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Question 01

Why are population genetics and quantitative genetics important for the understanding of evolution?

a) Because they provide a quantitative description of change in the genetic composition of populations, which is the basic element of evolutionary change.

b) Because evolution can only be understood if the genetic changes underlying evolutionary change are completely known.

Question 02

The commonest types of life cycle are:

a) sexual haploids and asexual diploids.

b) asexual haploids and sexual haploids.

c) asexual haploids and sexual diploids.

d) sexual haploids and sexual diploids.

Question 03

The spread of an advantageous allele in a population is characterized by:

a) slow change when the allele is rare, and increasingly rapid change as the allele becomes more common.

b) fast change when the allele is rare, and a slowing down of the rate of change when the allele becomes more common.

c) a constant rate of change, independent of the frequency of the allele.

d) slow change when the allele is rare, rapid change at intermediate frequencies, and again slow change when the allele is common.

Question 04

The degree of dominance of an advantageous allele affects the rate of spread of the allele in which one of the following ways?

a) A dominant allele spreads faster than a recessive allele when it is rare and slower when it is common.

b) The level of dominance has no effect on the rate of spread of an advantageous allele.

c) A recessive allele spreads faster than a dominant allele when it is rare and slower when it is common.

d) A dominant allele spreads faster than a recessive allele at all allele frequencies.

Question 05

What is the effect of the ploidy level on the rate of change of an advantageous allele?

a) The rate of spread is generally faster in a diploid than in a haploid population.

b) The rate of spread is generally faster in a haploid than in a diploid population.

c) The rate of spread is the same in haploid and diploid populations.

Question 06

What is the main effect of sexual (as opposed to asexual) reproduction on the spread of an advantageous allele?

a) It accelerates the spread of the allele.

b) It slows down the spread of the allele.

c) It produces novel recombinant genotypes in which the allele is combined with different alleles at other loci than it was before in the parents.

Question 07

What is meant with the expression "the fitness of an allele" ?

a) A quantification of how well the allele functions as compared to an alternative allele.

b) A quantification of the average reproductive success of individuals carrying this allele as compared to an alternative allele.

c) A quantification of how fast the allele is expected to increase or decrease in relative frequency in the population.

Question 08

What is the meaning of the concept of inclusive fitness of an allele?

a) It includes not just the reproductive success of an individual (called A) carrying the allele, but also increases in reproductive success of others carrying the same allele that result from behavior of A.

b) It includes not just the reproductive success of an individual (called A) carrying the allele, but also the reproductive success of the offspring of A.

Question 09

The basic model of quantitative genetics makes what assumption?

a) That traits are affected by many genes of similar effect and that the observed phenotype of a trait is the sum of genetic and environmental effects.

b) That traits are affected by many genes of similar effect and that the observed phenotype of a trait is the product of genetic and environmental effects.

c) That traits are affected by a single gene and that the observed phenotype of a trait is the sum of genetic and environmental effects.

d) That traits are affected by a single gene and that the observed phenotype of a trait is the product of genetic and environmental effects.

Question 10

What is the meaning of additive genetic variance?

a) The additive genetic variance is the variance of those genetic effects which can actually be transmitted from parent to offspring.

b) The additive genetic variance is the sum of the genetic variances of several traits together.

Question 11

Which traits tend to have lower heritabilities: those strongly correlated with reproduction or morphological traits?

a) Fitness-related traits have on average lower heritabilities than morphological traits.

b) Morphological traits have on average lower heritabilities than fitness-related traits.

Question 12

A heritability of body weight of 0.4 means that body weight is determined for 40% by genetic factors and for 60% by environmental factors. True or false?

a) True

b) False

Question 13

The rates of long-term evolutionary change estimated from the fossil record differ from rates of change observed in artificial selection experiments. Which of the following statements is true?

a) The rate of change estimated from the fossil record is faster than the rate of change observed in artificial selection experiments.

b) The rate of change estimated from the fossil record is slower than the rate of change observed in artificial selection experiments.

Question 14

In the study of quantitative traits, the genes underlying the observed trait variation are unknown. True or false?