Evolution Flashcards
1
Q
What can selective pressure lead to?
A
Genetic changes (sometimes punctuated equilibrium)
2
Q
What is hybridization?
A
Process of an animal/plant breeding with another species
3
Q
What is a theory?
A
A well-supported explanation of the natural world based upon observation and experimentation
4
Q
How do hypotheses work?
A
They have a base, and experiments are made to disprove them. If they can’t be disproven, they turn into theories
5
Q
What are theories used for?
A
Explain known phenomena and predict new events
6
Q
What has to be done if a theory no longer functions to explain known phenomena?
A
It needs to be changed or modified
7
Q
What is a population?
A
A group of organisms of the same species
8
Q
What is a species?
A
A group of organisms that are capable of interbreeding (with exceptions)
9
Q
What are some examples of exceptions to the definition of a species?
A
Baltimore Oriole and Bullocks Oriole
10
Q
What is fitness?
A
A measure of an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in an environment
11
Q
What is a way we measure evolution?
A
Fitness
12
Q
Evolution doesn’t always lead to…
A
Speciation
13
Q
What is a genetic drift?
A
A change in the frequency of a gene within a population due to mutation
14
Q
What is a genetic flow?
A
A change in the frequency of a gene within a population due to migration
15
Q
What is an example of genetic flow?
A
Fox squirrels
16
Q
What is pre-zygotic isolation?
A
When sperm can’t fertilize the egg
17
Q
What is post-zygotic isolation?
A
When hybrid species are made, but they’re sterile (can’t reproduce)
18
Q
What is a cline?
A
A gradual change of a character or feature in a species over a geographical area
19
Q
What does cline lead to?
A
Speciation
20
Q
What is allopatric speciation?
A
Occurs when 2 populations are living in separate environments and therefore there is no gene flow. They will differentiate to the point where they are distinct species
21
Q
What is sympatric speciation?
A
When 2 members of a species become reproductively isolated and diverge without physical separation
22
Q
What is natural selection?
A
Process when favorable traits become more common and unfavorable traits become less common
23
Q
What is inter specific competition?
A
Competition between individuals of different species
24
Q
What is intraspecific competition?
A
Competition between individuals of same species
25
What are the 4 elements that evolution by natural selection can be thought of?
Variation, Inheritance, Selection, and Time
26
What causes variation?
Mutations, sexual reproduction, and migration
27
What are mutations caused by?
Random changes in the DNA
28
Are mutations considered good or bad most of the time?
Bad because they usually hinder an organism’s chances at survival
29
What happens during sexual reproduction?
Existing DNA is rearranged
30
What happens during migration?
Genes entering or leaving a population
31
How does inheritance happen?
Traits are passed down from parents to offspring
32
What is punctuated equilibrium?
Populations show little change for most of their geological history, but when phenotype evolution does occur, it is in rare and rapid events of branching speciation
33
Individuals that are best suited for the environment will…
Survive and reproduce more
34
What does punctuated equilibrium lead to?
Branching speciation (cladogenesis)
35
What is an allele?
One or two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation
36
Speciation is the result of _________, but evolution doesn’t always result in __________
Evolution, speciation
37
What are antibiotics?
Drugs that inhibit or abolish the growth of micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans
38
What was the term antibiotic originally used to refer to?
Any agent with biological activity against living organisms
39
What is the term antibiotic used to refer to now?
Substances with anti-bacterial, anti-fungi, or anti-parasitical activity
40
What causes death of living tissue?
Anthrax
41
What are some misuses of antibiotics?
Incomplete treatment and over-prescribing antibiotics, especially for viral infections
42
Antibiotic resistance may be due to things like…
Increasing use of antibacterial soap
43
What do viruses spread by?
Arisols
44
What is science?
The body of knowledge that exists about the world and the method used to obtain that knowledge
45
What is a phenomenon?
A fact, occurrence, or circumstance observed
46
What is data?
Facts and observations gathered and recorded about a problem
47
What is an experiment?
An organized, purposeful test in which certain conditions are changed
48
What is a controlled experiment?
When testing a single hypothesis only one variable is allowed to change (experimental variable) and all other factors are held constant (control)
49
The experimental value…
Changes
50
The controlled variable…
Stays the same
51
What is a hypothesis?
A possible explanation of a phenomenon or solution to a problem, based upon observations made and facts gathered
52
What do hypotheses have to be?
Testable and falsifiable
53
How are hypotheses often written?
As an if/then statement
54
What is a theory?
A logical explanation of a natural event, based on the results of experiments and observations
55
Theories must be able to…
Explain known phenomena and predict new events
56
What is a law?
A statement that describes a natural phenomenon; a principle
57
What is the scientific method?
A logical method that utilizes a series of steps to investigate a problem or phenomenon
58
What are observations obtained from?
A particular pattern or natural phenomenon (known facts are gathered)
59
What is data?
Information that scientists gather that may lead to a solution. It comes from observations and known facts
60
What is a conclusion?
Statement made about hypothesis based on the results of the experiment (addresses problem and accuracy of hypothesis)
61
How can a theory be formulated?
Over time and with repeated testing
62
Theories must be changed or rejected when…
They are contradicted by experimentation
63
Scientific theory is…
Not an opinion, it is based on the results of many experiments conducted by different scientists throughout the world
64
What is biology?
The study of life and living things
65
Name the first characteristic all organisms share
Use energy for life processes (metabolism)
66
Name the second characteristic organisms share?
Made up of one or more cells (basic unit of life)
67
Name the third characteristic that all organisms share?
Typically have a definite form and limited size
68
Name the fourth characteristic all organisms share?
Have a limited life span
69
Name the fifth characteristic all organisms share
They can grow
70
Name the sixth characteristic all organisms share
Respond to changes in their environment
71
Name the seventh characteristic all organisms share?
Able to reproduce
72
Name the last characteristic all organisms share
Able to carry out life processes in order to create a stable inherent environment that promotes life (homeostasis)
73
A life process is when…
Organisms take in materials from external environment and change them into forms useful to life
74
What are nutrients?
Substances organisms need to live
75
What is ingestion?
Taking in food from the environment
76
What is digestion?
The breakdown of complex food materials into simpler, usable forms
77
Define the life process of transporting
When organisms control the movement in and out of cells (circulatory system)
78
Define the life process respiration
When chemical energy from nutrients that are needed in life is released (done through mitochondria)
79
Define the life process synthesis
When organisms combine simple substances to form complex substances (usually employs products of digestion)
80
Define the life process assimilation
When organisms incorporate materials into their bodies, making them part of their structure
81
What is a result of assimilation?
An increase in the size of an organism; growth
82
Growth often follows…
A particular pattern and may have defined limits
83
Define the life process excretion
When organisms remove waste materials, the products of chemical reactions, from their bodies
84
Define the life process homeostasis
When organisms incorporate many regulatory processes to capacitate stability while adjusting to conditions
85
What are some systems we have to carry out homeostasis?
Digestive endocrine, excretory, nervous, and transport systems
86
Define the life process reproduction
When organisms produce new organisms of their own kind
87
Define the life process metabolism
When organisms build and break down complex substances and release energy by series of chemical reactions
88
How thick is the crust under the continents?
40 km thick
89
What are planets formed by?
Gravitational collapse
90
What was the earth formed as?
A rocky, sterile ball with a lot of minerals
91
Violent volcanism lead to the formation of…
An atmosphere
92
What formed the seas?
Condensation of water vapor
93
Organic molecules were…
Synthesized from atmospheric gases (violent electrical storms)
94
What happened 4 billion years ago?
The first living things appeared in the oceans
95
Water protected early life from what?
Deadly UV radiations
96
What contributed to the oxygen in the atmosphere?
Photosynthesis by early organisms
97
Where did the ozone layer form?
In the upper atmosphere
98
The ozone layer…
Blocked out most of the ultra violent radiation
99
What was deadly to early life and mutagenic even today?
Ultra violent radiation
100
Life spread to…
Shallow, coastal waters and eventually to dry land
101
Early life included what?
Bacteria
102
The Earth’s crust floats on what?
A semi-fluid mantle which is heated by the core
103
Mantle currents are formed by…
The heating and cooling of flowing mantle material
104
Convection current-circulation is caused when…
Heated, less dense material rises and is displaced by cooler, denser material
105
Mantle material _____ to the crust and _______ to the sides. Mantle material _____ and ____ to the interior
Rises, expands. Cools, sinks
106
What is the continental crust made out of?
Granite
107
What breaks apart organic molecules?
UV radiation
108
What is an example of artificial selection?
Heike crabs
109
What did humans do to plants and animals to domesticate them?
Artificially selected
110
How was the first nucleus formed?
Infolding of plasma membrane formed a double membrane
111
Why do we need plants more than they need us?
There is carbon dioxide without us, but there is no oxygen without plants
112
What would aliens most likely be?
Bacteria because it is the simplest form of life
113
What type of blood cells have a nucleus?
White blood cells
114
What replaces thiamine in RNA?
Uracil
115
What protects DNA on a nuclear level?
Sugar phosphate backbone
116
What unwinds the DNA double helix?
Helicase, an enzyme
117
What does ATP do?
Transfer electrons and allow bonds to form
118
What does the BT gene do to crops?
Protects them from parasites. Crops that have this gene are genetically modified
