Chapter 2: Science and the Development of Evolutionary Theory Flashcards
adaptation
a state of existence or a process by which an organism is or becomes better suited to its circumstances of life
niches
the conditions of environments in which organisms live, including climate, space, predator-prey relationships, and mate availability
morphology
study of the size, shape, and configuration of an organism and its various parts
analogous
a similarity in structure or function resulting from independent adaption to comparable circumstances in life, rather than evolutionary descent
pheromone
a chemical signal capable of causing a specific response in members of the same or closely related species
epistemology
the study or theory of knowledge, including its production, validation, and application
secular
separate and apart from religious tradition or edict; worldly
contingency
being dependent on the occurrence or existence of a prior event or thing
methodology
the study of the methods applied to research generally or within a particular discipline
Darwinism
evolution resulting from natural selection acting on random variation in populations, through which more fit individuals are favoured in “the struggle for existence”; as conceived by Charles Darwin
a priori
arguing from cause to effect; deduced from prior knowledge or presumption
theory
explanatory statements or arguments related to particular sets of phenomena supported by observation or experiment
phylogenetic
relating to evolutionary histories of ancestry and descent; also phylogeny
allometry
refers to patterns of size and shape change among parts of organisms at different sizes, or among related organisms either living or extinct
null hypothesis
in statistics, a proposition that there is no difference among samples, conditions, outcomes, etc., that can be disproved through experiment or observation
data
observations, measurements, facts (known or assumed) that form the basis for a conclusion; singular datum
sample
a subset of a whole that represents its qualities with regard to the characteristics under study; for example, if three-quarters of a population of university students have a piercing, approximately the same proportion in a sample selected from that population should have a piercing
assumption
a condition or feature unverified or uncontrolled but taken to be as stated for the purpose of argument
Law of Superposition
layers (“strata”; singular “stratum”) within a sedimentary geological deposit are laid down from oldest to most recent, permitting assignment of relative dates to items contained in the deposit
seminal
relating to “seed”’ in this context, a seminal work is one that becomes a foundation for generations of subsequent ideas and developments
paradigm
a conceptual framework within which bodies of theory are developed, directing the course of future investigation
stasis
a state of equilibrium characterized by the absence of change
paleontology
the study of fossilized life forms
immutable
unchanging over time, or unchangeable; an idea traceable to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, stating that forms exist today as they were when created, have not changed in the past and cannot change in the future
geocentrism
the concept that the earth is the centre of the known universe, around which all other heavenly bodies revolve; attributed to the Greek astronomer Ptolemy but known before his time
essentialism
Plato’s idea that what exists in the world and is experienced by the human senses is an imperfect representation of an underlying, perfect, and immutable ideal, or essence, knowable only by the mind
Great Chain of Being
Aristotle’s ordered, hierarchical, and static view of the world
teleology
a perspective proposing that there are end points, or “final causes,” toward which natural phenomena are oriented and suggestive of a design, goal, or purpose in the world
heliocentrism
the now well-established view that the planets in our solar system revolve about the sun; the Copernican model also incorporates the essential ideas of the daily rotation of the earth on a tilted axis
taxonomy
the method by which organisms are classified and assigned to a group (a taxon; plural, taxa) based on shared biological, ecological, and behavioural relationships
uniformitarianism
a philosophy in geology that argues that the natural processes affecting the earth and observable today have remained constant (uniform) through geologic time
comparative method
understanding relationships among organisms by examining the similarities and differences present in various aspects of their biology
principle correlation of parts
the idea that organisms are integrated wholes and that change in one part cannot occur without altering the whole (usually by rendering it dysfunctional)
extinction
the complete disappearance of a particular species owing to factors that may be internal (related to the organism’s biology) or external (related to environmental change over which the organism has no influence)
catastrophism
Cuvier’s notion that fossil forms are produced through series of cataclysmic events and that changes from one kind to the next in succession result from new forms arriving from areas not affected by the event
classification
the act of arranging or sorting objects according to features held in common; assigning such objects to a proper class
Natural Theology
a philosophy of theology founded on principles of observation of the world in a context of Creation, rather than on arguments from divine revelation
binomial nomenclature
a “two-name” system developed by Linnaeus to identify all plants and animals according to genus and species
pangenesis
a discredited theory of heredity arguing that particles in body cels and organs can be influenced by their environment, and once transferred to the sex cells pass on these influences to the next generation
zoogeography
the study of the geographic distribution of animals and the ecological communities to which they belong
microevolution
small-scale evolutionary events occurring within a population over the span of a few generations, affecting the frequency of specific characters and not involving species formation
macroevolution
large-scale evolutionary events, typically viewed over geological time, leading to speciation and the formation of higher taxonomic categories
biological species concept
species defined on the basis of reproductive inclusion within its membership and reproductive isolation from other species
Law of Use and Disuse
Lamarck’s first law, which suggests that the use or disuse of parts, reflecting an organism’s needs and circumstances, will cause that part to develop or reduce accordingly
Law of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
Lamarck’s second law stipulates that those changes resulting from use and disuse will, if occurring in both parents, be transmitted to offspring
natural selection
the nonrandom preservation or elimination of variants through competition within and between species promoting differential reproductive success
incipient species
related populations that, although capable of successful reproduction, are prevented from doing so by some barrier and that as a result may increasingly diverge to the point of becoming separate species
reproductive fitness
a measure of the success of an individual in the production of offspring across generations; your children, and their children, and so on all constitute your reproductive fitness
