Ch. 25, 26, 27 Flashcards
The scientific discipline concerned with classifying and naming organisms
Taxonomy
What are the taxonomic groups from broad to narrow?
Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order family genus, species
Similarity due to shared ancestry
Homology
Similarity due to convergent evolution
Analogy
When similar environmental pressures and natural selection produce similar adaptations in organisms from different evolutionary lineages
Convergent evolution
Analogous structures or molecular sequences that evolved independently
Homoplasies
Grouping that consists of an ancestral species and some but not all of the descendants
Paraphyletic grouping
Grouping that includes distantly related species but does not include their most recent common ancestor
Apolyphyletic grouping
Uses constant rates of evolution in some genes to estimate the absolute time of evolutionary change
Molecular clock
Genes found in a single copy in the genome. Are homologous between species.
Orthologous genes
The movement of genes from one genome to another
Horizontal gene transfer
When did earth form
4.6 billion years ago
What was the first genetic material?
RNA
What kind of species is the fossil record biased in favor of?
Species that existed for a long time, were abundant and widespread, and had hard parts
How are the absolute ages of fossils determined?
By radiometric dating
What are the three eras that the Phanerozoic era is divided into?
Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
What is the name of the oldest known fossils?
Stromatolites
Rocks formed by the accumulation of sedimentary layers on bacterial mats
Stromatolites
Theory that proposes that mitochondria and plastids (chloroplasts & related organelles) were formerly small prokaryotes living within larger host cells
The endosymbiont theory
What causes extinction?
Changes in a species’ environment
The result of disruptive global environmental changes
Mass extinctions
The sudden appearance of fossils resembling modern animal phyla in the Cambrian period
Cambrian explosion
When was the Cambrian period?
535 million years ago
What are some effects that formation of Pangaea had?
Deepening of ocean basins, reduction in the shallow water habitat, a colder and drier climate inland
When was Pangaea formed?
250 million years ago
What is the most important feature of all prokaryotic cells? Why?
Their cell wall. It maintains cell shape, protects the cell, and prevents it from bursting in a hypotonic environment
Bacteria cell walls contain ____, a network of sugar polymers cross-linked by polypeptides
Peptidoglycan
Allow prokaryotes to exchange DNA
Pili
Metabolic cooperation occurs between different prokaryotic species in surface-coating colonies
Biofilms
What are the four major modes of nutrition that energy and carbon sources combine to give?
Photoautotrophy, chemoautotrophy, photoheterotrophy, chemoheterotrophy
Name three factors that contribute to genetic diversity in prokaryotes
Rapid reproduction, mutation, genetic recombination
The movement of genes between bacteria by bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria)
Transduction
How can some bacteria survive antibiotics?
Some bacteria have R plasmids which carry genes for antibiotic resistance
Obtain energy from light
Phototrophs
Obtain energy from chemicals
Chemotrophs
Require CO2 as a carbon source
Autotrophs
Require an organic nutrient (like carbon) to make organic compounds
Heterotrophs
What are three things that prokaryotes can sometimes increase for plant growth?
The availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
What are three factors contributing to extinction?
Toxic conditions, global warming, intense volcanos
How are RNA molecules produced?
Spontaneously from simple molecules
Time required for half the parent to decay
Half-life
How long ago was Earth formed?
4.6 billion years ago
Rapid evolution of diversely adapted species from a common ancestor
Adaptive radiation
Groups that share an immediate common ancestor
Sister taxa
What is the purpose of cladistics?
To group organisms by common descent
Character that originated in an ancestor of the taxon
Shared ancestral character
Evolutionary novelty unique to a particular clade
Shared derived character