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Biology > Ch.16-17 Test > Flashcards

Ch.16-17 Test Flashcards

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1
Q

Who was Charles Darwin?

A

Scientist who fathered evolution. Developed a scientific theory of biological evolution that explains how modern organisms evolved over long periods of time

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2
Q

What is evolution?

A

Change over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms

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3
Q

Describe Darwin’s voyage.

A

Sailed on the HMS Beagle for 5 years and mapped the coastline of South America. Observed characteristics and habitats of different species

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4
Q

What are 3 distinctive patterns Darwin notices?

A

Species vary globally
Species vary locally
Species vary over time

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5
Q

Give an example of how species vary globally

A

Rheas and ostriches are very similar yet rheas are from South America and ostriches are from Australia

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6
Q

Give an example of how species vary locally

A

There are 2 different species of rheas living in South America. One lives in grasslands and one lived in harsh scrub land

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7
Q

What did Darwin look at to show that species were changing over time?

A

Fossils

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8
Q

Describe what James Hutton researched

A

Researched the connections between a number of geological process and geological features

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9
Q

Describe what Charles Lyell researched

A

uniformitarianism

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10
Q

What is “deep time”?

A

Concept of geologic time by Hutton; the multimillion year time frame within which scientists believe earth has existed

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11
Q

What is uniformitarianism?

A

idea that the geological processes we see in action today must be the same one that shaped Earth millions of years ago

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12
Q

What could have caused Darwin to find marine fossils thousands of feet in the mountains?

A

Formation of a mountain, dropping of sea level

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13
Q

Who was Lamarck?

A

French naturalist

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14
Q

What did Lamarck believe?

A

Believed that organisms could change during their lifetimes by selectively using or not using various parts of their bodies

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15
Q

Who was Thomas Malthus?

A

English economist

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16
Q

What did Malthus believe?

A

Humans were being born faster than people were dying, causing overcrowding

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17
Q

What did Malthus say acted to help reduce population number?

A

war, famine, and disease

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18
Q

What is artificial selection?

A

When nature provided the variation and humans select those they find useful

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19
Q

Why did it take Darwin so long to publish “On the Origin of Species?”

A

His ideas were radical and he wanted as much proof as possible before making them public

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20
Q

What is an adaptation?

A

Any heritable characteristic that increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in its environment

21
Q

Describe some structural adaptations.

A

Tiger’s claws, colors that make camouflage or mimicry

22
Q

Describe some behavioral adaptations.

A

The way a plant carried out photosynthesis

23
Q

Describe an organism that has a high level of fitness for its environment

A

A chameleon can blend into its environment hiding from prey and live to reproduce and pass on the camouflage trait

24
Q

What is natural selection?

A

Process by which organisms with variations most suited to their local environment survive and leave more offspring with the same variations

25
Q

What types of traits does natural selection act on?

A

inherited traits

26
Q

How could a species become extinct?

A

If environmental conditions change faster than a species can adapt to those changes

27
Q

What is the principle of common decent?

A

All species-living and extinct-are descended from ancient common ancestors

28
Q

What is decent with modification?

A

Living things are descended with modification from common ancestors

29
Q

What is biogeography?

A

The study of where organisms live now and where they and their ancestors lived in the past

30
Q

What are the 2 biogeographic patters that are significant to Darwin’s theory?

A

divergent and convergent evolution

31
Q

About how old is Earth?

A

4.5 billion years old

32
Q

What are the things that Darwin pointed to as evidence for evolution?

A

fossil record, anatomy, embryology, genetics/molecular biology

33
Q

What is a homologous structure?

A

structures that are similar in different species of common ancestry

34
Q

Give an example of 2 homologous structures.

A

human arms and dog legs

35
Q

What is an analogous structure?

A

Body parts that share a common function, but not structure

36
Q

Give an example of 2 analogous structures.

A

Butterfly wings and bird wings

37
Q

What are vestigial structures?

A

structure that is inherited from ancestors but has lost much or all of its original function

38
Q

Give an example of a vestigial structure in a human

A

Appendix

39
Q

What is embryology?

A

Branch of biology that studies the development of gametes, fertilization, and development of embryos and fetuses

40
Q

How did Darwin say that embryology showed proof of evolution?

A

Early developmental stages of animals with backbones look very similar

41
Q

How does the genetic code relate to Darwin’s theories on evolution?

A

All living cells use info coded in DNA and RNA to carry info from one generation to the next and to direct protein synthesis. The more closely related 2 organisms are , the more closely related their DNA, RNA, and proteins

42
Q

any change in the relative frequency of alleles in the gene pool of a population over time

A

evolution

43
Q

Natural selection acts directly on ____

A

phenotype

44
Q

a group of individuals of the same species that mate and produce offspring

A

population

45
Q

consist of all the genes, including all the different alleles for each gene that are present in a population

A

gene pool

46
Q

2 sources of genetic variation

A 
mutation
genetic recombination (Crossing over)
47
Q

Natural selection on _______ can lead to changes in allele frequency and thus to changes in the phenotype frequencies

A

single-gene traits

48
Q

Natural selection on polygenic traits can affect the distribution of phenotypes in three ways:

A
  1. Directional selection
  2. Stabilizing selection
  3. Disruptive selection

Biology (9 decks)

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