Chapter 17 - Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Flashcards
Change over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.
Evolution
Preserved remains/traces of ancient organisms
Fossils
- Species very globally
- Spices vary locally
- Species vary over time
3 patterns of diversity
Darwin noticed that different, yet ecologically similar, species inhabited ___, but ecologically similar, ___ around the globe.
separated; habitats
Darwin noticed that different, yet related, species often occupied ___ habitats within a ___ area.
different; local
Darwin noticed that the fossil record included many ___ animals that were similar, yet different from, ___ species.
extinct; living
Selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in offspring
Artificial selection
Hutton and Lyell concluded that Earth is extremely ___ and has been changing constantly over time, and that the same processes that caused global change in the past ___ in the present.
old; operate
War, famine, disease
factors that limit population growth (according to Thomas Malthus)
Erosion/Sedimentation, volcanism, uplift/sinking of land
Examples of processes that shape Earth
In artificial selection, nature provides the ___ variations, and humans select those variants they find ___.
inherited; useful
Heritable characteristics that increase an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in an environment
Adaptation
How well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment
Fitness
Process by which organisms that are most suited to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully; “survival of the fittest”
Natural selection
- struggle for existence (more individuals are born than can survive)
- variation and adaptation (affects the ability to survive and reproduce)
- differential reproductive success (fitness varies among individuals)
3 conditions necessary for the occurrence of natural selection
According to the principle of ___ ___, all living/extinct species are united by descent from ancient common ancestors and exhibit diversity due to natural selection and adaptation.
common descent
In evolutionary terms, ___ means surviving, reproducing, and passing adaptations on to the next generation.
“survival”
Study of past and present distribution of organisms
Biogeography
Structures that’re similar in different species of common ancestors
Homologous structures
Structure that’s inherited from ancestors but which has lost much or all of its original function
Vestigial structure
Body parts that share a common function, but not an evolutionary history
Analogous structure
Patterns in the distribution of fossils and living species + info from geology tells us how modern organisms first ___ from their ancestors.
evolved
___ ___ explains the existence of homologous structures adapted to different purposes as the result of descent with ___ from a common ancestor.
Evolutionary theory; modification
Study anatomical details, the way structures develop in embryos, and the pattern in which they appeared over evolutionary history
How biologists test if structures are homologous