BIOL 111 - Midterm #1 Flashcards
What are the three conditions for evolution by natural selection?
Variation in traits (phenotypic variation)
Differential reproduction of variants (Fitness differences)
Heredity - Higher fitness individuals have offspring with the higher fitness traits.
What is the end result of evolution by natural selection?
A population in which more individuals are adapted to the environment.
What is evolution?
A change in the frequency of alleles in a population.
What is selection?
Differential reproduction of phenotypic variants in a population.
Can selection occur without leading to evolution?
Yes, if the phenotypic variation does not have a genetic basis.
Ex: A population becomes smaller due to a lack of food.
Can evolution occur without selection?
Yes, allele frequencies can change for other reasons.
However, only selection leads consistently to higher fitness.
What cause(s) of evolution are non-random?
Selection
What causes of evolution are random?
Genetic drift, gene flow, and mutation.
What must be present before evolution by selection can occur?
Genetic variation.
What is fitness?
Reproductive success.
Individuals with higher fitness contribute more alleles to the gene pool of the next generation.
What three things did Darwin explain in On the Origin of Species?
How evolution by natural selection works.
Provided evidence that evolution by natural selection was common.
Provided evidence that evolution has occurred.
What has lead to the diversity of life today?
Repeated speciation
What is speciation and how does it occur (broad)?
Speciation is how a new kind of plant or animal species is created. Speciation occurs when a group within a species separates from other members of its species and develops its own unique characteristics.
What are homologous characters?
Characteristics that have been inherited from a common ancestor.
Ex: Arm structure in humans, cats, whales and bats.
Humerus -> Radius & Ulna -> Carpals -> Metacarpals -> Phalanges.
Where might you see homologous characters?
Some homologous characters can be seen in embryos but not in adults.
Extinction and replacement
Old species go extinct and are replaced by new species.
Geologic succession
Older species are very different from modern ones, more recent species are more similar to living species.
Where might endemic species be found?
Islands often have unique endemic species that are related to species on the nearest mainland.
How can a population be defined?
A population is a subset of individuals of one species that lives in a certain geographic are and interbreeds.
What is a gene pool?
All of the alleles of every gene in a population
What is allele frequency?
The relative proportion of an allele of a particular gene.
Ranges from 0 to 1.
When would you say an allele is fixed?
When the allele frequency is 1 and thus there is no variation.
What is genotype frequency?
The relative proportion of a genotype of a particular gene.
If there was 3 brown and 1 green beetle the genotype frequency of the brown genotype would be 0.75.
What is micro evolution?
Any change in the allele frequency in a population.
What are the four processes that cause micro evolution?
Selection
Genetic drift
Gene flow
Mutation
What is a potential cause in an increase in allele frequency?
If the allele leads to higher reproductive success or fitness.
What is directional selection?
A shift in the overall makeup of a population by favouring variants that are at one extreme of the distribution.
If dark mice blend in best the makeup of the population will shift to be darker as opposed to lighter.
What is disruptive selection?
Disruptive selection favours variants at both ends of the distribution.
Dark and light mice survive the best compared to a neutral colour even though they are on opposite sides of the distribution.