Evidence for Evolution

Question 1

Populations

Answer 1

individuals of the same species that live in the same area at the same time

Question 2

Believes of special creation

Answer 2

1) all species are independent of one another
2) life on Earth is young (6000 years old)
3) species are immutable

Question 3

Immutable

Answer 3

incapable of change

special creation thought this

Question 4

Pattern component

Answer 4

part of a scientific theory

a statement that summarizes a series of observations about the natural world

about facts or how things ARE in nature

Question 5

Process component

Answer 5

part of a scientific theory

a mechanism that produces a pattern or set of observations

Question 6

Scientific theory

Answer 6

a broad class of observations that is widely supported by overwhelming evidence

Question 7

Plato and Typological Thinking

Answer 7

Plato claims that every organism was an example of a perfect essence, or type, created by God and that this type was unchanging

Plato explained slight variations as “perfect essence”

Question 8

Aristotle and the Scale of Nature

Answer 8

Linear scheme of species arranged in increasing size and complexity

“lower” and “higher” species

Question 9

Lamarck

Answer 9

proposed the first formal theory of evolution

believed that species were always producing “better” species

phenotype develops in response to environment (ex: giraffes neck grows)

Question 10

Evolution

Answer 10

species are not static, but change over time

Question 11

What was different about Darwin?

Answer 11

He claims that variation is crucial

Question 12

Population thinking

Answer 12

variation is key

Question 13

Typological thinking

Answer 13

variation is abnormal

species conform

the opposite of population thinking

Question 14

3 things that make Darwin’s ideas revolutionary

Answer 14

1) overturned the idea that species are static and unchanging (suggested change through time and common ancestry)
2) replaced typological thinking with population thinking
3) it was scientific. can make predictions through observation and experimentation

Question 15

Descent with modification

Answer 15

species that lived in the past are the ancestors of the species existing today, and that species change through time

Question 16

Pattern component of the theory of evolution

Answer 16

1) species change through time

2) species are related by common ancestry

Question 17

Evidence for change through time (show change)

Answer 17

fossils, extinction, transitional features

vestigial traits

contemporary populations: like bacterial resistance and weeds resistance to herbicides

Question 18

fossil

Answer 18

any trace of an organism that lived in the past

Question 19

fossil record

Answer 19

consists of all the fossils that have been found on Earth and described in scientific literature

Question 20

extant species

Answer 20

species living today

Question 21

James Hutton

Answer 21

geologist

principle of uniformitarianism: the idea that geological processes occurring today are what occurred in the past

Question 22

sedimentary rocks

Answer 22

form from sand or mud and other materials deposited in layers at locations such as beaches or river mouths

take long to form

Question 23

geologic time scale

Answer 23

a sequence of named intervals called eons, eras, and periods that represent major events in Earth’s history

a relative scale (exact age unknown)

Question 24

radioactive decay

Answer 24

half-life can function as an absolute dating

“natural clock”

Question 25

Earliest signs of life

Answer 25

3.4-3.8 billion years

Question 26

Baron Cuvier

Answer 26

published report that there are extinct species his report focused on large species like mammoths because it is very unlikely that these large, distinctive terrestrial animals would remain undiscovered if alive

Question 27

law of succession

Answer 27

pattern of finding fossils of species with similarities to the living species succeeding them Darwin connects that extinct forms are the ancestors of living forms

Question 28

transitional feature

Answer 28

a trait in a fossil species that is intermediate between those of ancestral and derived species

Question 29

Derived traits

Answer 29

a trait that differs from the ancestral trait

Question 30

Ancestral trait

Answer 30

a trait present in the ancestor of the species

Question 31

Is evolution goal-oriented or purposeful?

Answer 31

No

Question 32

Are individual fossils direct ancestors of later species?

Answer 32

Not necessarily The individual fossil could be a relative of the direct ancestor

Question 33

vestigial trait

Answer 33

a reduced or incompletely developed structure that has no function but is clearly similar to functioning organs in ancestral species or closely related species

Question 34

Vestigial traits and special creation

Answer 34

special creation is disproved by vestigial traits because they show that species were not perfectly designed by a supernatural being

Question 35

Contemporary examples of change through time

Answer 35

Bacteria resistance Herbicide resistance Timing of bird migration and flower bloom due to climate change

Question 36

Evidence of descent from a common ancestor (shows relationships)

Answer 36

similar species are found in the same geographic area similar species share homologies current examples

Question 37

geographic similarities

Answer 37

Darwin discovered that the finches were distinct species on different islands but yet still very similar Darwin proposes that the finches were similar because they had descended from the same common ancestor and then changed over time

Question 38

phylogenetic tree

Answer 38

a branching diagram that describes the ancestor-descendant relationships among species or other taxa

Question 39

homology

Answer 39

a similarity that exists in species due to common ancestry

Question 40

are vestigial structures homologous?

Answer 40

yes they must be homologous to some structure in a common ancestor

Question 41

Genetic homology

Answer 41

occurs in DNA nucleotide sequences, RNA nucleotide sequences, or amino acid sequences ex: the genetic code is very similar between organisms

Question 42

Developmental homology

Answer 42

observed in embryos ex: chick, human, and cat embryos all have similar tails and pouches

Question 43

Structural homology

Answer 43

a similarity in adult morphology or form

Question 44

Relationships between three levels of homology

Answer 44

genetic homologies cause development homologies in embryos which then cause the structural homologies in adults

Question 45

Testing homologies experimentally

Answer 45

can insert homologous genes into different species and observe functioning development to showcase genetic homology can test drugs on other organisms if they are homologous

Question 46

current examples of descent from a common ancestor

Answer 46

speciation in fruit flies and sunflowers

Question 47

internal consistency

Answer 47

most powerful support for a theory the observation that data from independent sources agree in supporting predictions made by a theory

Question 48

Steps of the scientific method

Answer 48

``` Question Hypothesis Collect evidence Make observations Analyze Draw conclusions ```

Question 49

Defining alive

Answer 49

Grows and develops Responds to stimuli from its environment Reproduce Must take in nutrients (energy) and release wastes Maintain homeostasis Adaption: populations of individuals evolve over time Order and organization Stores information

Question 50

How does an organism maintain "alive"

Answer 50

all activities are mediated by biochemical activities within the cells

Question 51

What did Darwin and Wallace question?

Answer 51

They questioned the diversity and variety of species