Geologic Time
Practice Test
1.
What does the name
trilobite
mean?
a.
three eyes
b.
three lobes
c.
three brains
d.
three legs
Hint
2.
Which of the following is an example of how a new species can develop in nature?
a.
Two different species develop in such a way that they look the same.
b.
A scientist in a laboratory develops a new species.
c.
A dog breeder makes a new breed of dog that looks different from all the others.
d.
A group becomes separated and they evolve until they cannot interbreed with the original population.
Hint
3.
What is NOT a characteristic of mammals?
a.
warm-blooded
b.
produce milk to feed young
c.
cold-blooded
d.
hair or fur
Hint
4.
When did Pangaea break up?
a.
in Archean time
b.
in the Cenozoic Era
c.
in Precambrian time
d.
in the Mesozoic Era
Hint
5.
What was Pangaea?
a.
a geologic era
b.
a large, single landmass
c.
the original name for North America
d.
a type of trilobite
Hint
6.
During the first billion years of Earth's history, ___________.
a.
vertebrates evolved
b.
there was life everywhere
c.
there was no life
d.
trilobites evolved
Hint
7.
Order the divisions of geologic time from the longest to the shortest.
a.
eons, epochs, eras, periods
b.
periods, epochs, eras, eons
c.
epochs, periods, eras, eons
d.
eons, eras, periods, epochs
Hint
8.
How did trilobite eyes develop?
a.
They developed into many different forms over millions of years.
b.
They all developed without eyes.
c.
They all had complex eye structures.
d.
They developed the same way for all species.
Hint
9.
What occurs at the end of a geologic era?
a.
a mountain-building event
b.
a comet hitting Earth
c.
an extinction
d.
a flood
Hint
10.
A German shepherd and a Chihuahua look different, but they can interbreed. They are __________.
a.
products of natural selection
b.
proof for evolution
c.
from different species
d.
from the same species
Hint
11.
What is an example of an index fossil?
a.
humans
b.
jellyfish
c.
Tyrannosaurus rex
d.
trilobites
Hint
12.
Which of the following is a species common during the Paleozoic Era?
a.
Homo sapiens
b.
dinosaurs
c.
Ediacara life-forms
d.
trilobites
Hint
13.
The Appalachian Mountains, an old mountain range, was formed during what era?
a.
Cenozoic
b.
Paleozoic
c.
Mesozoic
d.
Precambrian
Hint
14.
The longest section of Earth's history was __________.
a.
Cretaceous period
b.
Cenozoic Era
c.
Precambrian time
d.
Paleozoic Era
Hint
15.
Which of the following is an example of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection?
a.
Native Americans do not kill an albino animal because it is thought to be bad luck.
b.
Insects that blend into trees survive because they are not seen, and thus not eaten, by birds.
c.
A breeder of cats specifically chooses cats to breed that have long, white fur.
d.
Giraffes that stretch their necks have necks that grow longer.
Hint
16.
Two organisms look alike but they do not interbreed naturally. They are __________.
a.
extinct
b.
from the same species
c.
from different species
d.
both mammals
Hint
17.
What geologic era do you live in?
a.
Paleozoic
b.
Mesozoic
c.
Precambrian
d.
Cenozoic
Hint
18.
What types of animals dominate the Cenozoic Era?
a.
reptiles
b.
trilobites
c.
dinosaurs
d.
mammals
Hint
19.
__________ are ancestors of reptiles.
a.
Birds
b.
Dinosaurs
c.
Amphibians
d.
Mammals
Hint
20.
Where did the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere come from originally?
a.
from cyanobacteria
b.
from plants
c.
from animals
d.
from rocks
Hint
