Chapter 21 - How evolution works Flashcards
Evolution
Descent with modification; the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from the present-day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the genetic composition of a population from generation to generation.
Carolus Linnaeus
Nested classification -> Simmilar species in the same genus. Binominal classification system.
Did not believe in evolution
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
- Use and disuse: Parts of the body that are used extensively grow larger, while those that are not used deteriorate.
- Inheritance of acquired characteristics: Organism could pass learned modifications on to its offspring.
adaptations
Inherited characteristics of organisms that enhance their survival and reproduction in specific environments
Natural selection
A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates
Darwins observations
- Members of a population often vary in their inherited traits
- All species can produce more offspring than their environment can support, and many of these offspring fail to survive and reproduce
Homology
Similarity resulting from common ancestry
vestigial structures
remnants of features that served a function in the organisms ancestor
Convergent evolution
The independent evolution of similar features in different lineages.
analogy (analogous)
Analogous features share similar function, but not common ancestry
Aristotle
scala naturae
Cuvier
developed paleontology, believed each stratasphere layer was an indication of a sudden catastrophic event
Lyell and Hutton
believed profound changes in environment could take place over time by gradual mechanisms.
Thomas Malthus’s
Organisms have the capacity to produce more offspring than the environment can support.
