NCEA Level 3 Biology – Human Evolution (AS91606) Practice Exam

Environmental pressures are crucial drivers of evolutionary change in humans and other organisms because they influence which traits are favored for survival and reproduction. When certain environmental conditions present challenges—be it changes in climate, availability of resources, or predation—individuals with advantageous traits that enhance their ability to cope with these challenges are more likely to survive and reproduce. This process, known as natural selection, results in those favorable traits becoming more common in the population over generations.

For instance, in response to varying environmental conditions, traits such as increased intelligence, social behavior, or physical adaptations may have been selected for in early humans, leading to the development of characteristics that define our species today. Through this lens, environmental pressures do not hinder adaptation but rather promote it by shaping the evolutionary trajectory of human populations.

In contrast, other choices do not accurately reflect the role of environmental pressures in evolution. For example, maintaining the status quo or claiming that environmental pressures have no impact on genetic traits contradicts the observable evidence from evolutionary biology, which shows that species continually adapt in response to shifting environments.