Animal Evolutionary Developmental Genetics MCQs January 8, 2026April 6, 2024 by u930973931_answers 20 min Score: 0 Attempted: 0/20 Subscribe 1. What does the field of evolutionary developmental genetics study? (A) The genetic basis of developmental processes in animals (B) The evolution of genetic mutations (C) The inheritance of acquired traits (D) The genetics of population ecology 2. Which famous biologist proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection? (A) Alfred Russel Wallace (B) Gregor Mendel (C) Charles Darwin (D) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck 3. Which term refers to the study of the formation and development of organisms? (A) Developmental biology (B) Evolutionary biology (C) Molecular genetics (D) Comparative anatomy 4. What is the term for the study of the expression of genes across different developmental stages? (A) Transcriptomics (B) Developmental genetics (C) Genomics (D) Epigenetics 5. Which of the following is NOT a key model organism commonly used in developmental genetics research? (A) Drosophila melanogaster (B) Caenorhabditis elegans (C) Arabidopsis thaliana (D) Streptococcus pyogenes 6. What is the name of the genetic phenomenon where the expression of one gene affects the expression of another gene? (A) Epigenetics (B) Gene linkage (C) Pleiotropy (D) Genetic drift 7. Which type of gene codes for proteins that control the development of body parts and the overall body plan of an organism? (A) Structural genes (B) Junk genes (C) Housekeeping genes (D) Regulatory genes 8. What is the term for a mutation that causes a body part to appear in the wrong location? (A) Anteriorization (B) Posteriorization (C) Homeosis (D) Morphogenesis 9. Which developmental process involves the programmed death of cells during development? (A) Apoptosis (B) Mitosis (C) Meiosis (D) Differentiation 10. What is the name of the process by which cells become specialized for particular functions during development? (A) Dedifferentiation (B) Differentiation (C) Determination (D) Induction 11. Which of the following is NOT a major signaling pathway involved in animal development? (A) Photosynthesis signaling (B) Notch signaling (C) Hedgehog signaling (D) Wnt signaling 12. What is the name of the signaling molecule responsible for initiating the formation of the anterior-posterior axis in fruit flies? (A) Sonic hedgehog (B) Bicoid (C) Decapentaplegic (D) Wingless 13. Which of the following is a key developmental gene involved in specifying the dorsal-ventral axis in fruit flies? (A) Bicoid (B) Decapentaplegic (C) Toll (D) Wingless 14. Which term refers to the evolutionary conservation of genes and developmental processes across different species? (A) Genetic drift (B) Convergence (C) Homology (D) Divergence 15. What is the term for the phenomenon where similar environmental pressures lead to similar adaptations in unrelated species? (A) Divergent evolution (B) Convergent evolution (C) Parallel evolution (D) Coevolution 16. What is the name of the process where an organism’s genetic makeup interacts with environmental factors to produce its phenotype? (A) Epigenetics (B) Genomics (C) Genetic drift (D) Phenotypic plasticity 17. Which of the following is NOT a mechanism of evolutionary change in populations? (A) Teleportation (B) Genetic drift (C) Mutation (D) Natural selection 18. What is the term for a change in the frequency of alleles in a population over time? (A) Genetic drift (B) Evolution (C) Mutation (D) Gene flow 19. Which evolutionary process occurs when individuals with certain heritable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce? (A) Natural selection (B) Genetic drift (C) Mutation (D) Gene flow 20. What is the term for the movement of genes between populations? (A) Gene flow (B) Natural selection (C) Mutation (D) Genetic drift