Chapter 2 Flashcards
What are the two scientific assumptions?
Natural world of matter and law and the supernatural world of spirit and miracle
What are the four systems of scientific knowledge?
Epistemes
Naturalism, rationalism, empiricism, and accuracy
-different ways of collecting data
Naturalism
all parts are a part of a natural order
Rationalism
avoid logical fallacies
Empiricism
observations of actual data
Epistemes
Scientific systems of knowledge
Extinction
Loss of species from earth. Extinction has always existed throughout human history.
What did the discovery of fossils do?
That species died at different times throughout human history
What are the three problems Christian scientists faced?
Extinction, categorization of various species, and the relationship between adaptation and biogeography
Science and the bible were not matching up
What did Charles Lyell discover?
The earth is very old and is constantly changing over time.
How did Europeans see the bible in the 1800s?
They had a very loose interpretation vs literal
Carl Linnaeus
He changed the categorization of species. We have to compare species with each other and not in comparison to humans
Homology
Features inherited from common ancestors despite species having different features from each other
Noah’s Ark
Boat in Ararat-Bible. The idea is that if all species were adapted to different environments then how did they survive in one place with different features catered to different environments.
Monogenism
All humans came from a common ancestor
Polygenism
every race is a separate creation from god
How did polygenism excuse racism?
It said that because some people are not from god so they’re less worthy
Savages
primitive people/seen as primitive due to limited technology
What did scientists discover about the stone age?
That fossils from that time are older than the Bible
Natural Selection
A slow process where nature selects which genes that have randomly occurred in a species to carry on in their offspring. The genes that are selected are the ones that helps a species survive in their particular environment.
What was Ernst Heckel inaccurate about?
That Europeans are related to apes through non-white people
Artificial Selection
Humans selecting certain traits they want to pass on to the next generation (humans or other species)
Adaptation
Where species have certain traits that help them survive or die
Charles Darwin
Discovered that all species have a common ancestor and natural selection. Adaptation aka survival of species
Descent with Modification
Darwin’s theory that species evovled on a historical timeline
Transmutation Hypothesis
The idea that all current species came from older and similar species
What did they discover in the 1850s about cells?
all new cells came from old cells->older species
Lamark
Discovered that all species came from other species
What’s the differnece between Wallace and Darwin
W: Believed humans evolved but had divine help.
D: Only believed in ape ancestry and adaptive divergence.
Ernst Heckel
He believed that we didn’t need a fossil record to prove our lineage to apes because Europeans are related to apes through non-white people
Tower of Babel
Bible says all languages came from this place `
Synthetic Theory of Evolution
Extension of Mendelian genetics and Darwinism. Formal study of how gene pools of different species change and diversify over time which leads to the formation of new species and how they came to be.
What did Ronald FIsher, J.B.S. Haldane, and Sewall Wright discover?
Population genetics (new model diverting from Darwin and Mendel)
Gene
a stretch/strand of DNA with a distinct function
Genotype
Individual genetic composition
Gene Pool
Each species has a general combination of genes that makes that specific species/whole species
Allele
How a gene is expressed. The characteristic or version of a gene. Green or yellow or wet and dry.
Gregor Mendel
Discovered gene inheritance is not like blending paints
Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
Lamarck said if a species’ offspring becomes blended then they can gain or lose traits they gain from their lifetime and pass that onto their offspring (incorrect theory)
Blending Inheritance
Offspring is a blend of both parents and has a different set of genes.
Anatomical Variation
Variation of physical traits
Why can’t we use blood to study evolution?
Because the blood type between species can be very similar but in reality be very different if you compare their physical traits
What’s the hierarchical structure of evolution?
Evolution works on a molecular and physical and anatomical level
What does it mean to be between vs within the gene?
Between-comparing 2 different types of genes.
Within-comparing the same type of genes
What does genetic variation measure?
Measures how long ago a species diverged
What does anatomical variation measure?
Measures the physical traits that showcase physical adaptation
Gene Flow
Genetic contact between populations which increases similarities between populations. Ex: immigration
Genetic drift
Random changes to the gene pool which make certain populations genetically different from other populations. They can’t reproduce with each other anymore.
Phenotype
Specific variation in genes that cause changes in physical appearance
Mendelian Inheritance
Explains how genes are inherited and passed on to offspring
Who created the synthetic theory>
Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ernst Mayr, and George Gaylord
What’s synthetic theory?
Combination of Darwin’s theory and mendalian genetics that explains through genetic changes over time a new species is formed
Genetic Variation
Differences of DNA among individuals
Ramapithecus
David Pilbeam discovered that a 14 million fossil (discovered to be part of the orangutan lineage) which caused scientists to question the age of humans
Genetic/molecular evolution
Used to track time
Adaptative Divergence
Species that have a common ancestor but then split apart due to various adaptations to the environment
Mutations
Copying errors of the DNA which cause variations of the DNA. They don’t always have an impact but some do have a negative or positive effect which gets copied to the next offspring or not.
What if you compare dna of two different species versus two genes of two different species?
DNA-differnet among species
Genes-similar among species
What does genetics track vs anatomy?
Genetics tracks time while anatomy tracks adaptation
What does population genetics not explain?
The ineraction between species and how they evolve
What type of extinction matches Darwin?
Background extinction
WHat causes one species to have a bigger population than another?
Species selectoin
Ecoologies and histories
What happens if a genetic mutation is neutral?
It will hardly spread throughout the population because it hardly has an effect
Human Genome Project
The production of a complete DNA sequence of a human cell in hopes that it would reveal how human bodies are built and how to cure them when human bodies are built poorly
Stephen Jay Gould
Scientist who went beyond population genetics
Evolutionary Synthesis
Claims how the combination of Darwin’s evolution with Mendalian genetics explain the entire process of evolution as a whole
What are the two types of Extinction?
Background and Mass extinctions
Background Extinctions
If one species is better than another the other will become extinct. Reflects balance of nature–species go extinct and others take their place
Mass Extinctions
During an ecological disaster, many species from different lineages die off at the same time. Survival of the luckiest. When a species competitor dies off, the survivors can divide the ecosystem among themselves.
What do genes not have?
They cannot explain how many organisms of a species one should produce
Species Selection
Higher order process that creates competiton between species
Why are species constantly unstable?
They’re constantly unstable because they’re constantly changing to their environment
What is the other viewpoint of species changing?
Niles Eldredge said species only change when necessary
Punctuated Equlibria
Gaps in closely related fossils
Evo-devo
Intersection of evolutionary and developmental biology. How change in form and shape arise.
Plasticity
When the genetic phenotype (interaction of genes with the environment) changes due to the environment. A varation occurs.
Canalization.
Opposite of plasticity. When genes interact with the environment and stay the same. A variation that doesn’t change over time also becomes normal.
Epigenetic
How the environment can affect the way your genes work. The actual genes don’t change but they way they function does.
Niche Construction
How an organism will change its environment to suit its own needs. This helps the organism to adapt and can also affect other organisms in the same environment
Why is science political?
Because you can’t talk about people apolitically
Scientific Racism
Using science for political racist reasons
Are we all biased studying anthro?
Yes no matter how objective we try to be
Are humans born or made?
Both-your genes do affect you but your social and cultural lineage will also play a role in how you turn out. But also, humans have agency in how they want their life to turn out.
Eugenics
20th century movement that created a set of beliefs and practices to improve the human genetic condition. Imoral.
Hereditarianism
The idea that the creature is made not born. Our fate is in our genes. Problematic.
Human Genome Project-why did it turn out badly?
Because people were using it as an excuse to be immoral because they thought they could better the human genetic condition
Exaptations
A trait that evolves to function differently from its original intended use
Phrenology
An outdated method that used different parts of the brain to measure the person’s character and mental abilities
Sexual Selection
A trait that may not be useful for survival but useful for mating
phyletic gradualism
species are unstable and constantly changing through time
Who coined the terms descent with modification and what does it mean?
Charles Darwin
Inheritance of acquired characteristics and is it accepted today?
What is it who made it
Lamarck and no
