Biology EXAM 1 PT I Flashcards
Cosmology studies evolution for:
Origin and development of the Universe
Chemistry uses evolution for
Change in macromolecules
Astronomy uses evolution for:
Dynamic orbits of various celestial bodies
Geology uses evolution for:
Plate tectonics, volcanism, erosion and sedimentation
Meteorology uses evolution for:
Ice ages, global warming
Oceanography uses evolution for:
El nino, Southern Oscilation, salinity
Antropology/Sociology uses evolution for:
Morality, rites of passage, cast systems
Politics uses evolution for
socialism, capitalism, totalitarianism
Religion uses evolution for
indulgences, burial of dead, marriages, devotional offerings
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION DEFINITION 1
An inheritable change in species over time.
BILOOGICAL EVOLUTION DEFINITION 2
The succesive change in allele composition and frequency over time as regulated by MUTATION, GENETIC DRIFT, GENE FLOW AND SELECTION PRESSURE.
KNOW THIS WORD FOR WORD!!
DEFINE: SPECIES
A group of interbreeding individuals capable of producing REPRODUCTIVE offspring.
KNOW THIS WORD FOR WORD!!
DEFINE: POPULATION
A group of individuals of the same species living in the same place at the same time and potentially capable of interbreeding.
DEFINE: GENE POOL
The total diversity of genes present in a population at any given time.
Unifying Principles of Evolution:
PERPETUAL CHANGE
ALL species are in a perpetual state of change.
The living world is neither constant nor perpetually cyclic, but always changing.
Unifying Principles of Evolution:
COMMON DESCENT
All species have descended from a common ancestor through branching lineages.
This explains many homologous structures found in various species throughout the world.

Unifying Principles of Evolution:
MULTIPLICATION OF SPECIES
NEW species are created via the transformation of existing species.
For example, all the penguins came from 1 existing species of penguins, and due to various limiting factors and selection pressure became a bunch of dumb ass species of penguins.
“Multiplication of species through time is a logical corollary to Darwin’s theory of common descent. A branch point on the evolutionary tree means that an ancestral species has split into two different ones. Darwin’s theory postulates that genetic variation present within a species, especially variation that occurs between geographically separated populations, provides the material from which new species are produced. Because evolution is a branching process, the total number of species produced by evolution increases through time, although most of these species eventually become extinct. A major challenge for evolutionists is to discover the process by which an ancestral species “branches” to form two or more descendant species.”
Unifying Principles of Evolution:
GRADUALISM
Genetic change occurs in a population/species continuously and in small incriments.
“Darwin’s theory of gradualism opposed arguments for the sudden origin of species. Small differences, resembling those that we observe among organisms within populations today, are the raw material from which the different major forms of life evolved”
“Small, continuous changes in phenotype.”

Unifying Principles of Evolution:
PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM
Evolution is concentrated in relatively brief events followed by long periods of relative* stasis.
*does not preclude the perpetual change of gene frequencies in the gene pool.
This sort of change in the gene pool is commonly associated with hox gene mutations.
First described and coined by NILES ELDRIDGE and STEPHEN JAY GOULD (1972)

Unifying Principles of Evolution:
NATURAL SELECTION
The process by which nature selects those individuals suited (adapted) for survival in a particular environment AT A PARTICULAR TIME.
DEFINE: NATURE
The combined influences of PHYSICAL and BIOLOGICAL limiting factors acting upon an organism.
DEFINE: LIMITING FACTOR
Any factor (physical or biological) which regulates the welfare of an organism.
Physical limiting factor: The Grand Canyon
Biological limiting factor: Competition, predation.
Principles of Natural Selection (3)
- There is genetic variation within a population.
- This variation is potentially inheritable.
3 Individuals with advantageous characteristics will leave more offspring to pass on their traits than those without advantageous characeristics.
DEFINE: SEXUAL SELECTION
Selection for ‘desireable’ characteristics in a mate.


