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Flashcards in Evolution Test Deck (50)
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1
Q

What did Hutton and Lyell help scientists recognize?

A

that Earth is many millions of years old, and the processes that changed Earth in the past are the same processes that operate in the present.

2
Q

James Hutton

A

proposes that Earth is shaped by geological forces that took place over extremely long periods of time. He estimates Earth to be millions of years old.

3
Q

Thomas Malthus

A

In his essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus predicts that the human population will grow faster than the food and space needed to sustain it.

4
Q

Jean-Baptiste Lamarack

A

Lamarack publishes his hypotheses of the inheritance of acquired traits. The ideas are flawed, but he is one of the first to propose a mechanism explaining how organisms change over time.

5
Q

Charles Darwin

A

Darwin sets sail on the H.M.S Beagle, voyage that will provide him with vast amounts of evidence leading to his theory of evolution

6
Q

Charles Lyell

A

In the second and final volume of Principles of Geology, Lyell explains that processes occuring now have shaped Earth’s geological features over long periods of time.

7
Q

Aldred Wallace

A

Wallace writes to Darwin, speculating on evolution by natural selection, based on his studies of the distribution of plants and animals.

8
Q

Where did Darwin publish his ideas?

A

in his book On the Origin of Species

9
Q

What did Lamarack propose?

A

that by selective use or disuse of organs, organisms acquired or lost certain traits during their lifetime. These traits could then be passed on to their offspring. Over time, this process led to change in a species.

10
Q

What did Malthus reason?

A

if the human population continued to grow unchecked, sooner or later there would be insufficient living space and food for everyone.
-he noticed that the only forces that worked against this wee war, famine, and disease.

11
Q

What is artificial selection?

A

nature provided the variation, and humans selected those variations that they found useful.

12
Q

struggle for existence

A

means that members of each species compete regularly to obtain food, living space, and other necessities for life.

13
Q

fitness

A

the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce in its specific environment,

14
Q

adaption

A

any inherited charcteristic that increases an organism’s chance of survival.

15
Q

survival of the fittest

A

Individuals with characteristics that are notttt well suited to their environment-that is, with lower levels of fitness-either die or leave few offspring. Individuals that are better suited to their environment- that is, with adaptions that enable fitness-survive and reproduce more successfully.

16
Q

What does natural selection result in?

A

in changes in the inherited characteristics of a population. These changes increase a species’ fitness in its environment.

17
Q

descent with modification

A

each living species has decsended, with changes, from other species over time.

18
Q

common descent

A

all specie-living and extinct-were derived from common ancestors. Therefore, a single tree of life links all living things.

19
Q

What did Darwin argue?

A

that living things have been evolving on Earth for millions of years. Evidence for this process could be found in the fossil record, the geographical distribution of living species, homologous structures of living organisms, and similarities in early development, or embrylogy.

20
Q

homologous structures

A

structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same embryonic tissues

21
Q

vestigial organs

A

organ that serves no useful function in an organism

22
Q

summary of darwin’s theories:

A

-individual organisms differ, and some of this variation is heritable.
organisms produce more offspring than survive, and many that do survive do not reproduce,
-because more organisms are produced than survive, they compete for limited resources
-each unique organism has different advantages and disadvantages in the struggle for existence. Individuals best suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully. These organisms pass their heritable traits to their offspring. This process of natural selection causes species to change over time.
-Species alive today are descended with modification from ancestral species that lived in the distant past. This process, by which diverse specie evolved from common ancestors, unites all organisms into a single tree of life.

23
Q

gene pool

A

consists of all genes, including all the different alleles, that are present ina population

24
Q

relative frequency

A

of an allele is the number of times that the allele occurs in the gene pool, compared with the number of times other alleles for the same gene occur.

25
Q

what is evolution mean in genetic terms?

A

any change in the relative frequency of alleles in a population.

26
Q

what are the two main sources of genetic variatin

A

mutations and the genetic shuffing that results from sexual reproduction

27
Q

mutation

A

any change in a sequence of DNA

28
Q

the number of phenotypes produced for a given trait depend on what?

A

how many genes control the trait

29
Q

single gene trait

A

trait controlled by a single gene that has two alleles

30
Q

polygenic traits

A

two or more genes that control a single trait

31
Q

speciation

A

formation of a new species

32
Q

what happens as new species evolve?

A

populations become reproductively isolated from each other

33
Q

reproductive isolation

A

when he members of two populations cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring

34
Q

behavioral isolation

A

occurs when two populations are capable of interbreeding but have differences in courtship rituals or other reproductive strategies that involve behavior.

35
Q

geographic isolation

A

two populations are separated by geographic barriers

36
Q

temporal isolation

A

in which two or more species reproduce at different times

37
Q

how did speciation in the Galapagos finches occur?

A

by founding of a new population, geographic isolation, changes in the new populations gene pool, reproductive isolation, and ecological competition.

38
Q

macroevoltion

A

large scale evolutionary patterns and processes that occur over long periods of time…..

39
Q

what are 6 important topics in macroevolution?

A

are extinction, adaptive radiation, convergent evolution, coevolution, punctuated equilibrium, and changes in development genes

40
Q

adaptive radiation

A

when a single species or a small group of species has evolved, through natural selection and other processes, into diverse forms that live in different ways

41
Q

convergent evolution

A

when unrelated organisms come to resemble one another

42
Q

coevolution

A

the process by which two species evolve in response to changes in each other over time

43
Q

gradualism

A

a slow, steady change in a particular line of descent

44
Q

punctuated equilibrium

A

pattern f long stable periods interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change

45
Q

Who proved Lamarack wrong?

A

August Weisman

46
Q

What is the evidence of evolution?

A
  • Fossil Record
  • Geographic distribution
  • Homologous structures
  • Embryology
  • DNA
47
Q

What are some sources of genetic variation?

A
  • mutations
  • gene shuffling
  • genetic drift
48
Q

What has to happen for evolution to not occur?

A

genetic equilibrium-random mating, population must be large, no movement in or out of the population, no mutations, no natural selection

49
Q

what is a theory?

A

well tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations

50
Q

What did Darwin observe on the Galapagos Islands?

A

that the characteristics of many animals and plants varied noticably among the different islands of the galapagos.