Which of the following clades is most likely to survive a series of catastrophic events over time? (1 point)
a. a clade with a few closely related and similar species.
b. a clade with a few distantly related and diverse species.
c. a clade with many closely related and similar species.
d. a clade with many distantly related and diverse species.

2. in the past, mass extinctions encouraged the rapid evolution of surviving species (1 point)
a. by changing developmental genes.
b. by making new habitats available to them.
c. because they killed all organisms that had coevolved.
d. because they spared all organisms that had evolved convergently.

3. the australian flying phalanger is a marsupial flying squirrel.
its appearance, behavior, environment, and diet closely resemble those of the american flying squirrel, a placental mammal. this resemblance is most likely due to (1 point)
a. adaptive radiation.
b. convergent evolution.
c. coevolution.
d. gradualism.

4. gradualism is a pattern of evolution in which (1 point)
a. a single species evolves into several closely related species.
b. several distantly related species develop similarities.
c. a species evolves at a slow, steady pace.
d. a species has periods of little evolution interrupted by periods of rapid evolution.

5. mass extinction would most likely result from which of the following events? (1 point)
a. a disease kills off a single species of predator within an ecosystem.
b. a wildfire burns a national park.
c. global temperatures drop several degrees after several massive volcanic eruptions.
d. a massive earthquake strikes north america.

The correct options are as follows:
1. D.
A clade refers to a group of organisms that are made up of evolutionary descendants that originated from a common ancestor. A clade that will survive a series of catastrophic events must be one that is made up of distantly related and diverse species. This is because, those species will have different type of adaptability capacity and will be able to adapt in different ways to the catastrophic events. Due to the differences in their ability to adapt, some of the specie will survive the catastrophic events even if others are wipe out.

2. B.
The mass extinction of one specie usually creates space for another new specie to survive. The new specie that survive the old one may possess the ability to adapt to the event that wipe out the former set of living organisms and thus, the new specie will be able to occupy and reproduce in their new space. Mass extinction is said to occur when the whole population of living organism living in an ecosystem are wipe out as a result of unfavorable conditions.

3. B.
Convergent evolution refers to the independent evolution of similar features in species that arise from different lineages. The species involved usually evolve these traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments. Convergent evolution usually result in evolution of analogous structures, that is, structures that have similar forms or functions but which are not present in the last common ancestors of the species.

4. C.
 In evolution, gradualism refers to theory that states that evolution occurs slowly and gradually, thus, large changes in evolution are actually product of small changes that occur over a long period of time. The theory of gradualism was originally proposed by James Hutton in 1795.

 5. C.
Mass extinction refers to the wiping out of a a large number of species within a very short time. Mass extinction can occur as a result of severe unfavorable conditions that all the species in an ecosystem can not adapt to. An instance of this is a drastic decrease in global temperature after several massive volcanic eruptions.