Chapter 2 Flashcards
Father of Modern Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus
Father of geology and stratigraphy
Nicolas Steno
Stratigraphy
the study of layering rock as a method of reconstructing the past
Explain the how we can explain sea levels rising or lowering through stratigraphy:
Limestone is deposited in deep water.
• Shale is deposited in shallow water
• Sandstone is deposited near beaches
Paleontology
the study of prehistoric life.
Extinction
Permanent loss of a population or species, arising with the death or failure to breed of the last individual.
Georges Buffon (1707-1788)
Earth formed according to laws of physics and chemistry
– Older than previously thought
• Life emerged as distinct types
– Transformed when environment changed
Slightly proposed that populations change over time.
-Species arise as distinct entities
– Diverse environments give rise to new varieties
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
Fossils resemble but are not exactly the same
as modern species
– Many past species are extinct
James Hutton
– Observable processes produce small changes that accumulate over time
– The earth must be old
-Earth transformed gradually
William Smith (1769-1839)
Different rock layers contain distinct fossils, created first geological map
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)
– Species evolve through natural processes – Life constantly generated
– Adaptation through inheritance of acquired changes
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
- Trained to be in med school, clergyman.
- Invited to serve as unofficial naturalist for HMSBeagle in 1831
Voyage of the Beagle
- Collected many fossils and living organisms
* Studied geology while reading Principles of Geology by Lyell
Uniformitarianism
observable natural processes responsible for events in the past
How was Darwin Encouraged to go public:
• Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace proposed similar evolutionary ideas
– Common ancestry – Natural selection
• Letters from Darwin and Wallace presented at Linnean Society in 1858
Descent with Modification
– All species share common
ancestry
– Changes occur through natural selection
Homologous Trait
similar because of inheritance from a common ancestor
Example of homologous trait:
Human arm, seal flipper, bat wing
Adaptations
traits that have evolved by natural selection
Charles Lyell
The Principles of Geology
– Popularized idea that earth changes gradually
Alfred Russel Wallace
– Independently formulated idea of natural selection
Sexual Selection
– Selection for traits that
provide a mating advantage
Genetic Drift
– Change in frequency of traits due to chance events
T or F: In the 17th and 18th centuries, naturalists devised systems for classifying life and recognized fossils as the remains of living things.
T
T or F: Science is the use of evidence to construct testable (hypotheses) explanations and predictions of natural phenomena as well as the organization of knowledge generated through this process (theory).
T
T or F: Georges Buffon proposed that the earth is very old and that life changed gradually during its history.
T
T or F: Georges Cuvier helped establish that many fossils are the remains of extinct species.
T
T or F: The geological record revealed a succession of different species that lived on earth.
T
T or F: Jean-Baptist Lamarck developed an early theory of evolution, based in part on the idea that acquired traits are passed down through a mechanism of heredity.
T
T or F: Alfred Russell Wallace independently developed a theory of evolution by means of natural selection.
F
T or F: Homology is the similarity of characteristics in different species because they were inherited from a common ancestor.
T
T or F: Comparisons between embryos cannot reveal homologies not evident in adulthood.
F
T or F: Natural selection is a mechanism that can lead to evolution, whereby differential reproduction of individuals causes some genetic types to outcompete and replace others.
T
