Chapter 15 Flashcards
What is evolution?
The idea that species change over time
What two things does evolution explain?
1) Unity 2) Diversity
What is taxonomy?
The science of classifying organisms
What did Carolus Linnaeus do?
=Developed the binomial system of nomenclature and a system of classification for living things
What was comparative anatomy, and how did scientists study it?
1) Evaluation of similar structures accross species
2) Compared extant (living species) from around the world, as well as fossils
What is the “fixity of species”?
Each species had an ideal structure and function as well as a place on the scala naturae (ladder of life)
-The ladder went from least complex creature to most complex creature
What did most mid 18th century taxonomists try to determine?
The diea characteristics of each species as well as the proper rank of them on the scala naturae
What did Count Buffon imply in his writings?
Provided evidence of descent with modification and even speculated on causative mechanisms such as environmental influences, migration, geographic isiolation, and struggle for existence as a reason for change
What were Erasmus Darwin’s conclusions?
Concluded that there was a possibility of common descent, based on his conclusions on changes undergone by animals during development, artificial selection,and prescence of vestigial structures
What system did Baron Georges Cuvier develop?
He developed a system of classifying animals and used comparative anatomy to do so
Cuvier also founded the science of paleontology. What is paleontology?
It is the study of fossils
What is the concept of catastrophism?
That whenever there was a catastrophe, God would create a new set of species
What were Lamarck’s conclusions?
That more complex organisms are descended from less complex organisms, and that increase complexity is the result of a desire for perfection. Lamarck also supported the idea of inheritance of acquired characteristics, that the environment could bring about genotypic (inheritance) change
Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology contained what arguments/explanations by James Hutton?
1) Earth is subjet to a slow but continuous cycles of rock formation through erosion. Weather causes erosion, and dirt, rock and debris are washed into the rivers and transported away. Thick sediments are deposited in thick layers.
2) Geographical changes can be accounted for by slow, natural processes.
What is uniformitarianism?
The idea that slow changes occur at a uniform rate and the natural processes witnessed today are the same processes that occured in the past.