Quiz: On the Origin of Species

14 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. 1. Which work quotes Darwin’s comparison of a variable organ with a knife that cuts all sorts of things?

   Engels’s Ludwig Feuerbach Marx’s Capital, Volume I Hegel’s Philosophy of History Lenin’s Imperialism
2. 2. Why does Darwin think so many Madeira beetles are wingless?

   The beetles were created wingless, suited from the first to the island Beetles that flew were blown out to sea, so poor fliers survived Wings were lost through repeated injury, and the injury was then inherited The island had no plants worth flying to
3. 3. Whose doctrine does Darwin say the struggle for existence applies to all plants and animals?

   Malthus Herbert Spencer Lamarck Adam Smith
4. 4. How does Darwin describe the role of natural selection at the end of the Introduction?

   The only means of modification The main but not exclusive means of modification A minor cause beside the action of climate A hypothesis he does not yet believe
5. 5. How does Darwin explain “unity of type”, the shared plan of organisms in the same class?

   By a plan in the mind of the Creator By the direct action of climate By the conditions of existence alone By common descent
6. 6. How does Darwin explain occasional stripes on horses and asses?

   Reversion to a striped common ancestor of the horse genus Recent crossing with zebras The direct effect of a hot climate Separate creation of each species with a tendency to stripes
7. 7. With what image does Darwin end the chapter on natural selection?

   A branching river A ladder of nature A web of relations The great Tree of Life
8. 8. What did Darwin’s experiment with a duck’s feet in an aquarium show?

   Duckweed seeds stick to them but die within an hour of leaving the water Newborn snails cling to them and survive hours out of water Fish eggs cling to them and hatch after being carried to another pond Snails refuse to cling to them at all, so ducks can never carry shellfish to another pond
9. 9. What analogy does Darwin use to explain why crossing between species follows erratic rules?

   Breeding pigeons Grafting one tree on another Translating languages Mixing two colours of paint
10. 10. How does Darwin explain the extinction of species in general?

    Worldwide catastrophes recurring at long intervals Changes in the ocean currents and the climate A fixed natural lifespan for every species, as for each individual Gradual supplanting by improved forms
11. 11. What does Darwin identify as the driving advantage behind the evolution of the hive-bee’s comb?

    Protecting the larvae from cold through the winter Saving wax, and so honey Making the hive harder for predators to enter Pleasing the queen and keeping her in the hive
12. 12. On what does sexual selection depend, according to Darwin?

    The choices of human breeders A struggle against the physical conditions of life The direct effect of food on the reproductive system A struggle between the males for possession of the females
13. 13. What is Darwin’s view of the sterility of crosses between species?

    It is a by-product of other differences, chiefly in the reproductive system It does not exist It was created to keep species apart It was built up by natural selection because it benefits the hybrids
14. 14. What is the last word of the first edition?

    Evolved Life Creator Selection