The biologist Theodosius Dobszhansky once said, “Nothing in biology makes any sense except in the light of evolution.” Now, old Theodosius never had to take the SAT II Biology test, but if he had, he probably would have been quite pleased about the many questions the SAT II asks about evolution and the diversity of species. About 15 percent of the questions in the core of the SAT II Biology E/M test evolution or diversity in some way, and the E and M sections cover ecology and molecular biology, respectively, in the context of evolution.

But there is good news: evolution is not such a difficult concept. In fact, its beauty is that it is such an elegant, simple theory. And getting a handle on the classification of the species is largely a matter of memorization.