contributions to a theory of evolution (8.1)

Question 1

Leclerc

Answer 1

-Georges Louis Leclerc
-challenged the idea that life was unchanging
-wrote histoire naturelle
-noted similarities between humans and apes
-suggested that earth was older than 6000 years

Question 2

paleontology

Answer 2

-scientist Mary Anning and Sir RIchard Owen
-the study of ancient life through the examination of fossils
-fossils are preserved in amber, dry caves, rocks, permafrost
-each layer of rock (stratum) was charcterized by a unique geoup of fossil species
-the deeper, the older
-the older the stratum the more dissimilar from modern life

Question 3

transitional fossils

Answer 3

-fossils that can show intermediary links between groups of organisms
-create continuity between ancestors
-can show the structures that were once functional in the organisms ancestors (vestigial strucutres)

Question 4

catastrophism

Answer 4

-George Cuvier
-the earth had experienced many destructive natural events in the past like floods, volcanic erruptions, etc
-these events were violent enough to kill many species at once
-the catastrophes were noted at the edges of two rock boundries

Question 5

uniformitarianism

Answer 5

-Charles Lyell
-geogological processes operated in the same rates in the past as they do now
-earth is older than 6000 years
-slow subtle chnages haooened over many years

Question 6

inheritance of acquired characteristics

Answer 6

-Jean Baptiste Lamarck
-observed the progression of species over time
-made a hyporthesis that organisms became better adapted to their environment over time

Question 7

Darwin & Wallace

Answer 7

-both proposed evolution by natural selection at the same time
-Darwin published on the origin of species the following year
-Wallace was often forgotten in the study of evolution

Question 8

Darwin proposed

Answer 8

-organisms produce more offspring than the ones that can survive (theres more offspring produced than the ones that survive)
-individulas in a population will vary
-individuals that are better suited to local conditions survive to produce more offspring
-processes for changes are slow and gradual