirement for that vertebrate to
control its body temperature?
A. conserving body heat
B. eliminating excess body heat
C. maintaining a high, steady production of body heat
D. absorbing heat easily from its environment
15. Which of the following help mammals retain body heat?
A. hair and sweat glands
B. hair and body fat
C. bones and sweat glands
D. bones and body fat
16. Panting is a behavior that is seen most often in
A. endotherms that need to cool down.
B. endotherms that need to warm up.

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 C. ectotherms that need to warm up.
D. ectotherms that are at their ideal body temperature.
17. If each of the following vertebrates had a body temperature of 37°C and was placed in a cage where the air
temperature was 30°C, which vertebrate would have the lowest rate of heat exchange with the air?
A. a hamster
B. a lizard
C. a frog
D. a snake
18. The main difference between ectotherms and endotherms is
A. the source of their body heat.
B. how they obtain food to provide for their metabolism.
C. whether they control their body temperature.
D. whether they conserve or eliminate body heat.
19. Filter feeders include all of the following EXCEPT
A. lancelets.
B. flamingoes.
C. crocodiles.
D. baleen whales.
20. Raccoons are omnivores, which means that they eat both meat and plant material. If you compared the
digestive tract of a raccoon with that of a similar-sized herbivore and a similar-sized carnivore, the raccoon’s
digestive tract would most likely
A. be the shortest of the three.
B. be the longest of the three.
C. have a length intermediate between the herbivore and the carnivore.
D. be the same length as the other two.
21. Colonies of bacteria in the intestines of a cow are helpful in
A. digesting cellulose fibers.
B. producing enzymes that digest meat.
C. straining plankton from water.
D. tearing and slicing food.
22. Which of the following vertebrates has a heart with four chambers?
A. a salamander
B. a lizard
C. a goldfish
D. a cow
23. What is the general rule regarding respiratory organs in chordates?
A. Aquatic chordates use lungs, and land vertebrates use gills.
B. Aquatic chordates use lungs and gills, and land vertebrates use gills.
C. Aquatic chordates use gills, and land vertebrates use lungs.
D. Aquatic chordates use gills, and land vertebrates use lungs and gills.
24. Chordate respiratory structures include all of the following EXCEPT
A. simple air sacs.
B. the medulla oblongata.
C. the surface of the skin.
D. the lining of the mouth.

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25. When a fish respires, water flows in through which of the following patterns?
A. in through the gill slits, over the gill filaments, and out through the mouth
B. in through the gill filaments, over the gill slits, and out through the mouth
C. in through the mouth, over the gill slits, and out through the gill filaments
D. in through the mouth, over the gill filaments, and out through the gill slits
26. Which of the following happens in the alveoli?
A. Oxygen diffuses into the blood, and carbon dioxide diffuses into the air.
B. Carbon dioxide diffuses into the blood, and oxygen diffuses into the air.
C. Both oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse into the blood.
D. Both oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse into the air.
27. The main difference between an amphibian lung and a reptilian lung is that
A. an amphibian lung has a greater surface area for gas exchange.
B. a reptilian lung has a greater surface area for gas exchange.
C. an amphibian lung contains thousands of alveoli, but a reptilian lung does not.
D. a reptilian lung is connected to air sacs, but an amphibian lung is not.
28. The most efficient vertebrate lungs are found in
A. amphibians.
B. reptiles.
C. birds.
D. mammals.
29. Adult frogs breathe by using all of the following EXCEPT
A. their gills.
B. their moist skin.
C. their lungs.
D. the lining of their mouth and pharynx.
30. In a single-loop circulatory system, the atrium
A. receives the blood from the body.
B. pumps blood to the gills.
C. pumps blood to the lungs.
D. pumps blood throughout the entire body.
31. A single-loop circulatory system is characteristic of
A. fishes.
B. amphibians.
C. most reptiles.
D. crocodilians.
32. If a vertebrate has a circulatory system that carries oxygen-rich blood directly from the heart to the muscles,
that vertebrate could be a
A. bony fish.
B. cartilaginous fish.
C. larval amphibian.
D. mammal.
33. The heart of a fish has
A. one atrium and one ventricle.
B. one atrium and two ventricles.
C. two atria and one ventricle.

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 D. two atria and two ventricles.
34. Ammonia is excreted by all of the following EXCEPT
A. larval amphibians.
B. tunicates.
C. most reptiles.
D. most fishes.
35. Animal X excretes nitrogenous wastes as uric acid and has a well-developed cerebrum. Animal X is a
A. cartilaginous fish.
B. crocodilian.
C. mammal.
D. bird.
36. In tunicates, some nitrogenous wastes leave the body in the form of
A. urea.
B. ammonia.
C. uric acid.
D. protein.
37. Suppose a mammal is born with a defect in its medulla oblongata. Which of the following functions is most
likely to be affected?
A. ability to detect odors
B. ability to analyze objects by sight
C. control of the lungs, heart, or digestive tract
D. conscious thought
38. The simplest chordates that have cephalization as adults are
A. lancelets.
B. fishes.
C. amphibians.
D. reptiles.
39. All chordates have
A. a bony skeleton.
B. pharyngeal pouches.
C. a backbone.
D. fin girdles or limb girdles.
40. When a fish swims by bending its body and tail from side to side, the swimming movement is produced
mainly by the contraction of muscles located in
A. limbs that stick out sideways from the body.
B. limbs that are attached straight under the body.
C. a siphon through which water leaves the body.
D. blocks on either side of the backbone.
41. A function of ligaments in a backbone is to
A. generate forward thrust during swimming.
B. keep the backbone straight and rigid.
C. connect the vertebrae.
D. make the body bend back and forth.
42. The sets of bones that support the limbs of vertebrates are called
A. opercula.

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 B. limb girdles.
C. ligaments.
D. vertebrae.
43. Sexual reproduction occurs in
A. fishes.
B. amphibians.
C. mammals.
D. all of the above
44. Embryos obtain nutrients from the yolk inside the egg in
A. oviparous and ovoviviparous animals.
B. viviparous and ovoviviparous animals.
C. viviparous and oviparous animals.
D. viviparous animals only.
45. Reproduction in most mammals involves
A. internal fertilization and ovoviviparous development.
B. internal fertilization and viviparous development.
C. external fertilization and oviparous development.
D. external fertilization and either oviparous or ovoviviparous development.

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