Which of the followong is a FALSE statement about the rate of evolution?

Question

a. some living things have evolved gradually.
b. some living things appear to have evolved rapidly, as described by the model of punctuated equilibrium.
c. the rate of evolution within one group can reflect both gradualism and punctuated equilibrium during different tme periods.
d. Eventually, science will determine that either punctuated equilibrium or gradualism, but not both, occurred.

Answer 1

The answer is D ... it is not an either-or choice between punc. eq. and gradualism ... they both co-exist. In fact, each can be thought of as a special case of the other (punc. eq. is certainly gradualistic with a given timeframe ... and gradualism can be thought of as one phase (the equilibrium phase) of punc. eq.)

However, I like zachyaz's answer ... he arrived at the correct answer based entirely on the logical implications of the four choices ... i.e. it did not require any understanding of the biology or the terminology at all. Very nice.

Answer 2

It think its 'C'. Punctuated equilibrium happens when a subgroup of a species moves to a new environment and evolves more rapidly than the other group. So one group can't reflect both gradualism and PE.

Answer 3

D. is the answer

Punctuated equilibrium just means that sometimes a species may go for a long time without many changes, then change a lot over a short period. Usually if the environment is unchanging then there would not be as much selective pressure to change, and then if the environment changes then the animals will have to change to survive.

Answer 4

D is false. It is the only one that is singly exclusive. If D is true, then at least two of the others would have to be false.

Answer 5

I think D is the false statement. The other three answers are all true.