Diversity of Life and Evolution Flashcards
What is biodiversity and classification?
Biodiversity: The variety of life that exists.
Classification: The system of grouping organisms together that share common characteristics.
Describe monera
- mainly microscopic and single-celled
- cause diseases eg. salmonella
- some are useful eg. making cheese
Describe prostista
- Wide variety from large algae eg. seaweed to single-celled eg. amoeba
- found anywhere water is present
Describe fungi
- Break down dead organisms and allows minerals to be recycled
eg. mushroom, mould, yeast
Describe plants
- Seed producing plants can be sub-divided into flowering and non-flowering
- Plants make their own food by photosynthesis
Describe animals
- Multi cellular and cells do not have cell walls
- Can be divided into vertebrates and invertebrates
eg. humans, fish, insects, sheep
What is evolution?
The gradual change in the characteristics of a species over a long period of time, so that a new species is formed
What is natural selection?
The process by which organisms that are better adapted to their environment survive, reproduce and pass their favourable characteristics to the next generation AKA Survival of the Fittest
What are adaptations?
Characteristics that improve the chances of an organism surviving and reproducing eg. polar bears have thick fur so they can survive the cold environment
What are mutations?
The changes in the genes of an individual of a species
New species can form when enough changes take over after many generations
What are and is the study of fossils
- Palaeontology
- The remains of an organism that lived a long time ago preserved as impressions in rocks
The process by which organisms that are better adapted to their environment survive, reproduce and pass their favourable characteristics to the next generation AKA Survival of the Fittest
What is extinction?
Extinction occurs because the species environment or a different species was better adapted to that environment and the original species died out.
Who is Charles Darwin?
- Englishman who travelled to the Galapogos Islands on HMS Beagle
- Studied finches and noticed the diversity of their beaks as a result of them adapting to their environment eg. some ate insects, some ate seeds
- On each island the conditions were different and the birds adapted to the food available to them
- Darwin proposed to Theory of Natural Selection
